The foundation of the land's association on the 20th of June 1920 in Novi Sad is the most important marking stone in the new history of the Germans in Yugoslavia.  The association sets itself goals to unite all Germans with our fatherland and encourage our German folkways and our mother tongue.

     Then in September 1923 the Germans of Feketitsch established their local group when they were already almost the last in the Batschka to join the cultural association.  The public awareness - of which one believed it must be kept hidden - without infringing on the sensitivity of fellow citizens - it grew anew.  Dr. Georg Graßl was appointed association secretary for the foundation.  He was received with a triumphant bow and a music band and enthusiasm broke out during his speech with elementary force.  The union of our Germans of Feketitsch was seldom so great as on this day.  It seemed like the poet's words: "We will be a united people of brothers" comes true.  Gutwein's large stage hall could not hold all of the comrades.  In the evening members of Old and New Werbaß (Vrbas) and Sekitsch performed to an overfilled house.

     The local group numbered over 300 members.  A youth division, glee club, and library could be established.  The foreman, Martin Göttel, and the active secretary and choir leader J. Dietrich (B.) were to be thanked for the founding and opening.  In the winter months two lectures and theater evenings could be organized.  The books of the library were always out of print.  With the dissolution of the land's association on the 11th of April, 1924 the activity had to be stopped by us.

     On the 26th of February 1928 the association's foreman, Johann Keks, could first carry out the reorganization of the local group and after that the confiscated fortunes were taken into possession intact.  The local group numbered 236 members.  The foremen were: 1. Dr. Viktor Pratscher, 2. Johann Röhrig, 3. Heinrich Brückner.  Secretary: Nikolaus Gutwein.  Treasurer: Jakob Kloß. - The activity is feverish.  In the home: Schmidt's large hall in which talks took place on a high level each Sunday and were extremely well attended.  Lectures held: Johann Keks, association foreman from Novi Sad; Johann Steinmetz from the Agraria, Novi Sad; Dr. Viktor Pratscher; teacher J. Dietrich; deputy S. Schumacher.  Theme: "The Ways in Which to Guide to the Goals".  Senior Jakob Kahn. Theme: "The Possibility of World Peace".  Rev. H. Berger of Feketitsch; Rev. H. Lebherz of Sekitsch; deputy Dr. Georg Graßl.  Besides that four events took place on stage.  Guest performances took place here of the "Liederkranz" (song circle) "Cheerfulness" from Novi Sad; the "Mood Singer" from Bavaria with lute and guitar; the "Liederhain" (song grove) from Sekitsch and the Migratory Birds from Wohlbach (Germany). - At the school graduation celebration the best students were presented with books and an investment book with 100 Dinar.  For 40 traveling German season workers from Germany the pass could be obtained for about 40 to 50 Dinar less, as in the neighboring places.  It made it possible for two students to attend the German grammar school in Novi Vrbas.  For this purpose the association's leaders placed 2,500 Dinar at their disposal.  The comrades from Werbaß gave free meals (midday and evening meal) so that both students could finish elementary school.  Christian Brauchler continued his studies with the help of school donations and was to emerge in a year as a young teacher.

     In the fall H. Dietz from Novivrbas and Dr. A. Maurus from Novisad held lectures.  At Christmas time 8 children could be presented with clothes.

     It was a bustling activity that could hardly be seen in any other local group.  On the 6th of January 1929 all the unions of the land were dissolved and our local group was affected by it.  

New Establishment of the Local Group of the
Swabian-German Cultural Association.  

General Education 

     The general education of our Germans always stood the time and on a comparatively high and appropriate level.  Under the schooled Germans there was no illiterate person.  The older generation mastered the Hungarian language, but the younger generation perfected the Serbian language.  Many are fluent in all three languages.  In general the businessman can express himself better in words and writing than the farmer bound to his ground.  The first also likes further education to increase his understanding, if he only had the means to do it.  The farmer understands his occupation excellently and also brings the progress which his area of work affects and praiseworthy interest towards it, but apart from that he was particularly degraded formerly, so that his mind grew with his fortune.  Today in this respect there is a noted transformation for the better.  Principally from the war our farmers were used with the knowledge that it was not only for the wealth but for gaining intellectual ability so that they can fight for a better place in the world.  They send their sons for 2 to 4 years, not infrequently the girls also, even to Germany, for agricultural continuing education courses in "Bürgerschulen" (citizen schools?) or secondary schools.  Many farmers justified their dislike of the secondary schools with the notion that the children would shy away from work during the years of study, which it proved to be in each and every case.  Unfortunately such cases actually occurred, but only where the parents themselves did not completely grasp the seriousness of learning and letting the children study and they themselves also only wanted to give a "Schönheitspflaster" (beauty spot) (did not give one iota of interest?)  Learning is no game.  It is hard work which demands that the students perform their work just as thoroughly and completely or be reprimanded, just like the assigned work in the farmyard or in the field must be performed without "Hudelei" sloppiness if success is to be achieved. - The farmer's son who has taken learning seriously will also take work in life seriously.  One day they will be in a position where the success of their children's studies will not take only 2 to 4 years, but will be supervised and followed for 6 to 8 years.

     The number of intellectuals so far from the ranks of the Germans of Feketitsch happens to be - in the order of the time required to acquire it - the following:  2 doctors (15 years); 2 lawyers (14 years); 3 engineers (13 years); 0 veterinarians (12 years); 2 state scientists (12 years); 1 pastor (12 years); 3 pharmacists (12 years); 1 notary (9 years); 5 teachers (9 years).  (Today we have 3 high school students, 2 prep school students, 4 secondary school students, and 10 "Bürger" students.)

     Before the war, the number of "Bürger" students was still not very great.   The teachers Fr. Stötzer and J. Pratscher shared the instruction of a whole flock of private students from the "Bürger" school.  The opening of a "Bürger" school still did not come, although this possibility was often considered.  With the two communities living next to each other, Feketitsch and Sekitsch had about 10,000 inhabitants, making a "Bürger" school an urgent necessity.  The progress connected with it was worth all the sacrifice.  A student year of a student drew an average of 7 - 10,000 Dinar from the village.  At a "Bürger" school in the village the census from the two communities was certainly over 100, from which the students from the other communities such as M. Idjosch and others could be calculated.

     With them the possibility of opening a Bürger school in the area was realized.

     In 1931 the government allowed them to open a private German teacher's education institute.  The 'miserly' Swabians were hardly expected once again to raise the necessary funds of 1 million Dinar, but over 2 million flowed in for the purpose of the school foundation.  In Feketitsch 13,000 Dinar was drawn for 13 building blocks.  So far the German teacher's education institute in Novi Vrbas has had two "Zöglinge" from Feketitsch: Liese Pratscher and Christian Brauchler.

  §

     The work is only half as hard with a good nature and bright singing.  Our settler ancestors brought a great joy of singing with them from the homeland because they came from a region where the wonderful nature of the song was lured from the lips.  In the first decade our ancestors joy of singing was paralyzed on their lips in this region where the graves soon bore Swabian names.  The second generation had the bitter need.  In the later years the self consciousness of our Swabians was already lacking with the strengthening of the economy.  Step by step they submitted themselves to the inferiority of German ways.  The German youth who came home from secondary schools brought the foreign Hungarian songs with them.  In recent years the glee club, especially the youth group, have dedicated themselves to the care of the German folk songs.

     In all of our regions the true German song rings out again with a bright lofty sound and was . . .

".........thundering, rejoicing, lamenting  

Where the true German heart beats."

The "forceful singing should tear itself "himmelan mit Ungetüm" (heavenward with the monster?) and each genuine German man should be called friend and brother."  

String music - 
Bandmaster Johann Schade.  

     The most widely used instrument in the home is the accordion.  Violins and pianos are only played a little.  Several can also strum the lute.  For village music we have two horn bands: "the brass music."  The musicians are tradesmen and "Taglöhner?" (part time workers?).  

