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3) BB BEGINNING TO NOW (by Roman Paul Weber)
I have been member of BB since about 1997. I thought perhaps how my Burgenland
interest developed may be of some benefit for our newer BB members and may help
them "get started" telling how BB members helped me at the beginning
and through the years until where I am now, re Burgenland. I am Roman Paul
Weber, b. 14 Nov 1929, Waite Park, MN. I welcome and enjoy hearing from any and
all BB members. I always respond to emails.
 My father, Frank Weber, b 2
December 1894. Don't remember when or from whom, but I heard of Burgenland Bunch
about 1997. My wife that had been researching her ancestors rigorously for about
20 years. I never paid much attention to all of her excitement when she
discovered relatives she never had known existed (she is back to 1600's
ancestors. Original 13 Colonies, and not "out of the US" yet). Wife
encouraged me to contact the newly learned of, Burgenland Bunch. I did. Without
BB, I today would never would have learned of my many BLand ancestors, nor as
much as where my father was born and hundreds of pages of BLand ancestor Records
I have today.
When a young boy, all I knew was what my father had "mentioned" at
some time was that he came to Amerika in earlier 1900s, but he didn't know
exactly which year. He never mentioned coming by ship or anything how he came
here. He mentioned the town of Kirschlag, Austria and I always thought that is
where he came from. (The only "story" my dad ever told me of was that
when a boy where he came from "in Austria", that he and other boys
took care of the town's cows and would catch crabs (forgotten "crab"
in German, crawfish in English) in a pasture stream while watching the cow and
boiling them in an old can of water and eating the white meat in crab tails.
White meat sort of the same as lobster meat. Dad told that story to me when I
was 10 or so. He said he remembered it all 'very well taking care of all the
gathered village cows). That is about all I ever knew. I knew my grandparents,
dad's parent and visited them when they lived in St Paul, MN, but not very
often. Grandpa could speak English, but grandma as far as I can recall never did
learn to speak English. At least not that I could understand her very well.
 Not long after
becoming a member of BB, I heard of "LDS libraries". I had never ever
heard of "LDS" and no idea that it was some kind of
"religion" etc. Had it not been for BB, I probably never would have
heard of it and today wouldn't know anything more than what my dad had told me,
re the above paragraph. (I had enlisted in the navy after high school (St Cloud
Tech) and left Waite Park, MN, 1947 when 17 where I had been born and raised.
Ended up army retirement and moved to Highlandville, MO and have lived here ever
since. 20 miles south of Springfield and 20 miles north of Branson in the Ozark
Hills). When I heard of LDS from BB, I found that there was an LDS genealogical
library in nearby Springfield, MO. I visited LDS, Springfield. (My dad was first
born and had 10 sisters. One sister, Rose McDonough, St Paul, MN was the only
one still living in 1998. Some family member had said Rose had mentioned hearing
her dad, my grandpa, Paul, talk about a place called "Steinbach" and
she thought grandparents and family immigrated from Steinbach, AUSTRIA. LDS
worker found "Steinbach" had been part of Hungary before 1920. Since
my dad had been born in 1894, he was born in HUNGARY, not Austria! LDS ordered a
film from Salt Lake City for me that included Steibach, HUNGARY. When the film
arrived a week or so later I went to view it at LDS. "1894" being my
dad's year of birth, I couldn't find him on the film. A BB member I met
(on-line) found my dad for me on same nuimbered LDS film I had and told me the
page and line number on my film where my dad's 2 December 1894 record was on the
film. Reason I hadn't found my dad is that the recording priest, was a Hungarian
and my dad's name, Frank, in Hungarian is Ferenez, plus the priest handwriting
(shrift) was the old-day German handwriting. That was the beginning of spending
the following almost two years of daily viewing that film number and a second
one researching the first one led me to (other ancestors in near to Steinbach
dorfs and towns. As I viewed hundreds of pages, births, deaths and marriages, I
would note the page and line number of an ancestor I found each day and had LDS
make copies for me of those pages. Only 10 cents per copy. Today I have
"hundreds" of pages of filmed copies of Burgenland ancestors. -- My
older brother had visited Budapest years earlier, 1980s or 90s and found there
was no "Steinbach" in Hungary. There wasn't at time he visited
Hungary! Part of VAS county Hungary had become Burgenland, AUSTRIA in 1920.
