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Subject: [BURGENLAND-NEWSLETTER-L] BB News No. 78B dtd 15 April 2000
Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 08:57:40 EDT

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS -No. 78B
DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND FAMILY HISTORY
(issued biweekly by
April 15, 2000



This third section of the 3 section newsletter has articles pertaining to
Sending Money to Austria, An Allentown, PA Cemetery Search, URL and Member
Changes, and our Staff Masthead and BB Internet Addresses.

MAKING DONATIONS OR PAYING FOR FOREIGN RECORD SEARCHES

Lauri Deninger writes: << Another question for the FAQ list (maybe no one
else has asked this before)... In making an information request to a parish
in the Burgenland (for example, I received the address for the Roman Catholic
Parish office for Illmitz, Neusiedler See), the FAQ list mentioned "a small
donation for the parish" and "International Reply Coupons". I assume the
IRCs would be available at my post office (like a money order?), but how
would I enclose a donation - should I enclose US dollars, and have them
exchange it, or is there a better system? Would $10 be an appropriate amount?

Thanks so much, I really appreciate all the work you and the other volunteers
do for your web site, and to advance genealogy in that corner of the world
(and elsewhere that these folks traveled.) I just started doing genealogy
last summer, but am having a blast! I joined the Burgenland Bunch and have
been really enjoying your newsletters - they are packed with useful
information! Keep up the good work! >>

My Reply: IRC's are available from the post office. Send 2 or 3. For a
donation, I'd enclose a $10 bill as the easiest way. That's about 120
Austrian schillings-a nice start. Later, if you get a lot of information,
another $15 would not be too much. Remember you're taking a chance sending
cash, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. If someone agrees to do some
lookup for you and sends photo copies, you can make some other arrangement.


Expanding The Answer: Certainly money talks and it's a sure fire way to get
someone's attention. Sending money to another country, however, is always a
problem. Banks charge bank transfer fees that are exorbitant unless the sum
is large. US foreign postal money orders take forever. Personal checks will
clear but Austrian banks charge the recipient hefty fees. International reply
coupons are good but some small village post offices will not accept them.
Cash (US dollars) is always easy for the sender and the recipient but there
is always the exposure to theft. Ruesch International (700 Eleventh St.,
Washington, DC 20001, telephone 800-424-2923) is available for checks drawn
on foreign banks in national currency and their fees are low. It requires a
phone call, clearance of your advance payment and a week or more to receive a
check in foreign funds. Sometimes credit cards are appropriate for foreign
businesses, but not for a local priest or Bürgermeister. What to do?

For some purposes, I've found the best approach is to send my personal check
and pay for the Austrian bank charges. I do this by valuing the Austrian
Schilling at a premium. Current exchange rate (as listed in financial pages)
is now about eight cents per schilling. I value it at ten cents, which is a
25% improvement, more than enough to cover bank charges and postage. I'm
usually dealing in small sums and the premium is insignificant, particularly
when one considers that an ounce of mail calls for at least eight schillings,
much more for airmail. I use this method for businesses, publications and
book dealers (also credit cards) and organizations. I use personal checks in
my dealings with the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft and have found it works
well. I would not do this if I were not a member as I feel their assistance
in making personal purchases should be limited to members.

This is not something to do for a local church donation. Here I take a chance
and send cash (ten dollar bills are good). I wrap it in a piece of heavy
paper, use a security envelope and always use airmail. The recipient can
exchange this money at any bank or money exchange (Geld Wechsel), but again
there is an exchange fee so I again overvalue the schilling. So far I've not
lost money through theft but it's always possible. Take a chance.

Often I've found that when dealing with friends and correspondents it's easy
to work on an exchange basis. This takes a lot of trust on both sides and is
not for strangers. After all, a lot of surface mail queries can soon add up
at US airmail over one dollar an ounce and foreign fees are comparable. It
also requires a lengthy correspondence in order for things to equal out.
After buying and sending me some CD's or publications I'd like, I can do
likewise for the sender. I always try to pay more than I receive and consider
it one of the costs of doing genealogy. We ask for a donation of time-we
shouldn't also expect a monetary donation without some form of compensation.


