Researching in Swabian Turkey, W. Schlegel

Austro-Hungary:  Ethnic Germans in the Schwaebische Tuerkei

Compiled by Wally Schlegel

Although many essential references that should be included when searching for documentation of one’s Germanic family in the Austro-Hungarian empire are written in German, the information, especially family records, contained in these foreign language books are accessible to and can be understood by the English researcher.  Each of the following books will be introduced, discussed and demonstrated

German – English Genealogical Dictionary by Ernest Thode, published by Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc.,  1992 (latest edition, 2000),  286 pg.

General Description:  Meant to supplement a regular German-English dictionary, it contains words, abbreviations and terms that can be found in a large variety of German genealogical documents.  This includes words from the Danish, Dutch, French, German, Latin and Polish languages.  Also includes:  German alphabet with script variations;  German genealogical terms and family relationships written in script;  genealogical symbols, including those for heraldry;  German male and female names written in script;

surnames and occupations written in script;  months written in script;  signs for planets, metals, the Zodiac and days of the week;  ordinal and cardinal numbers, written and rendered in script;  list of suffixes and a reverse suffix index;  key to pronunciations of German dialects;  map of German Empire 1871-1918

Sammelwerk donauschwaebischer Kolonisten (Auszuege aus der donauschwaebischen Gesamtkartei) by Stefan Stader, published by AKdFF (Arbeitskreis donauschwaebischer Familienforscher),  Volume 1  A-D (1997) 888 pg., Volume 2  E-G (1998) 715 pg., Volume 3  H-Kap (1999) 711 pg., Volume 4  Kar-L (2000) 748 pg., Volume 5  M-O (2001) 648 pg.,  Volume 6  P-Scha (2003) 690 pg.

General Description:  An extraction from 265 documents of approximately 47,000 Danube Schwabian immigrants to Eastern Europe.  Also contains a surname index, an indexes of villages from which the colonists came and an index of the villages to which they migrated.

Heimatbuch der Nordschomodei – Geschichte einer deutschen Sprachinsel der Schwaebischen Tuerkei in Ungarn by Dr. Anton Tafferner, published by Heimatausschuss, 1973

General Description:  An historical record of the German settlements in the province of Somogy, containing information from the earliest censuses to the dispersion of the Germanic peoples following World War II.  Contains early census lists, tax listings, Lutheran marriage records, resettlement of families after World War II and a wealth of genealogical information on families from that district.

Donauschwaebisches Ortsnamenbuch fuer die ehemals und teilweise noch deutsch besiedelten Orte in Ungarn, Jugoslawien (ohne Slowenien) sowie West-Rumaenien (Banat und Sathmar) by Isabella Regenyi and Anton Scherer, published by AKdFF (Arbeitskreis donauschwaebischer Familienforscher), 1987

General Description  A listing of towns and villages with German populations.  The listing includes all the ethnic names under which the town was known to exist.  In this part of the world, with towns consisting of multiple ethnic groups, it was not unknown that a town had several different labels depending on the language of the ethnic group.

Country designations are according to the borders existing prior to 1918.

A complete description of the town would include the following:  a designation of its status today with an existing postal code, the current (1987) country in which the town is now located, all the names under which the town was known, the province, area and district in which it was located, location from a major reference point, the area of settlement according to designated Germanic areas, and population figures for 1931 (Yugoslavia), 1941 (Hungary), 1940 (Rumania), 1941 (Sathmar) and a second census figure from 1941 (Yugoslavian areas of previous Hungarian areas of Baranya and Banat), 1935 (Roman Catholic church records for Serbia in which either German ethnicity or spoken German language was recorded).  There are maps of the old Austro-Hungarian empire, including German settlements in and around Budapest, Schwaebische Tuerkei, Batschka, Banat, Syrmien, Slavonia and Bosnia

Magyarorszag Helysegnevtara by Janos Dvorzak, 1877

General Description:  This is a 2 volume gazetteer to the villages of the Austro-Hungarian empire.  Volume 1 is an alphabetical listing of all the villages with references to Volume 2 where you’ll find details about its geographical location and church affiliations.  The information can be accessed by book – Ref 943.9 E5d – microfilm – Volume 1 on # 599564, Volume 2 on # 973041 – and microfiche – # 6000840 (19 fiche)

A Tortenelmi Magyarorszag Atlasza es Adattara 1914 (Atlas and Gazetteer of Historic Hungary 1914) by Talma Kiado, (2003).  Has a multi-tiered place name index.