Brass band -
Bandmaster Gottfried Krebs.

     They also performed at theater events and so far the proprietors have served us in the existing theaters to be mentioned.

     The first enterprise of such kind was ventured by Michael Gutwein, tailor.  He erected a hall in the yard of his home with over 100 seats.  This playhouse existed from 1912 to 1921.  Michael Gutwein was the groundbreaker in this area.

     In the first years after the war a cinema played in Gutwein's large stage hall.  Each Saturday and Sunday performances took place which enjoyed a very good attendance.  The soul of the enterprise was teacher Jakob Kellermann.  In the summer months a "Tonkino?" (sound cinema?) has played at the beach for years.

     The history of agriculture for the Germans of Feketitsch begins with the year 1817-18, as our farmers gradually migrated to Feketitsch.  They did not come to Feketitsch directly from the Empire, but from surrounding German settlement communities where as German settlers they were immediately made residents, or their descendants had already tried their luck here as independent farmers.

     There were also here, just like the farmers, "Urbarial-Untertanen?" (cultivating subjects?).

     What is an "Urbarium"?  Or what do we understand by the name "Urbarial-Untertan"?

     Urbarium, which is the lawful relationship between the village inhabitant and the lords of manors which existed in the Hungary of that time up to 1836. - According to this Urbarium the "Untertanen", and the Germans of Feketitsch at the time, had to give up one tenth of the control of their whole "Fechsung?", and this part with their own wagons and coverings were guided onto the ruler's stepping ground and the rulers allowed them to leave the field with their particulars.

     Besides the fruit offerings the Urbarial farmer also had to give up a tenth of his cattle and poultry, which he had bred himself, as well as eggs, bed feathers, butter, lard, and grapes supplied to the rulers.

     After this Urbarial law the "Robot", that is the work for the Lords without reason, also had to be achieved and admittedly one session of field from 80 to 100 square fathoms had to be worked by the small homeowner up to 18 days a year and by the proprietor up to 12 days a year.

     In contrast the rights existing according to Urbarial law since 1796 were conceived exclusively for the rulers. - This law contained the rights in 15 points together and according to the following order:

   1) Restriction of the permissiveness; which meant so much that no "Untertan" was allowed to leave his seat and wander away without consent from his Lord, and with this his whole family was bound to the ground.

   2) The Lord of the manor also acted as the primary authority in the jurisdiction over civil matters.

   3) At village judge elections the Lord of the manor had the right to select three candidates, from which the community could then elect the judge.

   4) The exclusive right to alcohol from the bar was also determined by the Lord, and even the production of spirits and beer belonged in the realm of the rulers.

   5) Only the Lord of the manor has the right to sell fresh meat.

   6) The hunting rights also belonged to the Lord of the manor alone, that is, only the Lord of the manor had the right right to hunt on his whole property.

   7) Only the Lord of the manor alone had exclusive rights to fishing.

   8) Only the Lord of the manor had the right to burn bricks and roof tiles on his properties.

   9) Only the Lord of the manor had the right to erect mills, including horse, water, wind, and oil mills, as well as hemp graters.

  10) Only the Lord of the manor had the right to levy market and stall fees on his properties.

  11) The right to transfer with the "Pletten?" over the river in areas which touched on properties of the Lord of the manor was also only the right of the Lord of the manor alone.

  12) Forest rights, as well as the "Rohrung" (reed) rights, (except for individual little areas which belonged to the Urbarial fields or the "Hutweide" (border meadow), also belonged only to the Lord of the manor.  Even the "Knoppern" harvest, as well as the "Eichelmaßt?", only the Lord of the manor had the right to give it away.

   13) Small general stores, as well as vaults, only the Lord of the manor had the right to open on his properties.

   14) Pasture rights: The Lord of the manor had the right to let his cattle graze everywhere.  

   15) Property rights: The Lord of the manor was always the staid owner of everything and allowed his "Untertanen" to leave without any compensation whatsoever.

     It would certainly not be without interest, especially for the next generation, to know that the tithing was not actually carried out.

     The word "Zehent" (tenth) should merely say: handing in output, today known as tax, it may not be taken in the sense of the word because the rulers did not receive a tenth, but rather a seventh part of the "Fechsung?" and to be precise this happened in the following grain:

      When the farmer was finished with the removal, he was not allowed to take the grain away from the field until it was taxed by the authorities of the ruler.  The official of the ruler, or one of his "Ispane?", came to the "Hotter", but usually August passed first (one can determine himself how much grain is to be taxed from the agreement based on the relationship of the weather to the quantity, but especially if it suffered in quality).  The "Panduren?" guided the way, stood still at each piece of land, asked the farmer how many "Kreuze" he had, calculated from it how much belonged to the ruler, the 7th part, then the farmer was given a note showing the amount of Kreuze paid, and then the Panduren drove away to the second piece of field where he waited for the next farmer at the end of his field.  To check the amount of Kreuze given by the farmers the "Ispan" brought some mounted "Roboter?" with him from another village who did spot checks here and there to count the Kreuze again.  He made certain with these riders which farmers did not make their Kreuze payment.  If the farmer had more Kreuze than he had given to the "Ispan", he was punished with 12 lashes with the cane, which was then annotated at the place and position by the "Panduren" who was present.

     After tithing to the ruler's "Ispan" the farmer had to start at the end of his field and load each seventh "Kreuz" of yield and drive to the ruler's place.  On the "Tretplatz?" (threshold) the farmer handed over his goods to the "Ispan" who received a note from the "Roboter" who double checked the sheaves and if the number on the note matched, the sheaves were properly placed on the sheaf slide, which was an open sided barn, by the "Roboter".  The small homeowner and proprietor were received as well.  The double checker of the sheaves established a small number the farmer should take, so 12 beatings would be given again, and the missing sheafs had to be made up for later.  Before the tithing the farmer was not allowed to drive away until all the rulers had been introduced.

     When the fruit was presented to the ruler on the ruler's threshold the "Austreten?" (stamping out) had begun.  The "Austreten" was awarded to the "Robot"  or the "Teilaustreten?"  In the second half of the last century the fruit left by the farmers from Kula or Old Sivac still had to be transferred to the ruler's storehouse.

     In a similar fashion the tithing was carried out with the grain (Halmfrüchtenernte) harvest and the farmer's other plants, so that at the time, as well as in the first half of the 19th century, the farmer had to pay taxes in money instead. This is usually the case today, and the offerings to the ruler or to the state were accomplished with natural produce, and this with his coverings still had to be supplied to one other community.  

Sowing the Harvest Corn Session Farmer

     The farmer at the time did not have his field like today..  It was mostly on a piece of land (complex), more on spots of the "Hotter" (border meadows), so for example, a quarter field (about 9 chains) laid on eight or nine different spots of the "Hotter" and was divided up into agricultural fields of about six chains, a large meadow two chains in extent and a small meadow of one chain in extent and with it still came the right to the "Hutweide" (border pasture).

     The farmer at the time did not have his field like today..  It was mostly on a piece of land (complex), more on spots of the "Hotter" (border meadows), so for example, a quarter field (about 9 chains) laid on eight or nine different spots of the "Hotter" and was divided up into agricultural fields of about six chains, a large meadow two chains in extent and a small meadow of one chain in extent and with it still came the right to the "Hutweide" (border pasture).

    What is a "Hutweide"?

     When the farmer had his horses unhitched in the evening, they were driven onto the "Hutweide" where they grazed until he fetched them again.  The supervision (so called "Hut", from which the word "Hutweide" arose) of the horses was cared for by a housekeeper (formerly known as csikos).  The foals stayed on the pasture uninterrupted from early spring to winter time.