A CEMETERY SEARCH-ALLENTOWN, PA (from correspondence with Angela Latta and
Phyllis Sauerzopf)

I've always felt that at least three documents were necessary to complete
family linkage, those which support birth, marriage and death. Sometimes one
leads to another, but frequently, as a result of moves, death records can be
the hardest to find. I needed so many for my family history that I went to
Austria and also back to my place of birth to complete my files. You'll find
the stories of these trips as Heritage Quest Magazine articles II and III,
available from our archives. Recently two of our members began a similar
search and their experiences my help others.

Angela Latta writes: << Phyllis Sauerzopf and I are trying to locate my
grandfather's grave in an Allentown cemetery; however, Phyllis tells me that
there are several cemeteries, and she doesn't know which one he's in. She
recommended I contact you because you know so much about Allentown. My
grandfather was catholic and came from Burgenland (Reinersdorf). He died
around 1950. He lived in Allentown after coming to the US in 1925. Can you
give us some suggestions as to how we might go about finding where he is? We
would both V E R Y much appreciate it.

I also wanted to thank you again for the work you do to help others find
their roots. Because of your efforts and the efforts of the other
contributors, I was able to find Phyllis. She and I have together found my
family in Pittsburgh and Maryland, relatives I didn't even know
existed. Phyllis and I plan to go to Austria this July with the BG group.
Although I have communicated with Phyllis numerous times, we haven't actually
met. I will fly from Oregon to the East, meet my brother, then we will drive
to meet Phyllis and my 1st cousin, who we have also never met. He is a
Catholic priest! We plan to all meet at the cemetery at our grandfather's
grave! We are all Traupmans! What a wonderful moment that will be!! But
all this could not have happened if it weren't for the BB site!! Thanks to
you we are joyous that have found our US family, and will continue our
research in Austria for our ancestors. >>


My Answer:...Here are the local Allentown cemeteries. If your grandfather was
RC, I'd guess he went to church at the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 4th & Chew Sts
and thus he would be in their Catholic cemetery near Catasauqua. My mother's
people are buried there. Lots of Bugenlanders. No office, but you might try
calling the church at 610-434-5171.

>From my magazine article no. III: CEMETERY SEARCH

With my wife Molly (nee Beck) as my ever faithful helper (we also researched
her family in Bucks and Northampton counties) we started by visiting family
cemeteries in Lehigh County. The larger cemeteries had offices and index
files that pinpointed graves. The smaller required some walk and search. The
office index files were found to be a good source of data showing such things
as birth & death date, parents, cause of death, undertaker, next of kin, date
and cost of burial. While I usually had my relatives birth and death years,
the complete dates were sometimes missing and the index cards or grave
markers furnished them. Much easier than writing and paying for death
certificates. Military service also appeared on some tombstones. We were
pleased by the general immaculate condition of most cemeteries and grave
sites. We did notice that the trend to flat markers makes difficult reading
as the markers frequently sink beneath the surface and become covered with
turf. A problem for future searchers unless the data is preserved in a data
bank. Relatives were found in:

Blue Church Cemetery (St. Paul's)- Coopersburg, Cedar Hill Memorial Park-
Allentown, Coplay Cemetery - Coplay, Fairview Cemetery- Allentown, Grandview
Cemetery- Allentown, Highland Park- Allentown , Sacred Heart Catholic
Cemetery- Allentown (Fullerton, near Catasauqua), St. Paul's Lutheran Church
Cemetery- Catasauqua, West Coplay Catholic Cemetery- Stiles