 In 2003, my brother and two daughters visited my dad's
birthplace, Steinbach, Burgenland. Found and met relatives living there today.
Found house number my dad was born in. We have a 2nd cousin still living,
Josepha (weber) Puchegger, living there now (took photos). Father of Josepha is
my gr uncle Daniel Weber, born 1867, Steinbach, older brother of my St Paul, MN
grandpa, Paul (Pal in Hungarian), born Steinbach #2, 1870. My grandma is Katrina
(Catherine) Schlogl, born 1874, house #13, Steinbach. I now have
"Weber" and "Schlogl" back to earlier 1800s. Most
generations of ancestors came from Stelnbach and still living there today. Many
married and lived in other nearby to Steinbach towns. Kogl, Bubendorf,
Redlschlag, Lebenbrun, Gschorholz, and others. They all belonged to the Catholic
Church in bigger city, Pilgersdorf parish.
Welcome and will respond to emails,
Roman Paul Weber (jaropa@msn.com)
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1) FROM FIRST STEPS TO A TRIP REPORT (by Ronald Markland)
The information that follows is intended to give those who search for family
history the spirit to continue searching, never give up because just maybe you
will uncover a minor fact which ultimately solves a lot of your problems. Just
the fact that you are looking sometimes brings together others looking for a
similar family. I owe many thanks to the Burgenland Bunch for much of the
information that I probably never would have otherwise been able to locate.
 In the fall of 2005 many of our
family gathered for a memorial service in St. Louis Missouri. In the discussions
at that service we came to the conclusion that our parents and grandparents had
not really given us a lot of information regarding the family's roots.
I with my cousin who lives in San Antonio, Texas, along with my daughter and
niece, got together the day after the service and looked at the family records,
papers, and our memories. We did find that my grandmother, Louise (Aufner)
Guenther, immigrated from Austria, and from the information scratched on the
back of an envelop we found information indicating "Burgenland, and
Eltendorf". Thanks to the internet, I was able to do some quick searching
and found the Burgenland was a distinct area of Austria, and Eltendorf a small
village. We only knew that my grandmother’s (Louise Guenther) maiden name was
Aufner. As I stumbled through the various ancestry web help sites, I first noted
that most of them were offering to do some type of research, and usually for a
healthy fee.
At some point I came across the www.burgenland-bunch.org
website. Not knowing exactly how my grandmother made it to the USA, or exactly
when, was not very helpful in finding any additional information. As I spent
more time using the information in the Burgenland Bunch site, I began to learn a
little about the area she came from. I tried to determine where a potential
husband would meet his wife-to-be. That brought me to what I call the "dorfs".
There was Jennersdorf, Königsdorf, Eltendorf, and Dobersdorf. All appeared from
a Google Earth search to be close enough for an interested suitor to easily walk
between. At that time we were under the belief that my grandmother’s mother’s
maiden name was Fuchs, and that my great grandfather was an Aufner.
I quickly realized that the Burgenland Bunch had developed an extensive list of
home sites, and their occupants based upon census reports. Several emails back
and forth with Gerry Berghold were extremely helpful. I knew my grandmother’s
birth date, and attempted to guess the age of her parents at that time. This
keyed me into a Josef Aufner, who lived at number 84 Eltendorf, based upon the
1858 census. This was as far as I could go. One evening I came up with the crazy
idea of writing a letter to a home which was there 150 years previously, and
with no idea as to who might be living there, even if the home still existed. In
December of 2006 I wrote a letter to the "Occupants" of #84 Eltendorf
Austria. I had little expectation that I would receive a response, but at that
time I had exhausted all other avenues.
 On February 14,
2007, Valentine’s Day, I found a large envelop in my mailbox with many
Austrian postage stamps. My letter had been forwarded to the Gemeinde in
Eltendorf. A Mr. Helmut Pieler responded that my grandmother was born in
Königsdorf (Kings Village), according to the records in the rectory in
Königsdorf. The old homestead of 124 Königsdorf no longer exists, and he could
not find anyone who was in some way related to my grandmother. He also provided
my grandmother’s birthday per the church records; we had been celebrating it a
day late all those years. Also, to our surprise, her mother’s maiden name was
not Fuchs, but Kramer. At last some firm details to search from.