     The beef cattle such as the calves of the beef breed were also driven onto the pasture in the springtime (24th of April) and stayed constantly outside until late fall (1st of November).  The "Nutzvieh" (useful cattle), such as the cow, for example, was driven out into the pasture at daybreak and brought back home again in the evening.  There the milk maid had to milk the cow late in the evening, and in the morning had to care for it very timely, then at daybreak the cow had to be brought back to the pasture again.

     The war claimed most of our farmers under the flag, so that the farmer's wives were left to  the management of the fields alone with their underage children or their old parents.  The best migratory cattle were "einassentiert", so that not only the farmer but also a part of the necessary "Bespannung" (coverings) were missing.  It was a difficult time because already it soon became clear the sad consequences of war.  There was the news of wounds, seriously injured, missing, and what was the worst was the dead.  Not infrequently the name of one of our brave farmers was also read from the list of those lost.  The support of the parents, the bread provider of the whole family, always had the eyes closed on the distant future.  Where such a sad case happened, the economy also had an extremely difficult blow "erlitten" (came to light?), because it was not only the farmer's wife's man, the parent's child, the children's father, the whole family's provider, for they were eternally distinguished by them, but also it was for the sons of the farmers, the teachers, and the tutors who died.  What a difficult blow was that for such a family which was affected by such a harsh grievous message and unfortunately their number was always greater.  With the absence of the tutors in later years the grown up youth attracted attention through disobedience during and shortly after the war and unfortunately it is still noticed in many cases today.  The economy was further driven by which fields were possible for the poor farmers which were scantily cultivated , only they could not achieve the same yield as before.  In the years 1915-16 to 1918 war prisoners were also provided to help. - For us in Feketitsch for the most part Russians were used to help as farm-hands, carriage drivers, reapers, etc.  

 The last wooden handle plow

     There the war had always placed greater demands on bread grain, had the whole "Fechsung", minus the meager measured domestic requirements, had to be delivered right after the threshing. - As the war in the year 1917 still saw no end in sight, the grain supply was always picked up, the acquisition of all of the grain was arranged.  What fear and anxiety overwhelmed those of us who stayed at home, that there would be neither bread nor feed grain for the cattle and the sparsely calculated rations were really not or could not be enough. - People helped themselves as many times the required amounts of bread for the requisition commission were hidden.  Mostly the straw "Schober" or the corn husk box were used as the hiding place, but not infrequently the fireplace, wardrobe, or bed were also used.  With how much fear and sweat those who stayed at home, mostly women, moved the grain-filled sacks from one unsafe place to another, I don't need to emphasize, but with all the misery it was still a funny case I want to mention: the requisition commission was at work and went from house to house and looked for hidden grains and to control the left over supplies for their own need.  A woman, her name should not be mentioned here, who is completely indifferent to the next generation, has learned that the requisition commission was ready to find it in the neighborhood and would also soon be coming to her home.  There she had also just hidden grain, she climbed, aware of the approaching danger, blood running high and did not know in the sudden excitement what to start.  She mulled things over and finally came to the conclusion to hide the grain in the husk box which was in the rear of the work yard but the entrance door from the street opposite her was drawn and she found herself not in the best safety.  Although she had hardly carried the grain in a few hours before, she wanted to carry the grain on her shoulder to one other place just as the requisition commission opened the door from the street.  What a sight the requisition commission found there?!  The housewife, with a full sack on her shoulder, standing on the husk box (corn husk barn), called to the commission: "Thank God you are finally here.  I would still be crazy in this uncertainty with my hidden grain."  Because this was such a funny scene the grain was merely confiscated and the woman was left unpunished.

     Because of the many losses in spoiled grain and because of the losses in the straw and corn husk sheds, from the mice eating and making the sacks unusable, the grain in the last years of the war were hidden in neither sacks nor in straw or corn husk sheds, but a new hiding place was invented, and the grain was usually poured into a large dry wine barrel and buried deep in the earth at night.  In this barrel the grain was neither "Schimplig", nor did it get somewhat of an unpleasant smell.

     After the end of the war it was a favorable time for our farmers.  All of the supplies were used during the war.  The demands for the farmers' produce was rather active and as a result a partial devaluation of the currency gradually raised the price of bread and feed grain so that the price for wheat in the years 1923-24 even reached 2000+ Kronen (resp?) 500+ Dinar per metric hundred weight (50 kg.).  Not only could the farmer not sell his grain well but all of his products, as well as paying too high prices for his cattle.  Under such circumstances and during this time it is easy to understand why it went well for our farmers.  However because still no trees have grown up to the sky this rosy time did not last long for our farmers.  The reaction was already slowly noticeable in the years 1928-30.  The prices of the farmers' products started to sink more and more and the industrial articles and everything that the farmer needed for himself, the prices suddenly hit the roof, so the possibility of the farmers' existence continued to get worse.  In the years 1930-36 there was a complete economic crisis and it still exists.  The kinds of grain used hardly still exist but very often only more under the "Gestehungs" cost to use.  The wheat is hardly higher in price on the average, up to 100-110 Dinar per Metzen, and similar to the wheat is the relationship of the other products to the farmer.  

     The present situation of the descendants to those farmers in reference to the "Bewirtschaftung" (hospitality) of his fields, as well as affecting cattle, horses, and pig breeding, the possibility of sale and profitability, and to keep a tradition will be mentioned in detail here - how the session farmer with about 40 chains of field carried this out will be written down.

     The entire surface was usually planted, the larger half with stalk fruit in the form of bread and feed grain, the smaller half with corn, some Mohar and Luzerne, as well as for their own household needs also with potatoes, vegetables, fruit, and vines. - The relationship to the whole complex was usually arranged as follows:

          wheat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . 18 chains

          feed barley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2 chains

          oats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2 chains

          corn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 chains

          Mohar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . .  1 chain

          Luzerne. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ½ chain

          potato, wine, fruit, and vegetable gardens. .  .½ chain  

     To work the 40 chains of field a farmer needed four good horses (Zugvieh), he had a work force of a Salasch man and his family who lived permanently on the "Salasch" (farm yard on the field) and a small 15-16 year old farmhand who boards with the farmer and also dines with him at the table.  

 Salasch                                                           Owner: N.K. Schmidt

35-40 chains

The sides of the yard of this Salasch
pg 263: Owner: N.K. Schmidt

     At the beginning of October  the ground was broken up and plowed under with a ladder "Schleife" approximately three to at the most five inches.  The prepared plowed land, in which the corn stumps did not come out, was broken up and leveled again with the ladder "Schleife" and the seeds were planted approximately 3-4 centimeters deep, usually with an 18 row sowing machine.

The plow of today

     The preparation of the seeds seemed to be done in more recent times, commonly a "Petkus" seed cleaning machine which was purchased for about 42,500 Dinar with the help of the farmers and the local farming association.  This seed cleaning machine coated the seeds against "Kugelbrand" (ball fire) with the newest dry coating agent (such as Tillantin, Porzol, and others).  For the cleaning and coating, if the member applied the coating agent himself, he paid 4%.  

Two blade plow

     When the kinds of seeds used, especially in the last years, were already more for quality than quantity, just the quality kinds were "Prolifik" and still many other kinds are guilty of it because of their poor sticking ability (Klebergehaltes), that the wheat cost us so little.  The quality kinds were now cultivated: Bankuter, Dakotaer, Bastart, and Leganyer wheat which not only stuck well (kleberreich), but also the yield wasn't much less. - 125 to 140 kg. of seeds were used per chain.  