CHURCH SEARCH

An earlier visit to the family churches in Austria had paid big dividends
(see previous article), so we also visited churches in Allentown. Many
southern Burgenländers are (were) Lutherans and they sought Lutheran churches
when they came to America. St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Chew St.
and Ridge Ave., Allentown, was formed by German speaking immigrants from the
Palatinate (the so called Pennsylvania Dutch) in 1866. By 1900, the
neighborhood was home to German speaking Burgenländers and they gravitated to
this church which has always had a German speaking pastor. It is unique today
in that a German language service is still held every Sunday, even though the
neighborhood is now home to people of Hispanic descent. The records from 1865
are still available and reference was discussed with the pastor.
He indicated that a history of the church was available at the Lehigh County
Historical Society Library (2nd floor, Old Courthouse, 5th & Hamilton Sts.).
An invite to their upcoming October Fest was also extended. A monument to the
400th (1883) anniversary of Martin Luther in front of the church is
noteworthy. (NOTE ST. PETER'S IS NO LONGER ACTIVE AS SUCH, THEY ARE IN A
TEMPORARY BUILDING AS THEY PALN TO BUILD A NEW CHURCH. USE LEHIGH COUNTY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY TO SEE THEIR RECORDS. )

My maternal grandparents were Catholic and although I inherited the family
documents and had complete genealogical material, this was an opportunity to
visit seldom seen graves. The German Catholic church in Allentown is the
"Sacred Heart of Jesus" (4th & Chew Sts.) which also had a German language
service. I had no need to see their records and thus I'm not sure of their
availability. Their cemetery is located north east of the city near
Catasauqua and has a wealth of Burgenland immigrant names. Three other
ethnic cemeteries (Italian, Ukrainian and Jewish) are nearby.

LEHIGH COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Church Records:

Located in the early colonial county courthouse, the library of this society
has a wealth of local information. A slight charge allows the use of their
services from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM daily. Much genealogical material is
available. Of major interest were bound copies of most Lehigh County Church
records with indices including those for St Peter's. One of the society's
projects involves the copying and indexing of local church records. We came
away with birth, marriage and death data for many of my relatives (note:
death data 1935-55 was not complete). The first Burgenländers entries dated
from the 1890's. Using this material, it was possible to track the emigration
of many relatives uncovered in the Martin Luther Kirche records in Eltendorf,
Austria. The St. Peter's records often provide Austrian town of birth and
parents names. I was not able to find the who and why of birth and marriage
records sent to the Hungarian government 1902-1913 and shown and first found
by me in their civil records (note-later developed that these records were
sent to Hungary as the immigrants were planning to return). I have both St
Peter's and Hungarian records of grandparents' marriage and births of
children. It was a pleasure to read my own baptism entry (I have the
certificate) as well as my brother's. Our family relocated early and we did
not attend this church very long.

City Directories:

These are available at the Historical Society from the 1880's forward and
some cover outlying areas as well as Allentown. Showing residence, often name
of spouse, adult children and occupation, they are a wonderful source of
genealogical fill material. Unfortunately, misspellings of foreign names
abound. My computer files show RESIDENCE as a note, and I like to include
residence by year for the main blood lines. The first Burgenland entries are
again in the 1890 period.


Phyllis Sauerzopf responds: << Thank you very much for providing Angela Latta
and I information on how to find Angela's grandfather, Frank Traupman who was
buried in Allentown around 1950.

I told Angela first that I remembered you writing about your trip to the
Allentown cemeteries for relatives. I thought it was in a newsletter. No
wonder I couldn't find it. It was in one of the magazines. I did search for
Frank in the cemetery towards Catasaqua about a month ago, thanks to your
information on it's location in a newsletter. It is HUGE! I couldn't find
him, so I went back again today and searched for 3 more hours along with my
daughter's help. I searched further this time, not just in the front where so
many familiar names are, but way down to the bottom left where there were
Catholic's among Protestants. A lady working at a grave gave me the
information that they were mixed together. I did not find a single Traupman
after a total of 5 hours of searching altogether. I don't think he is in
there. Besides your Simitz's up in the Burgenland section, I found Berghold's
and Simitz's in this section which was way down in the far left,(if you are
facing in from Fullerton Ave.) where Cath. and Prot. were mixed together.

