Selection from:
Heimatbuch
eines deutschen Dorfes in Slawonien -
Kroatien
By
Heinrich
Heppenheimer
translated by Henry Fischer
When and How
Where the Communities in Hungary Settled by Germans Who Were the Ancestors of our
Grandparents and Great Grandparents?
(Translator’s Note: The following information is taken from the work of Gustav
Schmidt-Tomka on the History of the Lutheran Seniorat of Swabian Turkey
Kötcse
This
is the first of the secondary settlements in Somogy on the estates of the Protestant
noble families: Börzsóny, Antal and Benko. According to preserved documents, the
original settlers included five Roman Catholic Magyars, twelve Hungarian Calvinists,
and forty-seven Lutheran and seven Reformed families from Germany. The church records
begin in 1730.
Bikal
At
the end of the 18th century, German Lutheran settlers arrived in Bikal and
soon they became the majority in the village. The Lutherans appear to have come from
Tolna County.
Mekényes
There were Lutheran German settlers in Mekényes from 1735 on. They came from Gyönk
and Zomba, because they could not remain there. In Gyönk, their Reformed landlord,
Peter Magyari Kossa, refused to provide them with land on which to build a church. In
Zomba their fanatic Roman Catholic landlord Dory von Jobahaza forced them to convert
or leave. They settled in Mekényes on April 24th, 1735.
The
family names of the colonists indicate an Ober Hessen (Upper Hesse) origin, and the
city of Schlitz as their place of origin in particular. At the beginning the
Lutherans had to put up with a lot at the hands of the Serbs who lived throughout much
of Baranya along with the Croats. The colonizer was the princely family of the
Eszterházys, who were then and later good to their Lutheran subjects even though
themselves were prominent Roman Catholics.
Mekényes was a Mother Church as early as 1737, and called Pastor Franz Tonsor from
Lapofo (1737-1743) in Somogy County, who also served the Slovaks in Kurd. After
nameless acts of interference, he was expelled from Mekényes in 1743 and the prayer
house was locked up. Each year, an annual mass was read inside even though there was
not a single Roman Catholic in the village.
Egyházaskozár
The
village was given its name by the Serbian refugees who settled in the area under the
Emperor Leopold I. In 1800 they still had their resident Orthodox priest Andrevics.
In 1732 the first German Lutheran family settled here. But it was only in the 1750’s
that there was a large-scale migration of the German Lutherans into the village.
Johann Heinrich Birkenstock, whose origins can be traced back to Rainrod in the
vicinity of Alsfeld in Upper Hesse, played a leading role in the formation of the
Lutheran congregation that developed here.
He
had first settled in Felsönána, and he was responsible for settling the Lutherans
here. Most responded to his call in 1755/1756. He was well liked and trusted by
Eszterházy. He was called the “Farmer King”, and it apparently went to his head. But
he was the champion of his fellow Lutherans and their religious freedom as well as
being instrumental in forming a Mother Church.
In
the interests of his congregation he made journeys to Vienna and the royal offices
there to speak to Maria Theresia, because of the oppression of the Lutheran
congregation, forcing it to become a filial of the Roman Catholic parish of Bikal. He
never got more than worthless promises for all of his efforts. The teacher who served
the Lutherans was also driven out of Mekényes and was replaced by a Roman Catholic.
But by bribing the Roman Catholic priest in Bikal with countless gifts they were able
to secretly have a Lutheran teacher serving in the village. Along with all of the
other Lutheran congregations in the area, Mekényes achieved official toleration in
1781 with the Emperor Joseph II’s Edict.
On
the advice of Birkenstock, Eszterházy also settled German Lutherans in other
villages. Gerényes, Nagyág, TÉKÉS, Kaposszekcsö, Csikostöttös and Taros. All of
these Lutherans were persecuted, oppressed and exiled up until 1781 and the Edict of
Toleration.
In
1783 Egyházaskozár became a Mother Church and along with the pastor in Bikal served
all of the congregations in the vicinity. Until 1783 the Lutheran congregations
suffered under the yoke of the Roman Catholics and paid tribute to them.