Ladder "Schleife" (loop)

     The direct fertilization under the wheat was refrained from because the fertilization with stable manure immediately before the cultivation, partially because the lack of time, which is no longer possible.  Therefore wheat is usually cultivated after the corn and the field is first cleared shortly before the new cultivation of the corn.  Also the stalk fruit reacted from a direct dose of stable manure usually from what was in stock. - Artificial fertilizers were again no longer used around on the farms (despite people being clear in general of their useful effects.)  Because this was not favorably priced with the wheat (super phosphate 18% cost 96.+ Dinar, (Kalkstickstoff) calcium 14% cost 172.+ Dinar and "Kalisalz" (calcium salt?) 40% cost 176.+ Dinar per 100 kilograms.)

 "Petkus" seed cleaning machine  

Welker's farm  

     Now the wheat is (drilled in) planted, the machine rows were (zugeschleift?) with the chain “Schleife" and the cultivation of the fields ended with it.

     The time of the "Aussaat" (sowing) started in the middle of October.

     The further treatment of the wheat seeds consisted of the "Abschleifen" of the prepared "aufgelaufenen" seeds in the springtime, after which the rest of the corn husks (Kukuruzstarze) which the plow had not plowed under in the fall were picked up and taken away, after a warm    rain the "Kultur" (cultivation) was harrowed with the seed harrow, and until the harvest it was left up to our Lord (Himmelsvater).  

Chain (Schleife?)  

Seed Harrow  

The Harvest

     The wheat normally ripened at the end of June or the beginning of July.  The harvest was usually begun in the "Wachsreife" when the wheat was at its best and most beautiful, especially its quality in color and weight in hectoliters at this stage.

     There the session farmer did not cultivate his 22 chains of stalk fruit with all of his own people and also did not want to, so he usually still had two pair of "Riefaren who were paid a percentage of the grain (Perzentlohn), often the same as the "Salasch" man.  About a 11th part of the kernel "Fechsung" was arranged.

     The "Riefar" had to achieve the following work for this eleventh part: "Abmehen", insertin in the ropes, rake, set the sheafs in a cross, and he also had to help at the "Einführen (introduction) and threshing.

     The yield is usually 25-30 in Kreuzen (for 18 sheafs), in kernel "Fechsung", averaging approximately 12-15 Metzen per chain.

     The grain sitting in crosses remained on the field for the "Nachreife" approximately 6 to 8 days and afterwards these were taken to the workyard and placed together in the sheaf shed.  As soon as all of the grain of the stalkfruit was brought in the threshing machine came and the threshing work began.

The Threshing

(2 pages missing)

 Threshing   

Today’s harrow

(Jumped to pg. 236)

and in the Spring the harrowed land was already cultivated.  However there was also for a few years a cultivation of winter oats which were already also cultivated as an experiment, but until now it was not widely spread.  Seeds were of both sorts, so spring oats as well as winter oats were used 80 - 90 kg. per chain.  These seeds were generally not treated.  The oats matured starting in July and yielded 14 - 16 Metzen in good weather, especially the winter oats.  

The Corn

     A principally cultivated plant of our farmers in the spring is corn.  The preparation in the fall 8 - 10 inches deep on plowed land was in the spring harrowed two or three times and also turned twice and the corn was usually planted in the middle of April.  Seeds usually matured early (end of August, start of September) and yellow "Zahnmais" (tooth corn) was used according to the width of the rows, from 10 up to a whole 20 kg. per chain.  The cultivation of corn by our farmers was very different.  It was done with a drill machine or a planting machine designed with characteristics for corn planting which did not sow the seeds in rows like the drill machine, but in even measured distances, which planted the seeds set in the four corners of the pole.  The width of the row was also different, from 22 inches (58 cm) up to 28 inches (74 cm) by a two pole system 34 - 36 inches (90 - 95 cm).  After the corn is planted, it is harrowed and turned.  As it was made easier for the young corn kernels to emerge and with it the young plant should get more warmth, the corn field will be harrowed with the seed harrow when the corn comes up.

 The Häufel plow

     When the plant is 10-12  cm high, the reaping of the corn plants is begun with the "Hackpflug" (chopping plow) to which a horse is harnessed, driven through the plant rows and around the plants with the hand axe chopping.  The second reaping of the corn plants was often approximately 14 days after the first reaping but it was usually first carried out  after 3 weeks when the plants were 30 - 35 cm high.  Too many plants standing in the row were also simultaneously removed.  Some of our farmers still had to do the rows again with the "Pferdhacke" (horse chopper) after the second hacking to preserve the crumbling structure of the earth and to prevent the odor of the ground moisture in the hairline cracks.  Most of the farmers had the treatment work but finished with the chopping.  The corn cobs were stripped of the surrounding husks, broke off at the stalk and gathered either in a large apron or a small basket.  

Corn Planter   

The Corn Breaking  

     The corn ripens as already mentioned usually at the end of August or the beginning of September.  Then it was emptied on a free spot cleared for this purpose beforehand.  So many similar large piles of corn were made as the workers performed all the work in the many parts.  When the work was finished the part that was the farmer's, chose his own piles to usually put in the "Schardak" and the workers in the field were left behind and afterwards driven to home.  The corn husks (of the cobs) were cut right after the breaking, bound and made into bushels.  

American corn planter

     The yield to be cultivated was normally approximately 36-40 Metzen of corn cobs per chain.

     The process of the corn plantation cultivated by the farmer were to be given as wages (Teillohn), and in several families 3-4 chains per family and paid for that twice, chopping about the stalk directly and breaking it (because the horse chopper was still going through the row beforehand), the corn was carried into the "Schardak", the corn husks were cut, tied and set up, usually a 6th and only seldom a 5th part of the corn "Fechsung".  The corn was chopped (in Taglohn) (daily wages?), or the farmer chopped the corn with his own people themselves, so he paid for the breaking, carrying the corn in the "Schardak", husk cutting, tieing up, setting up, usually an 8th part of the corn "Fechsung".

     "Mohar" was usually cultivated only for the preparation of hay for the horses, and had a normal yield, in damp weather in the spring, of approximately four wagons, with a weight of about 30-32 Metzen.

     The "Luzerne" was used by the farmer partially in (grüngemähten) green- condition for summer feed of his entire livestock and only a small part for the benefit of hay which he then used to feed his (Nutzvieh?) cattle (cows and calves) in the winter.

     Potatoes and vegetables were cultivated exclusively only for the particular household needs.  On the other hand some of the freshest fruit and some of the freshest wine was sold, but only infrequently.

     The cattle of the session farmer usually consisted of 2-3 milk cows, 6-8 head of young calves and 2 or 3 (mother calves?) which belonged mostly to the Simentaler (Simen Valley) race, which he bred (nachzüchtet) himself for the preservation of this particular breed to have good milk cows and to provide for his own household.  If the milk cows were already old, 7-8 years old, the farmer cared for them as either as either very pregnant or if the calves had already been born (abkalben), they were sold with the calves.  A good cow with 14-15 liters of milk daily and in the weight of 600 to 650 kg. cost 2,500 to 2,800 Dinar at present.  The (Jungkalbinen) (Rinder) were usually sold as pregnant shortly before delivering.  These are seldom a particular breed of the farmer's but were usualy as (jährige) calves bought at the annual market and as already siad, then the 3-4 year old very pregnant (Kalbinen) were sold.

     The entire livestock except the milk cows and the 6 week old cows put aside, were exclusively fed merely with (wirtschaftseigenem Langfutter?) (corn husks or wheat chaff).  In the summer, after the harvest the entire livestock goes to the pasture.  A part of the wheat stubble was used as pasture.  However the terrain can only be appealing in a rain rich summer because in the hot summer the growing grass and weeds died of thirst (verdürrt?).

Pig Breeding 

The pig breeding was persued by the farmers more in isolated cases.  The farmers bought 8-10 head of "Laufer" (runner?) pigs when they were 5-6 months old and fattened them up for the spring weeks or the annual market.  Three or four of these which were fattened up until fall were slaughtered while the others were sold to the dealer.  However a pig breeding cooperative existed which was a branch of the central pig breeding and pig utilization cooperative (m.b.H.?) in Novi Sad, which introduced the refined German "Land"? pig from the Empire and these were bred for some years.  However this breed was very sensitive to the prevailing pig sickness near us, especially the pig plague and the paratyphoid and from the afterbreeding as well as dying from the original "Sauen" supplied, they gave up on breeding this breed and "übergegangen" more on the "Bergschir" breed.