Berghold, Frank - Feb.27,1897 - Dec.21,1974
Berghold, Julia - April 1,1898 - Jan. 16,1975
I also found a Simitz in this area, who is not mentioned in your family tree.
Father, Simitz, Eduard - 1901 - 1974
Mother, Simitz, Maria - 1902 - 1984
Simitz, Ludwig - 1892-1959 buried with:
Simitz, Emma T. - 1904-1955. >>

>From Phyllis Sauerzopf members LEA ,

<< Dear Lea, I sent the email to Gerry and you at first...I got it mixed up,
since Simitz is your name and not Gerry's. I guess that's ok though. I just
happened to copy down 30 Trinkle's and Trinkl's since Traupman's and Trinkl's
were connected by marriage back in the Heiligenbrunn parish. SO you are in
luck. I wrote to Diedra Deutsch the same day I wrote to Gerry and told her I
could help her with Trinkle's if she had not been to this cemetery. She never
replied. I'm glad YOU did, since I am willing to share this. There were some
Trinkl families grouped together. Since there are so many, why don't we start
with first names. Let me know if there are specific names you need and I will
search my notes for them first. Thank goodness I can share this with you. I
didn't want this valuable information to just sit here. I believe we did talk
before. I remember you mentioning the Sauerzopf's in Canada.

Angela called the Sacred Heart Church. They found a Frank Troutman who died
in 1946 who was buried in a Catholic church in Fullerton, or Whitehall. I
didn't get the specifics. I don't think it would be him. There were hundreds
of Troutman's in Pa, according to Ancestry.com. So she will call other
churches. I will let you know if I find any other cemeteries, So far it is
looking good for Angela and I to go to Burgenland in July. Tessie Teklits is
still waiting for information, but she has us listed!!! I already talked to
Albert, and we will get to meet him. Viva Austria! Our dream is coming
true!!! Sincerely, Phyllis Sauerzopf >>


BURGENLAND BUNCH INTERNET LINKS - ADDITIONS, REVISIONS 4/15/00
(from Internet/URL Editor Anna Tanczos Kresh)

AUSTRIAN, AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN INTERNET LINKS
o WorldSkip <http://www.worldskip.com/>; - exceptional site providing
extensive information on countries of the world, including Austria, Croatia,
Hungary, etc.; national/international news sources; business and banking;
radio, newspapers, and magazines; transportation services, including airports
and bus terminals; hotels; embassies; arts and cultural events; entertainment
ticket services; universities; online Hungarian language course; many more
(Lea Buzby)

MAP SITES ON THE INTERNET
o Bezirk Maps <http://members.1012surfnet.at/gerger/Map/VillageMaps.htm>; -
maps of the district of Güssing showing village names in 3 languages; maps
drawn by BB member Klaus Gerger; downloadable; 1857 Güssing householder list;
other districts may follow

URL CHANGES (revised links/descriptions)
o Nielsen, Ralph <http://www.strodl.co.uk/>; - The East Riding of Yorkshire,
England; Strodl Family Tree (new address)

o Burgenländische Freiheit (BF) <http://www.bf-online.at/>; - owned by the
Socialist Party (SPÖ) of Burgenland, comparable to the U.S. Democratic Party;
largest circulation (new address)

o Heritage Quest - Genealogy Software
<http://www.heritagequest.com/genealogy/software/index.html>; - links to many
genealogical software products (change in description only; previous
directions no longer apply)

o Parsons Technology <http://www.parsonstech.com/genealogy/products.html>; -
Family Tree Maker, Family Origins, Archives (change in description)

o Hungarian Settlements - brief descriptions and information on the location
of villages in present day Hungary:
Vas County <http://testver.sednet.hu/vasm/e_alap.html>;,
Gyor-Moson-Sopron County <http://testver.sednet.hu/gyorm/e_alap.html>;,
Veszprem County <http://testver.sednet.hu/veszpm/e_alap.html>; (changes in
description)