Nagy Hájmas
This
village was settled by Roman Catholic Germans and Croatians by Count Philip Ludwig
Zinzendorf, the Abbot of Pecsvard in Eisenburg County (1711-1735). Among these
settlers there were also some Lutherans. The date of the arrival of the first
settlers in unknown. The Lutherans united with the Mekényes congregation in 1791 and
later became a filial.
Tófü
The
Eszterházys settled the German Lutherans who settled in Tófü around 1720 there. About
thirty families received land allotments. Tófü and Hidas (1739) were the primary
Hessian Lutheran settlements in northern Baranya.
Barcs
In
Barcs the majority of the German settlers came in 1850 from Tolna and Baranya
counties.
Somogy Döröcske
This
village received its German settlers in the middle of the 18th century
through the enlistment of the Hunyadi family, according to the book by Johann
Weidlein.
Izmény
The
village received its Hessian Lutheran settlers after 1720. It was a long street
village on the von Mercy holdings.
Gadács
Located in Somogy County, Gadács was considered a puszta belonging to Somogyszil until
1848 when it became an independent community. It’s church, like that in Somogyszil
was built in the 1850’s.
The
Settlement of the Germans in Klein and Gross Bastei
With
regard to the arrival and settlement of the first Germans in Klein-Bastei,
Gross-Bastei and Miletinac, we have no factual history to which to refer. But upon
the basis of the church records we can ascertain that the first children were born in
1891. It is obvious that young families expecting a child remained behind in Hungary
until after the child was born before migrating to Slavonia.
One of
the early pioneers, Johann Brautigam born in Murga on 21.06.1871 later reflected:
“The first German family came from Kötcse, Somogy County
in 1886 and were the May family. In 1887, four families came
from Bikal, and a year later six more families came from Bikal
and Nagy Hájmas. In this way, Klein Bastei was settled with
Germans… There were 42 German and 42 Serbian house
numbers”.
The
last Lutheran “preacher”, Jakob Abrell was the source of the following report:
“ German settlers came around 1885 from Swabian Turkey, from
the communities of Bikal, Mekényes, Csikostöttös,
Kaposszekcsö
Barcs and others, and most settled in Klein Bastei, while a
few
others moved into Gross-Bastei…”
Klein-Bastei and Gross-Bastei had a population of 2,000 before the Second World War,
of whom there were 300 to 350 Germans. The rest of the population was mixed, mostly
Serbs, Croats and some from Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Almost all of the Germans
lived in Klein-Bastei. Gross-Bastei was the seat of the local government, the local
post office, the Orthodox Church, a Roman Catholic chapel, the school, small shops and
stores, tradesmen, work places, dairies, blacksmith shops, a lock maker, tailor and
shoemaker.
There is no definite evidence to suggest that there was a planned settlement program
carried out by Count Jankovic and his successors the Tikery and Turkovic families to
recruit German settlers. A Yugoslavian source indicates, “The last arriving settlers
in Bastaji were Czechoslovakians and Germans and were settled by members of the
Jankovic family”.
The
Places of Origin of Our Ancestors Who Settled in Bastei
From
Kötcse:
The
May family, who are believed to be the first to settle in Klein-Bastei. They were
Adam May and his wife Katharina whose maiden name was Lohr , who had a daughter born
on 02.05.1885 in Kötcse and on the basis of that the earliest they could have moved on
to Klein-Bastei was in 1886.
From
Bikal:
The
extended families of the Keims and Freys, three Knies families and the Frudinger
family (in Bikal known as the Fruhdinger), the Schild, Schonfeld, Peter, Hansel and
Sterner families.
From
Mekényes:
The
families Krahling, Waygand, Krahling (the parents of Susanne Knies in Mekenyes known
as the “Eckfelders Krahlings). The Hopp, Stieb, Tewich and Schmidt families.
From
Nagy Hájmas:
The
Emrich, Leipold, Reiber and Sabo families.
From
Nagyág:
The
Grunwald, Ernst and Lehn families.
From
Csikostöttös:
The
families Schonfeld Lorenz, Schon Nikolaus, Meisinger and Wertz.
From
Kaposszekcsö:
The
Hecker and Goldmann families. (The latter may have lived in Gerényes before he moved
on to Klein-Bastei).