Poultry Keeping

     A large part of our farmers kept chickens.  From a pronounced chicken breeding nothing can be said because only in completely isolated cases were chickens of pure races bred, and of course these were Rhode Island, Orpington, and also Plymouth.  The chickens were kept mainly by the farmer's wife to cover the household needs with eggs and also towards the meat supply.  The profitability of poutry keeping generally can not be said because the price of poultry sometimes sinks ridiculously low to 3-4 Dinar per kilogram, so the farmer's wife usually only kept enough to be used by themselves.  Besides chickens, ducks and geese were also kept.

     In the spring the farmer's wife usually bought small geese at the weekly market, and sometimes paid 12-14 Dinar for a goose in the fall when they are full grown which are frequently sold for about 4 Dinar per kilogram.  When one calculates the pure earnings it usually results in a big disappointment because a young goose usually weighs 4 to 5 kilograms in the fall, so one usually receives 20 Dinar for a goose at best.  Ducks were usually seldom bred, because one usually could not get paid as much for them as for a goose.  It should also be mentioned that in the last two years they tried to breed and keep turkeys.  This kind of poutry breeding also could not spread much because sometimes they could not be sold in the fall.

     The sale of our kinds of wheat was often impeded by the export dealers with great difficulty.  Because even the export dealer cannot exercise any considerable influence over the salary of the price, so the price of bread grain hinged on the demand and the exploitation by the inland market, usually and very often drove speculation crazy.  It is not easy for our farmers today to choose the right time as well as reaching the best possible price for his grain that through the exaggerated speculation of the price itself, even more often in the year, raised about 70 or even 75 percent , and then fell back again, so the farmer does not even know what to start and the speculation usually fell to the victim, because he is of the opinion that the price will still climb, with the sale itself delayed and very often afterwards he must sell for less than the mentioned percentage than he could have sold it for.

     The price of wheat in the summer of 1935 was 100+ Dinar per Metzen and in October, hardly three months later, on the other hand the price was already 175+ Dinar per Metzen.  This price was paid until the month of February 1936.  Since then the price of wheat has constantly fallen so that today again it hardly costs 110-112+ Dinar.

    The price of other kinds of grain also changed very much like the price of wheat.  Corn already cost 120+ Dinar this year but on the other hand in the fall it was still hardly 80+ Dinar per 100 kilogram.

     Besides the church community tax, the session farmer today has to pay approximately 240-250 Dinar per chain in total taxes.  If one assumes that today's wheat price averages between 120-125 Dinar, then the farmer had an obligation to pay the state, the "Banal" office, and the community administration 200 kilograms of wheat per chain.  

     Of the thousands of settlers who came from the Empire, a large number founded commercial enterprises.  There were no merchants among them.  Each one of the villages also only had a "Gewölb" (vault) which was the property of the rulers.  In the past century trade in Feketitsch was almost exclusively in the hands of the Jews, the lively exchange business took place.  The number of professional educated merchants first grew from our ranks since the turn of the century.  In the same crowd the ranks of the non-Aryan merchants thinned and today there are hardly any Jews in the German quarter of the old established places.  Next to our German merchants the others are only second rank. 

     Since the World War the shops have also specialized.  The predominant manufacturing businesses are: Jakob Dietrich, P. Frieß, Phil. Hoffmann, Georg Kern; haberdashery: H. Frieß and Stephen Haumann; spice and delicatessen business: Phil Seibert; spice runs: Daniel Gieße and P. Scheer; iron wares: Jak. Butscher and Phil. Schwebler; watchmaker and jewelry shops: Karl Seibert; lumber yard: Johann Schwebler.  Besides that there is a warehouse of finished men's clothing of the Tivar Company, and a shoe store of the Bata Company.  Many of the businesses mentioned exceeded by far the size of the village general store and can be compared to the urban stores.  The entrance show windows are arranged in the most modern way.  The photo studio of the couple Josef Knefeli and his wife is arranged in the most modern way.  The photographs produced could not have been made better. 

     A large part of the trade was done at our weekly market.  This took place each Sunday and it is the largest in the area.  This fact can be attributed to a lot of dairy lands on the "Hotters" (pastures) from Srbobran, St. Becej, Mol, Petrovoselo, and there were also smaller settlements (such as Kutas Brasilien, Kevi, Moholer Valley, Gunarasch, and others), which are next to our community.  Constant visitors to our weekly market are the inhabitants of Sekitsch and Mali Idjosch.  Also the communities of Vrbas, Kula, Topola, and Bajscha are represented.  Especially active are the trades in vegetables, poultry, eggs, milk products, meat, fruit, grain, and products of the commercial businesses.  A dozen "Olcsos" are also a part of the scene at the market since the end of the war.  It is these Bosnians who carry their whole general store in a pile from market to market.  Germans called these "the cheap articles."  They are a piece of the Orient.  Especially large are the weekly markets before Christmas and Easter where the "Lebzelterstände"? (tents) take up a large part of the room.  Two or three decades ago the quetsch (plum) and cabbage markets were especially large.  Five or six years ago a second weekly market took place each Wednesday.  This idea however did not meet with approval, so it remained with one weekly market.  The weekly market took place before the community house and reached up into the neighboring streets.  The pig market is a part of this weekly market and wound up on the site of the weekly market. 

The Schwebler-Gutwein mill 

     With the grain growing the mill industry limited itself to "Mautmahlen" (toll meals/grinding?) in the past hundred years.  It is recorded that in the southern end of the village a water mill existed, and besides that there were numerous windmills and horse mills.  They were only allowed to stand at the edge of the village.  Their former positions gave an exact picture of the settlement of the community.  G. Schladt built the first steam mill  in Feketitsch starting in the '90's, which burnt to the ground in 1901.  Since 1904 the steam mill industry has been principally in the Christian Welker family except for a six year interruption.  Master blacksmith Christian Welker built the still standing steam mill on swamp land in 1904.  From a modest beginning, one of the best known enterprises in the area developed itself through great joy of working and quality achievement. 

Windmill 

     Thanks to the gravel road which led to the train station, they could also develop a lively export business with meal.  In 1935 this mill was bought by the Zuschlag and Gutwein Company.  The daily accomplishment is 100 q of wheat and employs 12 to 15 people.  In the same year a newly built steam mill of the Schwebler Brothers and Gutwein Company was set in use.  This steam mill has the ability to accomplish 50 q of wheat in 12 hours and employs 12 workers.  The consistency of the meal is first rate, which the wheat on the Teleschka has considerably more adhesive content than the low lying regions of the Batschka.  Next to these two steam mills there are only the two windmills of the Kolter family, which are mainly provided with coarse meal and thanks to their small cost of operations the competition could keep. 

The Zuschlag and Gutwein Mill 

     Fil. Freund, Nik. Gutwein, and the widow of H. Scheuermann were employed with the consumption of all meal production.  Of the many horse mills the last one that was running was that of Georg Ziegler in 1914.  There were also several oil mills.  In 1860 when kerosene was first commercially used, it quickly took the place of oil.  The last oil mill in use was employed by Johann Hellermann in 1885. 

     Of the industry plants hemp was always planted in small amounts.  In the 1890's Johann Hellermann had a hemp grinding and gossiping business in house number 250.  The operation was bought by blacksmith Christian Welker at the end of the 90's and a new hemp grinding and gossiping business was opened at house number 190.  Horsepower was used.  The building resembled a horse mill.  Unfortunately before long the opportunity was lost, a hemp factory was established, or it was more favorable to make one possible.  It gave many families the opportunity to work and hemp cultivation was in great demand. - Of the industry plants sugar beets and sunflowers were still grown and delivered to the factories in Vrbas.  Also, some families bred silkworms. 