o MSU Historical Text Archive
<http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/wooton/34/hungary/hungary.html>; -
Austro-Hungarian maps dating from 400-1920 AD (not very detailed); coats of
arms, history, national anthem, songs, costumes (new address)

o Web of On-line Dictionaries <http://www.yourdictionary.com/>; - links to
more than 500 on-line dictionaries, thesauri, vocabulary aids and indexes for
more than 150 languages (new address)

o Measurement Conversions <http://www.convertit.com/>; - ConvertIt
measurements converter (formerly Entisoft Units Measurement Conversion
Calculator)

o Old Bohemian Units of Measurement
<http://www2.genealogy.net/gene/reg/SUD/bmasse.html>; - (probably limited to
use by historians, etc.) click on Genealogical Resources/Conversion Factors
for some Old Bohemian Units; Bohemian (and Austrian) measurement conversions
for linear, dry, liquid, volume, area

o Old Units of Measurement <http://www2.genealogy.net/gene/misc/units/>; -
Tabelle zur Umsetzung von alten Maßen in heutige Einheiten - Translation
table of old to contemporary units of measurement (with the addition of still
valid measurements)


URLS DROPPED - LINKS BROKEN/CHANGED - INFORM URL EDITOR IF YOU KNOW ALTERNATE
URL
o Landesverband Burgenland Tourismus
<http://www.burgenland-tourism.at/index.asp>; - Burgenland Tourism; excellent
information on Burgenland provinces; click Regionen for calendar of events in
the villages; links to hotels and inns
<http://www.burgenland-tourism.at/activity.asp?menu3=2>; (links broken)

o AudioOnDemand <http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/>; - on demand radio from
Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, the Vatican, and many more (each site offers
multiple languages)(links broken - similar German site at
www.audioondemand.de is for sale)

o Croatian Translator <> Joann Bedic Aftanas, an experienced
Croatian/English translator will assist us with our Croatian language
translations; please be reasonable (no response to queries)


MEMBER CHANGES

Following addresses were undeliverable-they'll be removed from the
distribution list:

account has been discontinued.
ZIMANYI_PATRICK/ not known at destination.
not listed in public Name & Address Book
Remote SMTP server has rejected address
> User unknown

NEW
Joan Emery; (); Sullivan,WI. EMERY (EMRE),Zahling,last
known residence Wien (Vienna) Austria--to Allentown,Pa.--1903. LEITGEB ?
Austria to Allentown,Pa. 1903. SCHIMENEK Eisenberg--Koenigsdorf to
Allentown, Pa.1902. DEUTSCH, Kukmirn--last known residence-Rudersdorf
(Radafalva), to Allentown,Pa.1901.

Audrey Kappel; (); Pittsburgh, PA. RADASCHITZ (RADASITS),
KUGLER. Each were residents of Minihof and settled in Pittsburgh, PA.

Eric Gironda; (); Boise, ID. SEISER, STROBL, SHUCK,
PIESCHL, Ollersdorf; JUSITS, Stegersbach.

Petra Gludovatz; (), Vienna, Austria. Searching for
GLUDOVATZ, Steinbrunn and JURASOVITS, Siegendorf.

Rebecca S. Holdaas; (), Port Orchard, WA. ROKOP from
Sopron Megye; settled in South Bend, IN.

Alice Holt, (); Salem, OR Johann DEMMER, wife Elisabeth
PORTSCHY, Gols. Came to America in 1874 with Sons Paul DEMMER, 19 and Lorenz
DEMMER, 37 wife Susanne STEIGLMAHR and children Johann 6 and Theresia 3.
Lived in McCook, NE then Herndon, KS. Another son, Matthias DEMMER was in
Kansas by 1880 census. Later moved to Jackson County, OR

Mary K. Leitner, (,net), Atwood, KS. KOGL, HAUTZINGER, Andau.
LEITNER, Lebeny, Hungary.

