Hrastovac-Eichendorf Families 1865-1945 Rosina T. Schmidt Rosina T. Schmidt

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Hrastovac Eichendorf Families

1865 1944

by

Rosina T. Schmidt

No parts of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, eletronic, mechanical, photocopying , recording or otherwise, without written permission from the author.

ISBN: 1410716627 (ebook) (1865-1900) ISBN: 1410716635 (Paperback) (1865-1900)

1865 1944 1st edition in 2012. All rights reserved.

1865 1944 Updated and expanded 2nd editon in 2016. All rights reserved.

Hrastovac-Eichendorf Families 1865-1945 Rosina T. Schmidt Rosina T. Schmidt

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Hrastovac Eichendorf Families 1865 1944

including Franjevac - Striievac

Kapetanovo Polje Bastaji

Mlinska Paijan

Transcribed and Compiled by

Rosina T. Schmidt

With the greatfull help of Cornelia R. A. Schmidt-Brandt

Georgina Schmidt-Zimmermann Ron BergIverson

Anna Bialleck Henry A. Fischer Zeljko Hamata Philipp Jung

Anthony J. Kaufman

Nanaimo, Britisch Columbia, Canada

Hrastovac-Eichendorf Families 1865-1945 Rosina T. Schmidt Rosina T. Schmidt

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Contributors: Deanna Franklin Church Drawing

Sources: Hrastovac Church Books 1865 1902 Hrastovac Church Books 1902 1944 Ralf Domke, Georg Mller - Meknyes in der Branau Rolf Domke, Heinrich Friedrich, Georg Mller - Tkes in der Branau Henry A. Fischer: From Toleration to Expulsion - Ecsny in Somogy 1748-1948 Heiner Friedrich, Rolf Domke Ortsfamilienbuch Nagyg in der Braunau Giessen Archives, Germany Heinrich Heppenheimer und Anton Krhling - Heimatbuch Klein Bastei Armin G. Meyer and Sabine Meyer-Carillon OFB Durlach / Karlsruhe 1688 - 1761 Georg Mller Izmny, eine ehemalige deutsche Gemeinde in der Tolnau Georg Mller, Ralf Domke, Heinrich Friedrich - Ortsfamilienbuch Nagyg in der Branau Thomas Reinemer - Familinebuch Nordenstadt 1626 - 1817 Elmar Rosa Kismnyok Family Book 1728 - 1895 Emar Rosa MucsfMutschwar im Komitat Tolna 1728 - 1895 Wally Schlegel RczKozr Marriage Records Transcriptions Wally Schlegel Somogydrcske, Somogy Marriage Records Transcriptions Petra Stppler und Walter Stoll - Familienbuch Echzell, ISBN 978-3-938649-69-5 Johann Wolf - Ortssippenbuch der ev. Gemeinde Szrazd im Komitat Tolna

Ancestry charts of: Arndt, Nikolaus Aue, Christina BergIverson, Helen Bialleck, Anna Dimitrie, Darlene Davidson, Kathe Faust, Henry Fischer, Henry A. Frensch, Ingrid Griffin, Dan W. J. J. T. Hamilton, Anthony E. Kaufman, Anthony J. Marzluft, Rosalinde Mueller, Eva Schell, Elisabeth Schlegel, Waldraut Schmidt, Rosina T. Straile, Raymond Earl Wickert, Roberto Zart, Pat

Hrastovac-Eichendorf Families 1865-1945 Rosina T. Schmidt Rosina T. Schmidt

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Contents

Historical Introduction 5 Abbreviation 10

Alphabetical Index

A 11 B 27 C 73 D 76 E 89 F 113 G 160 H 181 I 218 J 218 K 231 L 303 M 335 N 371 O 378 P 391 R 413 S 455 T 543 U 567 V 568 W 571 Z 616

Hrastovac-Eichendorf Families 1865-1945 Rosina T. Schmidt Rosina T. Schmidt

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Historical Introduction By Rosina T. Schmidt

On the fertile, marshy flood plains right between the great rivers of Drava in the north, and Sava in the south, stands today the village of Hrastovac. Only a few kilometers to the west flows the river Ilova towards Sava right on the earthquake fault line, which is the divider between the old Kingdom of Croatia to its west and the old Kingdom of Slavonia to its east. Even back in the Roman Times there were famous mineral bath towns erected along this fault line: Daruvar, Toplice, Krapinska, Lipik and others. However, Hrastovac has much newer roots. When in 1865 the landowner in Daruvar, Baron Tikery needed some ready cash, he had the thousandyear old oak forest clear cut. The huge trees measured two to three meters in diameter were dragged by teams of oxen with great difficulties to the nearest train station in Sisak on the Sava. Thousands of acres around Daruvar and Pakrac lay now useless, so Baron Tikery decided to divide the land into village lots. The estate administrator Stein in Pakrac soon found purchasers, mainly from the sons and daughters of the ethnic German settlers in the Swabian Turkey, the Hungarian counties of Baranya, Somogy and Tolna.