Handy Guide to Hungarian Genealogical Records by Jared H. Seuss, published 1980

General Description:  An excellent all around introduction to doing research in the Austro-Hungarian empire including history, language and grammar, alphabets, word lists, maps, abbreviations and genealogical resources.

Die Deutschen in Syrmien, Slawonien, Kroatien und Bosnien – Geschichte einer deutschen Volksgruppe in Suedosteuropa by Valentin Oberkersch, published 1989

General Description:  A comprehensive history, in German, of the Germanic people in the present areas of Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia.

Address Book for Germanic Genealogy (6th Edition) by Ernest Thode, 1997

General Description:  A list of addresses for archives (in Germany and America), religious organizations, societies, booksellers, government offices, German-language newspapers, genealogical research groups, libraries, museums and historical societies.  Several types of German form letters are included.

Germans & Hungarians – 1828 Hungarian Land Census by Martha Remer Connor

General Description:  A surname extraction into Roman script of families listed on the 1828 land census.  In the original document, the holdings of the families are given in great detail and should be sought out.  The extractions, currently in 21 Volumes, are available for about half of 52 counties in the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Deutsche Kolonisten im Komitat Baranya / Ungarn 1688-1752 Teil I, II, III by Ferdinand Hengl, published 1983  (German)

General Description:  Teil I  An extraction from 97 sources from 1688-1752 listing, in alphabetical order, the German colonists in the county of Baranya including location of settlement and vital records of family members.  There is an alphabetical index of towns mentioned in the text.

General Description:  Teil II  (published 1985)  An extraction from 120 sources giving the history of 101 villages, in alphabetical order, from the county of Baranya, listing, where possible, original settlers, tradesmen, and taxpayers.

General Description:  Teil III  (published 1985)  A detailed historical record of the earliest settlements in Baranya and a general history of the province of Baranya.

Die deutschen Familien im Komitat Baranya-Branau / Ungarn in den kirchlichen Seelenlisten 1767-1768 by Ferdinand Hengl, published 1990

General Description:  Teil I  A transcription of the census records from 137 church congregations in the province of Baranya listing the major householder, spouse, children and other persons in the home, along with age, status and religious affiliation.  The census records are listed alphabetically by village.  The book contains a surname index.

There is an entire series by Ferndinand Hengl of church census records, including

Teil II  Komitat Somogy-Schomodei/Ungarn mit Syrmien und Slawonien for 1767-1771

Teil III  Komitat Tolna-Tolnau / Ungarn for 1767-68

Teil IV  Komitat Fejer-Weissenburg for 1768-1772

Teil V  Komitat Pest for 1768-1772

Teil VI – Komitat Veszprem-Wesprim for 1767-1772

Teil VII – Komitat Zala-Sala for 1768-1772

Herkunft deutscher Andiedler im Komitat Tolnau (Tolna) – Eine Auswertung der Kirchenbuecher by Josef Schmidt and Johann Miller, published 1995

General Description:  A compilation of settlers, listing their place of origin in Germany, as extracted from church records in the province of Tolna for the 18th and 19th century.  The book contains an index of place names.

Eighteenth Century Register of Emigrants from Southwest Germany (to America and other countries) edited by Professor Werner Hacker, reissued 1994-Closson Press

General Description:  A compilation from 6 of 10 volumes of emigrants previously researched and published by Professor Werner Hacker.