I was able to somehow locate a website that had passenger lists. Family legend
was very vague on where they had arrived; some thought San Francisco. But after
a lot of work I came across an “Aloisa Aufner” who, with her sister Anna and
brother Franz arrived in New York on September 21, 1904. They were traveling to
St. Louis, MO to meet their father, Franz Aufner. The passenger list indicated
their ages, which worked, along with the facts that they had prepaid
transportation tickets, and also the sum of $10.00 to cover any expenses
incurred in the trip. The passenger list also indicated the address in St. Louis
where their father lived. BINGO, we had them identified.
Well, now, I had them in St. Louis, but that is where it once again became
difficult to find information. I though that my great-grandfather Franz Aufner's
name would show up in the 1910 census, but it did not. However, in the 1910
census I managed to find a listing for a Frank Guenther with a wife named
Louisa. This turned out to be my grandmother. I tried to follow up on what
happened to her sister and brother, but this became another nightmare. Through
the census reports and family information I was able to gather most of the data
for the family that developed from the Aloisa (now Louise) Aufner-Franz (now
Frank) Guenther marriage. Trying to track down all the family members was
another exercise in futility, but we managed to eventually locate many details.
I have also learned that many of the details that are indicated on death
certificates contradict what family legend had passed down. How to handle that
information is always a concern.
Around November of 2007, I had finally decided that I had all
the information that I could readily obtain, and put the documentation into a
three ring binder along with some of the photographs that we had acquired. Some
of the family were really excited by the information that had been provided,
some said thanks, and some I never heard from. I thought that perhaps I had done
my best to gather family history for the future generation, and placed the book
and research documents in my bookcase. I was proud of what I had done to gather
my parents and my memories, and I was happy with what I had found out. However,
I knew that there was additional information that I could never readily obtain
locally. I was intrigued by the Burgenland Bunch proposing a trip to travel
through the area, but unfortunately it was cancelled by a shortage of
individuals who could make the trip at that time.
 All during the year 2008 I thought about a
trip to Austria, but knew it was not possible. Then in November of 2008 I
received an email. The Burgenland Bunch has a site listing individuals
researching certain family lines, and the email was from a Brigitte Aufner Rezac.
Brigitte's grandparents family had partially immigrated to "America"
and she was interested if I could help her find any details of her family. Her
teenage sons are avid football players. Not soccer but real American football.
They had identified a college football player who had the Aufner name and wanted
to know if there was a relationship. The end result is that yes, there was a
relationship. Brigitte's grandfather (Karl) turned out to be my grandmother’s
(Aloisa) brother. No one was aware that any family remained in Austria. Brigitte
was my cousin. The number of emails that literally flew back and forth was
amazing. Both she and I were trying to gather details of the family and now we
both had sources at each side of the Atlantic to do that. The information that
was available increased many-fold. As we discussed the details, Brigitte offered
that if I should ever be interested in visiting, her family had a guest house in
Mödling, Austria. It took me about one day to decide that yes I was interested
in making the trip. Brigitte indicated that the best time of the year was May.
This is a good time of the year weather-wise, but most important of all, she
indicated, it is the time when the new wines come out. Kind of an Oktoberfest in
May, except it is wine, not beer. I immediately jumped upon the opportunity, and
scheduled a flight to arrive May 2, 2009.
 In the meantime, my cousin Marjory and I discussed my
trip, and the possibility of her participating. After a few weeks she also came
on board for the trip.
The following is a summary of the events that we enjoyed when we made the trip.
We took a total of three planes from St. Louis, MO and ending up in Vienna the
afternoon of the second day. Unfortunately, Marjory's luggage remained in
London, and would arrive the following day.
We spent the first two days with Brigitte and her family at their home in
Mödling, Austria. She and her husband, Otto, have two wonderful sons, Otto Jr.
who is 16, and Stefan who is 14. After my spending two months studying German
using the Rosetta Stone program I was delighted to find out that their English
was much better than my German, and they welcomed the opportunity to improve
their use of English. We decided that the language we would use was English.