     Tens years ago hops production gained momentum.  Shortly after followed a decline in prices so this plant disappeared from our pastures.  Of course the beautiful hops kiln of Georg Bittlingmayer still exists. 

     The products of Philipp Wagner's furniture factory on display since 1927 in Vrbas have generally been appreciated.  In 1931 the display of the Kulaer Company won first prize.  The company produced, thanks to their modern mechanized business, the most sturdy goods.

     The knitting company of David Kern and Son worked with the most modern machines and delivered to several department stores in Vojvodina. 

     The brickworks of the Feketitsch township is presently leased by Jakob Gutwein and he paid 58,000 bricks for it.  In 1935 he produced more than half a million bricks.  Formerly bricks were burned in the so-called field oven as one liked, today one such kind of production is covered with high taxes.  At the edge of the Telschka mudstone was formerly produced everywhere.  This is still often done today. 

     Milk processing was already often tried.   From 1900-1904 Philipp Wagner and Christian Welker had a well-equipped dairy with steam activity in number 216.  The ownership of this dairy with its 4 horsepower "Stabil" motor performing was passed on to Philipp Wagner and moved to house number 1100 and was set up to use electricity.  The milk basin and the cheese kettle held 500 liters each.  Each day, of the 1000 liters of milk processed, 60-100 kilograms of butter was manufactured.  The milk was taken over in the morning and in the evening.  The products found in the German, Vienna, Budapest, and Seged markets sold well.  In 1913 Subotica opened its own business where the consumption of goods took over.  During the World War the company delivered 300-400 liters of milk a day to the (k and k?) military hospital in Subotica.  After the war the business was set up.  Later J. Dohn tried it as well as another with the dairy.  But it always quickly failed to sell. 

Filipp Wagner's carpentry shop 

     World War the company delivered 300-400 liters of milk a day to the (k and k?) military hospital in Subotica.  After the war the business was set up.  Later J. Dohn tried it as well as another with the dairy.  But it always quickly failed to sell. 

     A matchstick factory also existed in Feketitsch from 1890 to 1900.  It was joined by Philipp Pfaff, Heinrich Dinges, and Philipp Wagner and produced sulphur sticks with homemade machines, which were enclosed in paper boxes they produced themselves.  Everything was produced by hand.  But already after a year the factory moved to house number 102 where a proper business was opened which was favorable to the tax authorities.  The proprietors were Philipp Wagner, Johann Schwebler, Philipp Spengel, and Wilhelm Höckel.  The machines were from Vienna-Neustadt.  Ten workers were permanently employed which produced 1 million sulfur and "Krach" sticks (firecrackers?) daily.  The chimney rose 5 to 6 meters in height.  The driver brought the matchsticks to Vrbas, Kisker, Altker, Schowe, and mainly to Subotica.  After this factory was first set up in business, the Vrbas factory was erected. 

     In 1906 Georg Deck, married to Margareta Gutwein, erected the first large locksmith shop connected to an iron foundry.  The company produced thresh boxes and made grenade pods here during the war years.  The company existed until 1925. 

     The soda water manufacturer has been Ludwig Keiper for 30 years, who in his old age (80's), with (beschmäden?) liveliness drove his soda water wagon around here.  Before that Jakob Gutwein and before him Georg Mandel manufactured soda water. 

     The 15 artesian wells were kept in working order by the A. Leibersperger Company because they must often be washed out when a layer of sand collapsed.  He drilled 9 artesian wells in Feketitsch, 2 in Sekitsch, and 5 in Pacir at a depth of 40-60 meters.  The development costs for such a well comes to 2500 Dinar today.  The artesian well in front of Schmidt's guesthouse which delivers 140 liters of water a minute is 37 meters deep.  Because of this amount of water there was a pipe 1 meter above the ground through which this amount of water flowed down with a 70 liter per minute pressure. 

     In 1911 a community committee began to advise on the question of the introduction of electrical lighting.  The 3 communities of Feketitsch, Sekitsch, and Mali Idjosch concluded a contract to the owner of the first Sekitsch steam mill at the time and gave him the concession for the delivery of electric current.  This contract is generally still valid today.  The central office obliges itself to #1. deliver current to every "Reflectant?" who lives no farther than 100 meters from the existing electric main. - The price of this current was 6 Heller.  Today it is 7 Dinar and a 70 "Para" tax fee.  Industry current was 4.50 Heller.  Today it is 5 Dinar. 

     According to #7 the consumer can agree on a flat rate fee with the contractor.  This arrives in central office, so the consumer can no longer be stopped to the fixing of an hour yet the central office has little control to demand a rental fee for a fixed hour. 

     From the appendix of the contract comes the fact that the concession runs for 50 years from the 10th of December 1912. 

#4. The coverage may not show any fluctuation over 4%.  For this purpose a precision voltmeter is set up in the community house.  Unfortunately its control is hardly worth mentioning.  Through the faulty controls the community and individual defects could grow. 

According to #6. the current is switched on to customers 24 hours sooner. 

#13 was supplemented on the 13th of January 1913 and consequently 75 lights burned throughout the night on the street while 75 others only burned half of the night.  The light must be 32 candles strong. 

#14. The community pays a 3000 Kronen flat rate a year.  A ban must be placed on the central work that the central office may neither be sold nor can it be burdened.  The central office still has a deposit to pay. 

According to #18 the buildings of the community get the current for about half price.  The central office together with the machines must be insured against fire damage at some cost favorable to the community.  The community of Sekitsch has the policy for safekeeping. 

According to #27 a 10 Heller fine is to be paid for each non-burning street light, even if it switches on later or switches off earlier. 

#28 means if the street light loses 30% of its strength, central office has to replace this, otherwise 50 Heller is to be taken off of the deposit daily. 

#25 means that the contract can be cancelled after 25 years if the income paid doubles in a year, after 35 years the whole gross income will, after 40 years half of the income as the proceeds claimed.  After 50 years the contract is expired without cancellation and the ownership of the equipment together with the machines goes over to the three communities. 

The workers must be taken from the ranks of the village inhabitants, otherwise fines are to be expected. 

Today there are 500 homes in which electric light has been introduced.  With this number Feketitsch stands in last place of the three communities. 

Cottage industries: Formerly there was no house where the womenfolk had not kept some spinning wheels in business.  Also a loom could be found in most homes.  There were homemade underwear and dresses.  Today they occupy themselves with spinning and weaving only very little.

During the long winter months several occupy themselves with binding room and yard brooms, or finishing baking baskets such as reed or clay baskets.  Many did not earn anything with it, but at least some Dinar are received in the house during the unemployed winter months.

     In comparison to today, traffic nearby and in the distant surroundings was very little in the old days.  In good weather there was work in the field.  In rainy weather the roads were, and still are today, generally not driveable.  Frequently the wagon broke at the axle in the muck, mainly at the end of the village where the roads went out of the village.  The roads driven on the most were those to Novi Vrbas and Kula.  There on the canal the grain was transferred to the merchants.  Much of the grain was not necessarily for sale.  One also did not need much cash, taxes were paid in kind, and claims were small.  The relatives from the surrounding neighboring villages looked forward to attend Kirchweih or a good toboggan trail in the winter time, to go merrily from Crvenka to Feketitsch, from Sekitsch to Schowe, etc.