From
Tofu:
The
Heppenheimer family came in 1873 from Szabádi to Tofu and then around 1891 they moved
on to Klein-Bastei.
From
Barcs:
The
Ritzl and Neuhardt families.
From
Nagyberki:
The
family of Klein Jakob from the lower village.
From
Somogydöröcske:
The
Gartner family.
From
Belac:
The
Ernst family (The daughter married Stefan Partz)
From
Pašijan bei Gross Mlinska:
The
Muth family (They came from Csikostöttös to Pašijan)
From
Izmény:
The
Zarth and Petermann families.
From
Grabitsch:
The
Semmelroth family and Johann Lamp
From
Gadács:
The
Wajandt family along with the Knoch family in Miletinac.
From
Hrastovac:
The
following settlers in Klein-Bastei took brides from Hrastovac: Georg Keim married
Elisabeth Stark, Jakob Keim married Katharina Wagner, Johann Hecker married Katharina
Bierer on 24.12.1885. Johann Hecker married a second time to Katharina Bierer on
31.12.1890, Johann Schild married Elisabetha Just, Johann Knies married Anna Starck,
Peter Schoenfeld married Barbara Dietz and Heinrich Frey married Christine Ochsenhofer.
Hrastovac in Slavonia (Eichendorf)
(Translator’s Note: the author quotes the settlement of Hrastovac described in their
Heimatbuch. There is a lot of detail and description of geography and topography, and
the difficulties the settlers faced that I omit)
In
the 1850’s Baron Tikery living in his modest little palace in Daruvar found himself in
financial difficulties and the solution to his problem was the cutting down of the
forests of his vast estates. Thousand year old oaks, beech and ash that were two and
three feet in diameter were cut down and dragged by oxen teams to Sisak the site of
the closest transportation link, the railway station. The scrub and diseased trees
etc. were left standing. Several thousand acres of deforested land surrounded Daruvar
and Pakrac and was of no real use to anyone. So it was decided to parcel out small
sections and sell the land cheaply to settlers. The nobleman’s steward named Stein in
Pakrac, a former army officer carried out the program, and soon found some buyers.
But the local Serbs and Croats were not interested because they knew how difficult it
would be to clear the land and put it under cultivation. They purchased only small
attractive parcels of land around Uljanik and most of it was already cleared.
Each
parcel included a place to build a house and a plot of 6.5 joch and share of the 400
joch meadow. Five gulden was the down payment and five years later the rest of the
cost, with no taxes for the first ten years was offered. This proved to very
appealing to the Germans in Swabian Turkey where there was no land available, and very
expensive when it was. That is how Hrastovac came into existence along with
Blagorodvac, Kapetanovo Polje and Sokolovac.
The
first settlers to Hrastovac arrived in the spring of 1865. From among them, only
three families would remain and all of them originated in Egyházaskozár. Johann
Muller, Johann Sauerwein and Jakob Fleisch. The other four families, like many who
would follow them, gave up and returned home or went elsewhere.
(Translator’s Note: The author continues describing the difficulties faced by the
original settlers in Hrastovac that are available to be read in the Hrastovac
Heimatbuch English translation.)
The
Klein-Bastei Dialect
(Translator’s Note: The dialect spoken in Klein-Bastei was identical to the Hessian
that was spoken in the Lutheran villages in Swabian Turkey)
Klein-Bastei and Its Neighbours
In
the east and south there was a creek that formed the border between Gross and
Klein-Bastei. In Gross-Bastei the majority of the population that lived there were
Serbs, but there were also Croats, Germans, Hungarians, as well as Czechs and
Slovaks. To the southwest lay Gross Maslenjaca and the inhabitants were Croats who
settled here after the First World War by the Tikery family. The river Ilova was
nearby and served as the border between Slavonia and Croatia. North of Bastei was
Miletinac, where approximately fifteen German Lutheran families lived who were part of
the Lutheran congregation in Bastei. Some of these families left before the Second
World War and settled in Cacinci. The overwhelming majority of the population in the
vicinity was Serbs.