Also, I was advised that my "dialect" was definitely Burgenland, not
that of Vienna.
Brigitte lives in a historic home constructed in the early 1800's. Beethoven was
a guest of the original owners. Their town of Mödling, Austria, is about 6
miles from downtown Vienna. It is a typical picturesque village; a church whose
construction began in the 1500s is less than 100 yards from their home. The
streets are narrow, and driving them is a challenge; finding a parking place is
even more difficult.
 After two days in Vienna, Brigitte and her
father Siegfried Aufner drove us to the Burgenland. After a 90 mile drive, and a
short stop in Dobersdorf, we arrived at Annie Aufner Gratzl's home in
Jennersdorf. Shortly after we arrived in Jennersdorf, Pauline Aufner Stumpf and
her son Herbert drove in from Ingolstadt, Germany to participate in the reunion.
Brigitte had pulled out all the stops in making sure that as many Aufner family
as possible could get together.
Annie and her family live on a small but wonderful farm about one mile from
Jennersdorf. The original home was replaced about 9 years ago and currently an
energy-efficient heated by wood structure stands on the site. We had a typical
lunch of a clear broth with dumplings, which I enjoyed, but then the real meal
arrived. Roasted pork, sauerkraut, potato salad, and of course, wine.
After lunch, we went to visit the local cemeteries, They are much better
maintained than here in the states, and I was overwhelmed by the number of
visitors at the time that we were there, and also with the both fresh, and
planted, flowers. Many of the original headstones have been replaced with newer
ones, and additional names added; one cannot be certain of some of the dates,
which seem to conflict with current family legend. We then did some visiting to
the home sites of Karl, Anna, Aloisa, and Franz Aufner. The first night, we had
a family gathering of about 20 relatives, with a typical dinner, and a lot of
local wines. While only about five spoke English, we had a wonderful time.
The second day I had the opportunity to do a little early morning walking. The
sun was up by 5:00 AM and I walked up the local farmers’ road. I heard the
strangest bird call, it sounded like a cuckoo clock. Discussing this with Annie
later I was informed that it was the Kuckuck, and all these years I thought that
the Cuckoo bird was just something that lived in a clock.
I had the opportunity to go with Annie to drop off her son Dominik and daughter
Victoria at the local school. We arrived at the school about 7:30 AM and when
walking through the building which was filled with 5 to 8 year old children, I
was amazed as to how well behaved they were, unlike my memories of visits to my
grandchildren's schools. After dropping off Dominik and Victoria, we stopped by
the local market for fresh bread the first day, and the second day stopped by
the dairy, two houses down where the cows were being milked as we picked up the
milk for coffee. Austrian coffee I found is very strong, I though that the spoon
could be stood up in it, due to the thickness, which is why they use the milk
for coffee (we call it half and half) as a thinning agent so you can drink it.
Our second day, we visited more family, and even visited a castle, (which was
never owned by a member of the Aufner family). Every evening ended up with about
3 hours of discussion regarding relatives and what we and they knew or wanted to
know. Both sides looked at old photographs that they and we had questions about
and they found old family albums of old tin-types. These conversations usually
began about 9 PM and ended quite late. Mysteriously, one or two bottles of local
wine always seemed to appear.
 Josef Aufner and
his wife Lisabeth live on a farm in the village of Newmarkt on the Raab. Josef
is a security guard, farmer and also has a side job of producing schnapps. He
has won quite a few awards at the local competitions for his efforts, as well as
has his wife Lisabeth with her preserves. We had to sample both of their
products.. They use the local apples for the base of what seemed to me to be a
very good moonshine, with the still being kept in one of the out buildings. My
comment of moonshine was translated into German as moonlight, which caused a lot
of explaining, and a lot more sampling.
The third morning Annie took us to visit a tourist area, complete with German
bunkers from World War II, that overlooked present-day Hungary, just a few miles
from her home. We then stopped at Eltendorf for a typical lunch.
After three wonderful days in the Burgenland, we traveled with Pauline and
Herbert back to Vienna. Just prior to leaving Josef Aufner brought me a
"sampler case" containing eight bottles of his finest schnapps, and a
jar of preserves from Lisabeth. I was concerned about what was I going to do
with all of the preserves?