     There was already postal traffic in the old days.  Up to the year 1856 the mail was delivered only twice a week.  However this route did not pass Feketitsch but delivered from Subotica (Maria Theresiopel) over to Topola, Mali Idjosch, Novi Vrbas, and on to Neusatz.  The mail carriage driver drove this way with the mail carriage which also served as passenger transport for travellers.  At each postal station the horses were changed so it could continue on.  The mail carriage always had to be accompanied by well-armed soldiers because the mischief of robbers flourished in incredible numbers.  Until 1870 Feketitsch was part of the Mali Idjosch postal district.  One could only send or receive money in Peterwardein, Sombor, or Subotica.  Postage was high and had to be paid in cash.  Besides that the mailman received 2 Kreuzer for a letter and 1 Kreuzer for a card or a newspaper.  There have been postage stamps since 1850.  In 1855 the Mali Idjosch post office received 10 newspapers a day for three communities.  The riding messenger brought the mail to the community.  The church servant, Friedrich Roß, had to carry the mail for the church chancellery to Mali Idjosch.  In 1870 Feketitsch received its own post office.  The opening of the railway made the postal traffic ever more brisk.  Before the World War the mail came twice a day and was delivered morning and afternoon.  Today we receive the mail once a day. - Our post office is the telephone and telegraph station at the same time.

   Today 70-100 German daily newspapers were read in Feketitsch and besides that there were 25 German weekly newspapers and 15 German journals and magazines.  260 letters and cards are received daily.  In 1935 around 260 letters were registered.  There were 101 radio reception sets at the time, and seven people owned telephones.

   The retailer of the German newspapers is Filipp Peter.  The railway, which celebrated its first 100 years in 1925, gave traffic a tremendous push.  However it wasn't until 1870 when the first stretch of rail was placed in the Batschka from Subotica over to Sombor.  The Subotica - Novi Sader Line was opened in 1883.  This train actually should have gone to Srbobran and the Feketitsch station was to be in the vineyards next to the village.  This was also the shortest way.  However Werbaß obtained it, so a second railway was planned which passed through our village on the west side from there to Old Verbaß.  Also there was discontent because the train went up to the back door of Neu Werbaß with the help of their representatives while our train station lay 4 kilometers from the village.  Of course, our station could have been brought closer by the historical management of negotiations and the great sacrifices of the community.  However, one saw the advantage that the railroad clearly still did not offer enough.  Feketitsch paid 5000 Guilders for the train and 11 1/3 chains of field were still needed for the train to proceed through our "Hotter" (border meadow).  Mali Idjosch paid about 7000 Guilders, but Sekitsch gave no Kreuzer for it.  Instead they kept it in case they had to pay for something if the original plan was carried out.  Neuverbaß paid 26,000 Guilders.  Mali Idjosch had the train station next to the village with it (which was of course 5 kilometers away until 1914).  Sekitsch is 3800, Feketitsch is 4200 meters on the summer way.  On the 5th of March, 1883 at 3 o'clock in the afternoon the opening train steamed into the station.  The train, decorated with wreaths, was received by a crowd of a thousand people from the three communities.  The station was called Kisch-Hegyes, was changed to Hegyes-Feketehegy after a year.  After that Mali Idjosch received its own station and after all the changes in names were made, today our station is called "Feketic-Sekic."

    The retailer of the German newspapers is Filipp Peter.  The railway, which celebrated its first 100 years in 1925, gave traffic a tremendous push.  However it wasn't until 1870 when the first stretch of rail was placed in the Batschka from Subotica over to Sombor.  The Subotica - Novi Sader Line was opened in 1883.  This train actually should have gone to Srbobran and the Feketitsch station was to be in the vineyards next to the village.  This was also the shortest way.  However Werbaß obtained it, so a second railway was planned which passed through our village on the west side from there to Old Verbaß.  Also there was discontent because the train went up to the back door of Neu Werbaß with the help of their representatives while our train station lay 4 kilometers from the village.  Of course, our station could have been brought closer by the historical management of negotiations and the great sacrifices of the community.  However, one saw the advantage that the railroad clearly still did not offer enough.  Feketitsch paid 5000 Guilders for the train and 11 1/3 chains of field were still needed for the train to proceed through our "Hotter" (border meadow).  Mali Idjosch paid about 7000 Guilders, but Sekitsch gave no Kreuzer for it.  Instead they kept it in case they had to pay for something if the original plan was carried out.  Neuverbaß paid 26,000 Guilders.  Mali Idjosch had the train station next to the village with it (which was of course 5 kilometers away until 1914).  Sekitsch is 3800, Feketitsch is 4200 meters on the summer way.  On the 5th of March, 1883 at 3 o'clock in the afternoon the opening train steamed into the station.  The train, decorated with wreaths, was received by a crowd of a thousand people from the three communities.  The station was called Kisch-Hegyes, was changed to Hegyes-Feketehegy after a year.  After that Mali Idjosch received its own station and after all the changes in names were made, today our station is called "Feketic-Sekic."

    From the station Novi Sad is 53 kilometers, Belgrade is 129 kilometers, and Subotica is 49 kilometers away.  A twelve person train comes and goes daily.  The express train is included with it.  From our station a "Vizinal" (local) train went out to Backa Palanka.  The first passenger train operated on this stretch on the 20th of October 1896.  This line formerly served mainly as the connection to the main stretch but lost its importance in the new state so that the traffic from Feketitsch to Kula since 1931 was left out altogether.  What little time the distant location of the station lost, work and expenses already demanded, likely converted the cash value to produce a dizzying high total.  By 1935 our train station for Feketitsch and Sekitsch wound up with the following traffic: 24,229 tickets were issued, 1038 freight cars came, 777 have left.  It is worth mentioning that in the last few years the freight traffic has drastically reduced.  Partially because the turnover for the sake of  "Kriese" was smaller, but mainly through it, because the drivers with their horse drawn covered wagons could present the train with competition.

     Since the year 1907 a gravel road ran from Feketitsch over to Sekitsch to our station and also to the Mali Idjosch train station.  Shortly before the World War a rail line was put in place from our train station up to Senta, which had affected the community between Feketitsch and Sekitsch.  Also an electric streetcar was planned from Feketitsch to Mali Idjosch train station, however the World War prevented the execution of this plan.  Since the construction of the gravel road all sorts of vehicles have operated instead of the former Ötvenötös (a bad farm wagon, which drove to the train for about 55 Kreuzer).  Before the war there were "Fiakers" (horse-drawn cabs) and horse-drawn buses, which the passengers frequently had to push the latter up Sekitsch Mountain.  After the war there were automobiles and buses. 

     Jakob Gutwein D. had to be described as especially enterprising by the drivers.  He was set up from 1903 to 1932 with two buses he maintained, to transport passengers from the steam mills, hotel, brick oven, beach spa owner, and others to the train station during this quarter of a century when there were all means of traffic from farmers' wagons to auto taxis which often found themselves in very unfortunate circumstances on the gravel road in use.  Besides that a third bus drove starting in 1935 in the district villages up to Topola on an extended gravel road.  Before the war the trip to the train station cost 40-60 Heller, 12 Dinar afterwards, 5 Dinar Today.  The trip up to Topola cost 12 Dinar.  The international Autobahn (highway) should be expanded through our village this year, with which we expect a further increase in traffic.  As of January 1st, 1936 there were in Feketitsch: 800 wagons, 1300 horses, 300 bicycles, and 4 automobiles.