Karla (Mandl) Moore; (); East Hartford, CT. MANDL, THOMAS,
Grieselstein (Korostyen, Hungary), KLOIBER, SCHWARZ, Weichselbaum (Badafalva,
Hungary). Settled in New Britain, CT 1910-1912.

Joel Neubauer, (); Williamsburg, VA and Olney, MD. NEUBAUER and
KOLLER , Bad Tatzmannsdorf and Sulzriegel areas. My ancestors left the
Burgenland in the early 20th century and settled in Allentown, PA.

Robert B Neumann, (), Las Vegas, NV researching the
HOFFMANN/WEBER families in Bubendorf who settled in Winsted,MN.

Robert M. Rene M.D., (),Woodland Hills, CA
RECHNITZER, Frauenkirchen. Settled in Budapest,Vienna and finally Berlin.
Died of natural causes 1936 (pat. grandfather) My father (Vilmos Rechnitzer)
served in Austro-Hungarian Army 1915-1918, 38th Honved Division emigrated to
U.S. 1925 (New York,N.Y.) Changed name to William Rene, died 1984 Van Nuys,Ca.


CHANGE

Arthur Schaffer, (); Chicago, Il. PAPST, Allhau, SCHAFFER,
Rotenturm. EKKER Rotenturm, DERKOVITS Neuberg, Kohfidisch, WOLFER
Kohfidisch, GRAMERIN, Rechnitz, OSWALD, Rohrbach, HEINRICH, THALLER,
WILFLING, GOLLES, Grosswillersdorf, Sochau, SCHWARZIN, PAURIN, ZACHIN,
DILLINGERIN --?.ZIERMANN, UIDL, PAUSS, MADL Markt Allhau. Settled in Chicago,
Il. (added more names and villages)


ADDRESS CHANGES
Thomas Steichen ; (), Winston-Salem, NC;Researching:
HALBAUER and TRAUTNER (in Wallern), WEISS (in Halbturn/Feltorony), and LASSL
(in Mosonszolnok/Zanegg); WEISS/HALBAUER settled in Stearns Co, MN.

This is to inform you that my e-mail address has changed as follows: from
to . Gary Fink

Kindly also make a note of my new e-mail address.
(Ralph Nielsen),in The East Riding of Yorkshire, England
-was

END OF NEWSLETTER

BURGENLAND BUNCH STAFF Coordinator & Editor Newsletter>
(Gerald J. Berghold; Winchester, VA )
Burgenland Editor> (Albert Schuch; Vienna &
Kleinpetersdorf, Austria)
Home Page Editor> (Hap Anderson)
Internet/URL Editor> (Anna Tanczos Kresh; Butler,PA)

Contributing Editors:
Austro/Hungarian Research>(Fritz Königshofer)
Burgenland Lake Corner Research> (Dale Knebel)
Chicago Burgenland Enclave> (Tom Glatz)
Croatian Burgenland> (Frank Teklits)
Home Page village lists> (Bill Rudy)
Home Page surname lists> (Tom Steichen)
Judaic Burgenland> (Maureen Tighe-Brown)
Western Hungary-Bakony Region> (Ernest Chrisbacher)
Western US BB Members-Research> (Bob Unger)
WorldGenWeb -Austria, RootsWeb Liason-Burgenland > (Charles
Wardell, Austria)

BB ARCHIVES>(can be reached from Home Page hyperlinks)

BURGENLAND HOME PAGE>
http://www.spacestar.com/users/hapander/burgen.html

WORLDGEN WEB BURGENLAND QUERY BOARD
http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/Austria/Burgenland

Burgenland Bunch Newsletter distributed courtesy of (c) 1999 RootsWeb.com,
Inc. <http://www.rootsweb.com/>; P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798

Roots Web BB newsletter archives index and threaded search facility available
from http://www.rootsweb.com/~autwgw/bbnlarchx.htm

Newsletter and List Rights Reserved. Permission to Copy Granted; Provide
Credit.

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• [BURGENLAND-NEWSLETTER-L] BB News No. 78B dtd 15 April 2000 by