That evening Brigitte had arranged a meeting with the Bürgermeister of the town
of Mödling at which, in addition to having our photos taken for the local
newspaper, I was given a 3-foot-tall bottle of "Bürgermeister Wine".
We were treated like royalty, and the mayor was a real joy to talk with. We
discussed their local politics, and also their thoughts about
"America". We later did some touring that evening on the way to have
dinner at a "haurnigan," which I found was usually a place run by a
wine-maker who serves food while soliciting sales of his products. In a way it
is like a cafeteria; many different local favorites are available, and you just
order the amount that you want, which is then served family style. We were able
to taste many of the local foods in this manner. Of course, they kept bringing
out different wines. The cheeses were exceptional, and upon my return to St.
Louis I went looking for similar ones, but was told that USA requirements called
for most of the foreign cheeses to be pasteurized and due to that, the flavor
and consistency of the local fresh products was lost.
Later that evening (about 10:00 PM), Otto, Herbert, and I went to the grand
opening of a restaurant. Otto's electrical contracting firm had done the
lighting design for the restaurant, and he was also a good friend of the owner
Pino. We ran into the Mayor again and managed to close the facility at 2:00 AM.
The following day, we arose a little later than normal (think 10:00 AM), and we
all drove about one hour to the Neusiedl area and the Neusiedl Sea (lake in
English). After a long Hungarian-style lunch, we went on an excursion ride on
the lake, Neusiedl Sea, which is part of a nature preserve. The lake is quite
large, but very shallow. We were told that a tall man could walk across it, it
must be 20 miles long and 3 to 4 miles wide, and averages 5 to 6 feet in depth.
The lake Neusiedl sports the largest campground in Europe and even though it was
the first of May, several hundreds of campers were already set up. Many leave
their campers set up all year long and use them just for weekend visits to the
lake Neusiedl. The lake Neusiedl is also the nesting area of the famous Gray
goose, a protected bird that lives in the marsh areas. Also, there is a local
herd of wild swine that live in a segregated area. They have very long hair
running down the center of their backs, and are definitely not cute.
On Friday, Pauline and Herbert drove back home to Germany. Brigitte, Marjory,
Otto, and I went for another tour of Vienna. This one was of the famous farmers’
market area. You name it, they had a stand selling it; all of the stands were
permanent structures that were passed down through the family for hundreds of
years. Spices, vegetables, cheeses, meats of all kinds, and fish were fresh and
on display. The perimeter of the market was surrounded by small restaurants,
which served products freshly purchased in the market. We had a wonderful lunch
and then went to the main shopping district. When walking the streets, I noticed
that while most of the buildings were of an older seventeenth-century design,
there was an occasional grouping of more contemporary design. This I was told by
Otto was due to the bombing of World War II destroying buildings which were
replaced with a newer, modern design.
The real highlight of the day was not the touring, but the fact that it was
"pizza night". Otto could become a professional chef in the USA if he
wanted, and is known in the Mödling area for being the best pizza maker in
town. He starts from scratch with the flour, and keeps his recipe a secret.
After about two hours, the 10 to 12 loafs of pizza dough had risen and were
ready for preparation. He even has a small pizza oven built into the kitchen.
The tomato sauce for the pizza was just made from scratch, and he adds 4
different kinds of cheese. But the main special ingredient is prosciutto ham
that has just been thinly sliced from the entire ham that he recently purchased
in Italy. Watch out, Domino's and Pizza Hut, this stuff is really good. The last
pizza that he made that evening was his specialty, I named it a breakfast pizza.
When asked why, I responded that the sunny side up egg on top of fresh
prosciutto ham qualified it for that title.
 After resting for a while, at 10:00 PM we went out for a walk
and then stopped by Pino's restaurant for a drink. People were filling all the
tables, even at that late an hour. The food supply was about exhausted, due to
the overwhelming acceptance of the new restaurant. We did not close the
restaurant that evening, but I did run into my new friend the Mayor, this time
with his wife.
