Schloss Hof

On our last last Sunday in Vienna Wolfgang suggested a n excursion to the newly restored castle and gardens of Schloss Hof.

The Schloss served as the prestigious hunting loge of Prince Eugene of Savoy, who's winter castle was the Belvedere. All of this was the culmination of a loyal military carer which saw him lead the Imperial War Council and hold the post of Minister of State in the Habsburg Monarchy.

Weisenbach

Saturday Peter and Ilse were babysitting Paul and Marian’s daughters, (their grandchildren) at their home in Weisenbach.

We were invited for lunch. Stuffed peppers, apple cake and fresh berries from the yard (with wiped cream of course) was on the menu.

Dinner at Erika’s again.

Schoenbrunn

Friday we made another quick stop at the Alservorestadt Church of the Trinity and picked up on other two records.

But more important we made a sole refreshing stop at Schoenbrunn.

On a very busy Friday we parked the car and walked into an oasis of quiet and calm.

Although early in the morning there were many people already taking advantage of the walk (run) in the woods, gardens and historic ambiance that is the summer castle of the Habsburgs Monarchy.

It is located in the middle of the city but it could have been on an other planet when judging the change in setting. We walked to the Gloriette, the highest point of the property and built to provide a lookout over the hunting lands, gardens, castle and now also the city that surrounds it. There we paused and refreshed ourselves before we returned to the crush of the city’s traffic and noise.

Then it was off to have an apricot dumpling lunch with Michael and Erika.

Vienna

Thursday Michael, Darliene and I ventured into the city.

We made a quick stop at the Severiten Kirche, Russau Parrish where we photographed two record and then went for a walk in the inner city.

After visiting the St. Stevens Cathedral where I was confirmed some 54 years ago Michael took us on a tour through some of the small streets and lanes away from the throngs of tourists.


The city is 2000 years old and every house,lane and store has a story.

He showed us where he worked and hung out for 30 years. He explained some of the background and historical significance of the distinct, lanes, building and the people that lived her.

Krumbach

Wednesday Peter, Ilse, Darliene and I traveled some 60 km to the south of Vienna to a small village of Krumbach. This is idyllic little village in the Bucklige Welt “ humpback country”, so named because of it’s hilly nature. The churches in this area were fortified and served as sanctuaries for the population from the advancing Turks and other eastern enemies of the middle ages.






We visited the Parrish Office and gained access to the parish books to search for more ancestors. We were successful in photographing 3 more records.













We visited the cemetery and the local castle which is now a hotel. There we stopped for a brief rest and a cup of coffee.









Peter directed us through some beautiful countryside and as we returned to Maria Enzersdorf, where Peter and Ilse live.













We stopped at a Heurigen for a bite to eat and a glass of wine before returning home.









In the evening we met up with Wolfgang, for dinner and a briefing on our search of his side of the family.

The Consultant

On Sunday we had one of our many lunches with the relatives. Peter and Ilse hosted us this day. Great food…….. good conversation.

As Peter is 75 and was schooled in some of the old German writing we asked him to help us read some of the records we collected. All records are kept in church books in old german handwriting.

This script was not used after Hitler took powere (~1940) and legeslated against the use of it. Ilse brought out some script sheets and Peter tried to read….unfortunately not much luck. Then he suggested that his sister, whom we had not met as yet and is 80 or so and had a few extra years of experience with the scripts. She agreed to try and was really amazing. She helped to read a great number of records.

I think we found our Consultant!

Archive Quest

Monday and Tuesday we returned to Brno........from Vienna.....in search of Archival Treasures.
This time we went through Bratislava, Slovakia then to Brno, Czech Republic. 3 counties in a couple of hours.












We arrived early and found an English speaking clerk who briefed us on the archive rules and search procedures. We started and almost right away found new and verified critical information. We were able to photograph hundreds of records....we collected an amazing amount of information.,,,,,8 hours later we dragged ourselves away.









We drove to Svitavy where we went to the hotel we stayed at a week ago.....a good room.....a grat dinner........a beer on the patio and we turned in early.

















Tuesday we attacked the archive in Zansrk....a castle with no visible road to the front door. We knew were it was and the GPS could not get us to the front door. Google Earth to the rescue. We plotted out way there and again found a clerk who could speak some English and German. Again the data just started to roll in.