(Translator’s Note: The author shares some personal reminiscences)
The
relations between the Germans and their Slavic neighbours up to and including the time
during the Second World War were without any great problems or difficulties. There
were occasions that verged on conflict but they were dealt with cordially. How it was
between them during the settlement period is difficult to assess or know. From the
oral history that was shared it was obvious that because of language difficulties it
was hard for them to communicate with one another and there were often
misunderstandings as a result of that. The one thing we do know is that the Serbs
were only too glad to sell land to the Germans and the deeds that were signed attest
to that. From the church records it can be ascertained that the Orthodox priest
baptized the Lutheran children until such time a pastor became available to them when
a congregation was established.
In
the First World War all able-bodied men, regardless of nationality served in the
Austro Hungarian Army and an equal portion fell victim in battle. There were heavy
losses among all of the ethnic groups. At the close of the war when young Slavs came
home on leave they did not return to their units on the frontline positions but fled
into the forests and formed groups for mutual protection and were called “greens”, and
there is strong evidence that there were also Germans among them.
With
the collapse of the Dual Monarchy in 1918, the two general stores in Bastei, both
owned by Jews, Frank and Schoenauer were plundered and robbed by the Slavs. The
Germans and Hungarians were threatened, but as the new government of Yugoslavia took
control, things and relationships were back to normal. The young Germans were drafted
into the army but saw service only in Serbian Macedonia and never in
Croatia-Slavonia. Most served on the border of Macedonia with Albania and many
returned home suffering from malaria. But all of the minorities met with this kind of
treatment and the rights promised to the minorities by the Treaty of Versailles were
never implemented in Yugoslavia.
The
German children had to attend the public school in Gross-Bastei and the language of
instruction was Serbo-Croatian. From 1932 to 1941 they had a German department in the
school. Relations with their Slavic neighbours were good until the Second World War,
when they found themselves caught between the Serbs and Croatians in their fratricidal
war.
The
Economic Development of Klein-Bastei
(Translator’s Note: A synopsis of some salient matters)
In
most cases the settlers only had enough money to pay for the land and house plot,
while others had sufficient funds to build a rude house. After the houses were built
many of the younger generation left for America, Canada or Germany. They went to earn
money in order to later buy land in Bastei, or to pay the family debts. Others earned
extra money by working on the estates of the Tikery family, or the railways and
furniture and timber industries.
The
Lutheran Church in Slavonia 1868-1918
Of
great importance to the development of the Lutheran Church in Slavonia was the work
and the activities of the British Foreign Bible Society and the preachers from the
Pilgrim Mission of St. Chrischona, which was based in Switzerland. This was
especially true in the early years when the Lutheran Church was unable to respond to
the Protestants in Slavonia and Croatia after Protestant Patent became law in 1859,
because they did not have the pastors to serve small isolated groups in a very
backward and primitive situation. As a result, few of the Lutherans had pastors or
schools in which the German language was used.
The
Mission, less rigid and inflexible like the official church structures and
administration, was able to respond quickly to meet the needs of the forgotten
Protestant settlers. In response to the appeals, the Mission sent preachers and
teachers to serve in many of the settlements. Often the function of the preacher and
teacher were united in one person, who was called a Levite. In most cases the
missionaries arrived as teachers and then became preachers of the congregations
later. Some of them were later ordained. Some of these men gave their lifetime of
service to the mission. Three men served for fifty years: Adolf Locher, Jakob Keller
and Carl Busse and were buried in this land in which they had served.
The
missionaries played a leading role in developing and sustaining the confessional
identity of the population they served and Senior Jakob Kettenbach played a leading
role in this but they were also instrumental in the building of numerous prayer houses
(Bethauser) and schools, including those in Hrastovac, Zvonimirovac, Velmirovac,
Darkovac, Sidski Banovci and others communities.
The
pastor preachers of the Mother Churches also had a vast territory in which to serve in
addition to the community in which they resided. The preacher in Vinkovacko Novo
Sello (Neudorf) served the Diaspora all along the Sava River. Before Podravska
Slatina became an independent congregation with 28 filials and mission stations, the
pastor in Essegg served the whole of Virovitica County. No wonder the ministry of the
local Levits was so important to the church. Many of the filials in the future would
become a Mother Church with its own brood of filials and mission stations of its own.
In terms of the official Lutheran Church structures, the important event was the
establishment of the Croatian/Slavonian Evangelical A.B. Seniorat in 1900.