Hrastovac-Eichendorf Families 1865-1945 Rosina T. Schmidt Rosina T. Schmidt

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Swabian Turkey is an unusual name, so far away From Swabia in south west of Germany as well from Turkey, the country in the Near East. It received its nickname in the early 1700's after the Turks' occupation of 140 years was finally overthrown and the German settlers were invited by the Austrian Emperor and King of Hungary, Carl IV, to resettle the devastated and depopulated land what was then the Empire of Austria and is today in southern Hungary, Romania, northern Croatia and Vojvodina. Vojvodina is now northern part of Serbia.

Thousands of mainly German settlers rushed down the river Danube from the port of Ulm in Swabia, hoping for a better future after the ravages of the 30 Year War in central Europe, to those areas from where the Turks were just expelled. They found swamps, marshes and steppe; they battled malaria, diphtheria and the ravages of continuous invasions by the

Turks. However in three generations that area became the fruit basket of Europe, and the oft quoted saying "the first finds the death, the second bread, and the third prosperity" describes so well the willpower and drive of those brave ethnic German settlers, who were later known as "Danube Swabians", the newest German heritage tribe. A homestead in Hrastovac consisted of 6.5 Joch of own property and community ownership of 400 Joch, which at that stage was still a thick forest. The purchase price was 40 guilder or florins. Five florins had to be put down immediately and the rest to be paid of in five years time with no interest. It was an excellent purchase price, considering that up in Baranya, Somogy and Tolna no agricultural land was available at any price. The villages were established at the same time according to religious beliefs, so Hrastovac, and nearby Kapetanovo Polje were Evangelical villages. To the dismay of the first arrivals, they found a swampy, overgrown terrain, full of huge oak tree stumps and rotten logs in every direction! Just as their grandfathers and greatgrandfathers did when they first arrived in the Swabian Turkey. They called their new home "Eichendorf" (Oakville), as it was surrounded with a thick oak forest, and used the fallen tree logs to make walls, covered it with straw and earth and spent the first winter in those shelters. The huge hollowed treestumps covered with corn stalks were the first stables. The very first bride received a wreath of oak leaves. However the level and rich soil was excellent for the agriculture. By the second generation the village stood proudly shinning with achievement. The town was built in a cross form with a wide tree lined street; the houses standing perpendicular to the street with its white gables and covered porches along the length of the house; with the barn

Hrastovac-Eichendorf Families 1865-1945 Rosina T. Schmidt Rosina T. Schmidt

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and stables dividing the front yard from the garden and orchard, onto which the fields followed and the thick oak forest behind. Each front yard had its own covered well and its freestanding breadbaking oven.

Map hand drawn from memory by Jakob Weber in 1958

Hrastovac-Eichendorf Families 1865-1945 Rosina T. Schmidt Rosina T. Schmidt

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Behind the houses lay the grain fields waving in the wind, the dark green tobacco, beet and potato fields and the lush cornfields. One end of the main street, called "Neugasse" lead to Garenica, just on the other side of the Ilova River on the Croatian side, and the southern end of the Neugasse lead to Uljanik. The cross street, also called such in German as "Kreuz Strasse" lead to the fish pond and its east end to the water mill as well as to the village Blagorodovac. Where the Neugasse and Kreuz Strasse intersect on each corner were the lots belonging to the community. One was reserved for the church, which was built only in 1929 and festively dedicated on November 17th of that year. Diagonally opposite was the parsonage; across the street stood the schoolhouse and diagonally opposite the school were the buildings for the voluntary fire department. The school building was the first to be constructed and later expanded and rebuilt, which was used for church and community hall purposes as well until the church structure was erected. It was a private Lutheran school and the language taught was German, as everyone in the village spoke German, but later Croatian was added too.

Hrastovac Evangelical Church. Drawing by Deanna Franklin

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Austro-Hungary ca. 1914

The saying "work" was written large in Hrastovac. However, its inhabitants never forgot to celebrate life as well. Weddings, christenings, funerals were very formal affairs, with the first one stretching over two or three days, sometimes even a whole week, but there were other Christian festivals like "Kirchweih", the church dedication day, even without the existence of the church building, which was joyfully and festively celebrated. Easter, Christmas and even Carnival, were other important events, when all work stood still and only the cooks in the kitchens devoted their energ