Other publications by Prof. Werner Hacker applicable to genealogy in southeast Europe:

Suedwestdeutsche Auswanderer nach Ungarn als Durchwanderer in den Kirchenbuechern von Ulm und Guenzburg, published 1969

Auswanderungen aus dem Hochstift Speyer nach Suedosteuropa und Uebersee im 18 Jahrhundert, published 1969

Auswanderung aus dem Raum des spaeteren Hohenzollerischen Lande nach Suedosteuropa im 17-18 Jahrhundert, published 1969

Auswanderung vom Oberen Neckar nach Suedosteuropa im 18 Jahrhundert, (1970)

Auswanderungen aus dem Suedostlichen Schwarzwald im 17 & 18 Jahrhundert, (1970)

Where to Look for Hard-To-Find German-Speaking Ancestors in Eastern Europecompiled by Bruce Brandt and Edward Reimer Brandt, 1993 (2nd edition)

General Description:  An index of about 20,000 surnames drawn from 13 different records.

The Danube Swabians by G.C. Paikert, published by Martinus Nijhoff, (1967)

General Description:  An English history of the Germanic group known as the Danube Schwabians, tracing their migration into original settlements in eastern Europe in the 18th century and documenting their history to the post World War II era.  Information is selective, with the greatest emphasis on Germans in Hungary proper but with some commentary on ethnic Germans in Rumania and former Yugoslavia.

Websites

www.genealogienetz.de            www.genealogy.net/privat/flacker/ortsmone.htm

www.familysearch.org

www.CyndisList.com              http://feefhs.org           http://lazarus.elte.hu/hun/maps/1910/

www.telefonbuch.de

Ortssippenbuch der ev. Luth. Gemeinde Szarazd im Komitat Tolna – Ungarn by Johann Wolf, published 1994

General Description:  Vital records of the inhabitants of Szarazd from May 1737 to the dispersal of the Germans following World War II.  The early records were extracted from the Catholic records of Szakadat.  Divided into sections, the book includes:  Lutheran families, post World War II marriages, Roman Catholic families of Szarazd as registered in Szakadat and Diosbereny, index of village names, index of family names, death notices of villagers whose religion was not stipulated

Histories, Memoirs and Ortssippenbuecher

Izmeny, eine ehemalig deutsche Gemeinde in der Tolnau (Teil 1 – Beitraege zur Dorfgeschichte, Teil 2 – Familienbuch der evangelischen Gemeinde) by Georg Mueller, published 2002

Heimatbuch und Ortschronik von Majos / Majesch by Heinrich Maerz, (1997)

Varsad-Waschad – Ein Dorf, Eine Heimat, Unsere Heimat im Komitat Tolna, Ungarn by Heinrich Weissenberger, published 1995

Hrastovac-Eichendorf – Eine Deutsche Siedlung in Slavonien (English edition translated by Eva Mueller) by Erwin Englert, published 1955 (English version – 2000)

Hrastovac-Eichendorf Families 1865-1900 including Franjevac, Kapetanovo Polje, Mali Bastaji, Mlinska, Pasijan compiled by Rosina T. Schmidt, published 2002

Klein Bastei – Heimatbuch eines deutschen Dorfes in Slawonien Kroatien by Heinrich Heppenheimer, published 1990

Gross Mlinska – Die Geschichte eines hessichen Dorfes in Kroatien by Jakob Bentz, published 1985

Journals, Magazines

Heritage Quest (Sept/Oct and Nov/Dec 2003 – The Austro-Hungary Buffet by E. Wade Hone)

Everton’s Genealogical Helper

FEEFHS Journal (Volume IX – An Introduction to Austrian Military Records by Steven Blodgett and Volume X – A Beginner’s Guide to Austrian Research by Steven Blodgett)

German Genealogical Digest (Surname List, Reference Guide)

Hungarian Verbs and Essentials of Grammar by Miklos Toerkenczy (1997)