(Translator’s Note. The letters A.B. are the short form for the Augsburger Bekentniss,
the Augsburg Confession, the statement of faith that unites all Lutheran congregations
throughout the world). Now the church in Slavonia was officially structured. The
Lutherans had maintained their identity in a sea of Catholicism and during a century
of oppression.
Through the Bible Society’s literature, the people’s faith had been nurtured and
strengthened. Above all, the scriptures and tracts were well received. The
“Fellowship” movement had a strong impact on the spiritual life of the congregations.
As the Seniorat grew, expanded and deepened, other language groups became part of the
church: Slovaks and Magyars. A remnant of those who remained behind after World War
II, still maintain congregational life in some of these places to this day. The seed
has not been unearthed entirely.
Church and School in Klein-Bastei
The
development of the church and school in Klein-Bastei cannot be discussed separately,
nor do they have a separate history. From the time of settlement around 1888 and the
arrival of the first preacher in 1908, when the prayer house and parsonage were
dedicated, the Lutheran children were baptized by the Orthodox priest Panta Bikicki,
and marriages were conducted by the Lutheran pastor in Hrastovac. The children went
to school in Gross-Bastei and were taught in Serbian. The pastor in Hrastovac and
also the parents because of the distance involved provided religious instruction, some
thirty kilometers.
With
regard to some information the author had personally and in documented form, there was
also a Hungarian school in Klein-Bastei under the leadership of Pastor Mernyi, during
1908 and 1909 and up to the end of the First World War, while he served the people in
Klein-Bastei. After the First World War, sometime around 1920 another preacher
arrived, Ferdinand Dully, who had served as the Director of the Siloah Orphan Home in
Neu Pasua up until 1919. According to relatives he had married couples there in
Klein-Bastei as early as 1922. During the times when there was no preacher or pastor
available to the congregation in Klein-Bastei, members of the congregation who
preached at worship services and conducted funerals undertook the tasks. Among these
congregational leaders of special significance were Stefan Reiber born in Tarrós on
21.11.1869 and his wife the former Katharina Oberlander.
Ferdinand Dully did not only serve as a preacher, but also as the teacher, who
provided religious instruction for the children, but also taught reading and writing
in German. During his pastorate the Agricultural Credit Union was established. At
the end of 1932, Dully and his family left to serve in Koenigsfeld in Bosnia. Karl
Mittermayer succeeded him. He spent a lot of his time with the youth and had them
develop an interest in hiking and sports. He later undertook the directorship of the
Siloah Orphan’s Home in Neu Pasua in 1935 and would later accompany all of the
children on their evacuation from Slavonia and re-established the Home in Egolfstal in
Allau in Austria.
In
1935, Jacob Abrell and his family arrived to serve as the pastor in Klein-Bastei.
When the “Renewers” established a local group, the pastor was very much opposed to
them and their activities. (Translator’s Note. The so-called “Renewers” were a group
of younger men within the Danube Swabian Cultural Association, who had political
aspirations and took their inspiration from one Adolph Hitler, and attempted to use
the existing organization to further the aims of the Third Reich). He feared that the
youth would be estranged from the church because of the group and its “heathen”
ideology. (The author then attempts to provide a rationale indicating that the pastor
did not really understand the implications involved which is always the “party line”
on the part of the Renewers, which I do not care to repeat. Henry’s note)
When
the time came, however, to defend Klein-Bastei against the Partisans on June 5th,
1942, the pastor stood first in the ranks against the raiders, while many others gave
in to their fears. After the attack, in which the prayer house and parsonage were
both destroyed, he took over a leadership position in Klein Bastei and worked with the
Folk Group leaders in Esseg. He held this position until the evacuation of Esseg in
November 1944. He also took the church records to Esseg at the request of the Senior
there shortly before the evacuation. Jakob Abrell died in Ingolstadt, Germany on
28.01.1964
Faith-Church Building-Pastors and Preachers
The
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Klein-Bastei was found in 1888, according to the report
of Jakob Abrell during the time of the celebration of the 50th anniversary
of the congregation in 1938. There is no documentation to corroborate this, but it
appears that the pastor from Hrastovac and one of the leading church officials was
present for the event from the Seniorat. It would take twenty years from the founding
of the congregation to the building of its prayer house and parsonage. During this
period, Klein-Bastei was a filial of Hrastovac. It is therefore obvious that at
funerals and most of the worship services that the lay leadership of the congregation
fulfilled such “pastoral” roles, as mentioned previously.