On Saturday, Otto, the boys, Marjory, and I went to tour Castle Schonbrunn. This
was the main castle of the emperor, and is in the center of Vienna. We walked
the grounds, and saw every corner. We must have walked 5 miles, uphill all the
way out and back. And this was just the morning. Then back to Mödling for a
late lunch. After a few hours’ rest, Otto junior talked me into taking the dog
for a walk. We ended up climbing what I called Mount Mödling. This is just
behind their house, and while there is a paved route, Otto felt that I should
use the one that the locals use. At the very top is the site of an old watch
tower originally constructed in 587 AD.. Upon returning to the house I was
totally exhausted. Marjory and I spent about 4 hours talking about the wonderful
experiences that we had shared on this trip, and tried our best to understand
why our family that had left Austria in 1904 and never went back for a visit,
nor in our memories ever communicated with or discussed the family that remained
behind. We both promised ourselves that we would attempt to find out any more
details that we could, now knowing more about the country, and the trying times
that probably existed in the early 1900s.
Sunday was Mother’s Day. While Brigitte, Marjory, and Otto Junior went to
Mass, Otto senior prepared for an Austrian Bar-B-Q. While he indicated that he
had a gas grill, he preferred using what we would call an electric griddle.
Being an avid American Bar-B-Q fan, I knew that this would never work. But then
Otto brought out trays of chicken legs, pork chops, ribs, and sausages. While in
America we slow cook at 250 degrees, he did the same, but his temperature was
Centigrade not Fahrenheit. After sampling all of his Bar-B-Q several times, I
had to concede that the Austrian way is quicker, and possibly better. I admitted
that the reason we slow cook is that it gives us an excuse to drink more beer
during the cooking process.. The mounds of meat quickly disappeared.
Brigitte was interested in our doing more touring. However, Marjory and I told
her that since it was Mother’s Day, she should do what she wanted to do. Well,
guess what she wanted to do: go touring. We went on a ride to a high overlook
that gave a fantastic view of all of Vienna, and also the Danube River. While
only a few miles outside of downtown Vienna, we had an awesome view of the
countryside. We then drove to a wonderful town just a mile of so away and found
more cathedrals, and vineyards, and wonderful villages. Otto pointed out a
castle on a hilltop several miles away. This is where King Richard was held
hostage for ransom, which is a part of the Robin Hood story. Then on to the
Danube River. Being very familiar with the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, it
was a pleasure to see a river of its size that contained only clear water,
unlike the muddy waters that we have.
We then slowly made our way back to Mödling, knowing that early the next
morning we had to catch an early morning flight back to the USA. Since I had
done most of my packing earlier (having had to purchase an additional suitcase
to take back all the gifts we were given) we spent the evening discussing the
new family that we had discovered. It was amazing that while never having met
prior to that time, we melded together like we had known each other for
generations, but then we had been together for generations, hadn't we? We just
didn't know it.
Sadly, the next morning we left for the airport at 6 AM, and I am currently
looking forward to the next opportunity of once again getting together with my
new Austrian relatives. We have invited them to come visit and hope that they
will be able to do this. When this happens I intend to make sure that everyone
knows, and that we show our Austrian family a wonderful time in the USA. Another
thing that I learned in Austria is the use of the computer-based communications
system called SKYPE. It is a free computer program, and using a video camera
(mine cost $54.00) you have both audio and video communications and there are no
charges. In the one month since I have returned, I have talked to my new
Austrian relatives at least one time per week, continuing to relive the
memories, and also answer any new questions that arise.
I owe all of this to the Burgenland Bunch. Thanks so much for
being there.
Ihope that many others will have similar experiences, in my case the chance of a
lifetime.
Sincerely,
Ronald Markland (Remron1@sbcglobal.net) |
Stylistically, they modeled themselves on the legendary
"Fidelen Neckenmarkter Weinhauer". This band had represented a
practice of music as it had been in many villages of Burgenland until the ’sixties
in the last century. Bohemian polkas, the waltz and, above all, the polka
francaise ruled the repertoire, where, more important than a sober intonation,
was an enthralling rhythm that spontaneously invited one to dance. The drums
(with the characteristic drum of a wood block) remain a special characteristic
of the "Buchgrabler" to this day. For the old pieces, they also
purchased clothes from their grandparents' days.