Ferdinand Dully the former director of the Siloah Orphan’s Home arrived in Klein-
Bastei in the fall of 1919, at the time that the institution was transferred to
Giganka by Slatina from Neu Pasua, and the new director would also serve the small
Lutheran congregation there in addition to his ministry to the children. There were
fourteen places in the home for children, but on the night of October 28th,
1919 a mob attacked and plundered it. The only thing they left behind undestroyed was
one wall with a mural that proclaimed: Jesus Lives. Out of fear for the safety to
the children, the church planned for the return of the institution to Neu Pasua, but
it took until February 8th, 1921.
(Translator’s Note. The author repeats much of the same information with regard to
the ministry of Ferdinand Dully and Karl Mittermayer and his own personal memories
about them.)
After the prayer house and parsonage were burned down during the Partisan raid on
Klein-Bastei on June 5th, 1942, pastor Jakob Abrell was able to save his
life at the last minute and escape the flames. He then moved to Esseg, but he still
concerned himself with his Partisan threatened congregation from there. He himself
later wrote:
“Bastei counts a bit more than 300 souls and was an independent
congregationbecause it was too far away from any other pastoral station, and had
only four pastoral visits each year. There were also two small groups in the area
who were served from Bastei. Daruvar, which could be reached by train, had about
twenty Lutherans and Miletinac, which could be reached by a reasonable walk also had
about thirty believers. In both communities regular services were held six times a
year, and religious education was provided every two weeks.
Following the raid on Klein-Bastei on June 5th in 1942, in
which three of the men from the
congregation lost their lives, thirteen other men were dragged off by the the
Partisan raiders and were never seen or heard from again. The prayer house and the
parsonage, and all of the contents were burned, and I was forced to leave
Bastei. Because of the danger in most of our congregations, especially the smaller
and isolated ones I was given a position with the Folk Group leadership in Esseg.
I held this position until our evacuation
at the beginning of November in 1944.On May 1st and 2nd of
1943 I was back in Bastei and held a service as well as baptized five children.
During my time in Esseg I assisted the Senior, Walter in preaching, baptisms and
funerals. I also committed the church records to him at his request”.
There is no record or information as to what happened
to these Church Records of Bastei, which were given to Senior Walter.
(Translator’s Note. The author digresses in sharing
personal stories and memories of Christmas pageants and such).
The Second World War
Up
until the German invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, the German population had been
left unmolested. Shortly before the war broke out, the men of military age were all
called up for service and all of them reported for duty and all of them returned home
safely after the capitulation and collapse of Yugoslavia.
From the outbreak of the war to the arrival of the
German army’s march through Gross-Bastei was only a matter of a few days. Nothing
happened, but the German population was afraid because they had learned that in other
places men were taken hostage and jailed, so it is no wonder that they were relieved
and welcomed the German troops.
Several of the German soldiers attended the Good
Friday service at the prayer house and they expressed an interest in knowing the
origins of the various German families back in Germany, the information which few of
the families could provide to them.
A
few months after the entry of the German troops and after the declaration of the
independence of the State of Croatia, word spread of attacks by armed men taking place
in the countryside. They were called: Chetniks (Serb Nationalists). In order to be
able to defend the village, the Germans of Bastei received several guns (rifles) and
went on night patrols with Serbs from the village. Only the Germans carried arms.
These night patrols lasted until March 15th 1942. On that night Johann
Partz who lived in Gross-Bastei was shot in the stomach through his front door and
died the next day. These “freedom fighters” also wounded a young Croat, who died of
his wounds a month later.
The
leaders of the German villagers had to decided what course to take in light of these
first two deaths in their community. Should they leave their destiny in the hands of
others or would they defend themselves and their homes, which their grandparents had
struggled to build up for them. The men decided they would defend the village and
word might spread so that the Partisans would leave them alone.
June
5th, 1942 would disprove that supposition.