     From the times of Emperor Joseph the Second the conventional coin was introduced in his lands.  The conventional Guilder had 60 Kreuzer in it.  The 1, 2,  and 4 Kreuzer pieces were made of copper and 6, 10, and 20 Kreuzer pieces of silver.  The Maria Theresia dollar was worth 2 Florints and is still "Abbessinien?" in the traffic today. - During Austria's long lasting war with Napolean currency was calculated in Vienna.  The 1, 2, 3, 15, and 30 Kreuzer pieces were made of copper.  There were no silver coins.  To cover wartime expenses bank notes in greater amounts were issued.  For this reason all Viennese currency received the name "Schein" (note).  All prices quickly rose.  The uncovered "Scheins" led to a devaluation of 5 to 1.  After the end of the Napoleonic war the emergency money was withdrawn in 1818 and mainly silver came into use.  In addition they calculated either in conventional coins or in Viennese currency notes where 5 Kreuzer notes were worth 2 Kreuzer coins.  The "Kossuth-Banko" in the years 1848-49 consisted of from 15 amd 30 Kreuzer, 1, 2, 5, 10, and 100 Guilder and lost their entire worth.  The year 1859 brought the so-called Austrian currency.  From then on the Guilder consisted of 100 Kreuzer.  There were ½, 1, and 4 (copper coins), 10, 20, 25, 1 Florint, and 1.5 Florint (silver coins) and bank notes.  In the 1890's money was paid in Hellers and Kronen.  There were 1 and 2 (copper coins), 10 and 20 (nickel) Hellers, 1, 2, and 5 Kronen in silver, 10 and 20 Kronen in gold, and bank notes.  During the World War the Austro-Hungarian money had an exchange rate of 4 Kronen to 1 Dinar.  Besides that, a cancellation followed during which the bank notes were devalued about 20%.  Many did not let their money be cancelled, so it lost all its worth.  Today the following money is in circulation: 25 and 50 Para, 1, 2, 10, 20, and 50 Dinar in coins and 100 and 1000 Dinar in bank notes. 

     The standard of linear measure until the 1870's was the fathom = 1.896 meters.  A fathom has six shoes = 31.6 centimeters.  A shoe has 12 inches = 2.63 centimeters.  1 mile has 4000 fathoms, that is 7.586 kilometers.  The "Elle?" has 78.8 centimeters. 

     The standard of weight was the pound = 56 dekagrams. 

     A bucket had 56.50 liters.  1 bucket had 40 measures.  1 measure = 1.415 liters.  1 measure had two halves.  The grain was measured with measures of capacity
(volume).  There was the Pester Metzen = 92¼ liters and Preßburger Metzen = 61½ liters.

     Of all these old measures only the fathom is used anymore as a field measure.  A yoke has 1600 square fathoms, a chain has 2000 square fathoms, a vineyard 1200 square fathoms, a yard 300 square fathoms, and a "Stickelche?" 150 square fathoms. 

YEARS      WHEAT       PRICE   OAT / CORN / EGG PRICE  REMARKS

* W.W. = Viennese currency

Until the year 1914 they got up to 10-15 Guilders for wheat prices.

During the World War grain prices reached their peak because fruit was needed.

With the Dinar currency the price of wheat fell from 500 (1924) to 80 (1933).  The price of the fields was also set according to the price of grain , so that a chain of field cost about as much as 100 Metzen of grain.

The Nature of the Cooperative in Feketitsch

by David Tauß , secretary of "Farmers' Aid"

     In 1935 Jakob Juhn was elected to be chairman and he still holds this position today. 

Overview of the loan and savings deposits of the cooperative

   YEAR       TOTAL TURNED OVER       LOANS       SAVINGS     DEPOSITS

     As is apparent from this report the economic crisis which is happening has also not spared our cooperative.  In the years 1931-1934 the condition of the issued loans was the greatest and on the other hand the savings deposits were the least.  But we could always maintain the solvency of the cooperative.

     The cooperative had 79 members at the end of the year 1935 with 127 shares.  There were 20,190.- Dinar in reserves.  The total turned over was 3,174,926.11 Dinar.  "Gebarungs" (cash) surplus was 1,333.07 Dinar.  The cooperative worked with very few benefits so they could offer a greater share to the members.

    One of the most important institutions of the cooperative is that of the Agricultural Central Loan Treasury in Novi Sad which introduced stocks.  The stocks are a saving system by which the saver is obligated to pay in 5 Dinar a week for the duration of 5 years into the cooperative.  After the end of this time he is entitled to 1,450 Dinar per stock.  Besides this the savings system is connected to a life insurance which the saver or his heirs receive the amount paid out, also if the owner of the stock dies before it is all collected.  The cooperative has accrued over 150,000.- Dinar with its first recorded stocks since 1933.  Money for the stocks were paid out.  Each German should really want to draw savings for it at his German cooperative at the "Farmers' Aid" stock.

     The cooperative can look back today on 8 years of beneficial work and we have hope that the cooperative will still thrive in the future for the good of its members.

  Balance sheet for the year 1935

  (TABLE)

     It is still mentioned that in Feketitsch the "Farmers' Association" has existed for a decade which also used to have numerous German members.  Several Germans still belong to it today.  Christian Welker Jr. was even chairman for a year and as such he held numerous lectures with themes taken from agriculture which were extremely instructive.  The colloquial language of the association is Hungarian.

    Today our German farmers are members of Farmers' Aid.

     A financial institution called the "Feketitsch Sparkassa" (Savings Bank) also existed which was liquidated after the war.

Image

The home of the cooperative "Farmers' Aid" in Feketitsch
which has had its seat in the home of David Tauß since 1929.

     This association came into existence in 1893 at the suggestion of several village inhabitants by teacher Wilhelm Pratscher.

     With the financial assistance from men such as Jakob Knittel, teacher, Peter Gutwein, Karl Gutwein, Karl Spengler, Adam Schwebler Jr., Peter Burger Sr., and Josef Pal, teacher, soon 600 members could be recruited.

     The association existed for the purpose for different members to be buried in a respectable manner, whose heirs with a premium to contribute and to support any possible impoverished association members in illness and accidents.  In 1893 a company in Sombor still made the hearses which are still in use today.  The wagons were put up in a shed (Schupfen?) which stood from 1893 to 1928 on what is today's new street and after that on the present site not far from the sporting ground.

     Each one of the members had an entrance fee of 1 Kronen, 20 Heller and after each member died 20 Heller was paid.  The premium was set at 35 Guilders.  Soon the premium could be raised to 80 Guilders and to 90 Guilders in 1906.  Also the fortunes increased from year to year.  Yet (geriet?) the further joining of members in stocks, which according to the statutes the new members up to then gave contribution - or 20 Kronen - which they received later.  This difficulty was remedied in such a way in 1906 that the premium for a new member  was 20 Kronen less than it was for old members.  The number of members added up to 1000 because of it.  So 140 (bezügw.?) 120 Kronen per body was paid out and the total fortune reached the sum of 18,000 Kronen by the year 1914.  During the war the fortune was lost to war loans.

First in the year 1922 the contribution was raised from 20 Heller to 1 Kronen and the premium to 900 Kronen.  This was soon changed over from one Kronen to one Dinar.  Because of the difficulties of the permissions and often necessary modifications of the statutes still always existed, the association connected itself to the Rural Welfare Cooperative in 1933 in Novisad-Neusatz and formed a village group at the time in this so-called wave.  As members' contributions were handed in the "wave" was 2 Dinar, 40 Para?" per year.  After 1000 members it was 2400 Dinar.

The association still works today as it did 43 years ago.  When 2, 3, or 4 members are dead, the server collects the contributions, the premium was paid from it, and the rest served as payment to tge servers, the carriage drivers, and to other expenses.  At the time the server received 50 Dinar per body, the hearse drivers received 20 Dinar per body.  The office holders held their offices in an honorary capacity and were always elected every 3 years.

Before the German Reformed church stood a post where if an association member died, a mourning flag was hoisted.

The founder of the association was teacher Wilhelm Pratscher.  According tominutes number 32 he is to be thanked for its establishment.

The office holders until now were the following: 

Office holders of the club were:

(Table)

Up to August 1935, 654 members have died.  So many needs and miseries could be relieved by this association in its 43 year existence.  It also liked to do beneficial works over a wide area.

"Everyone ran, saved, escaped."  -  "The night is lit like daylight."
 - Schiller

"Charity is the power of fire, when it controls the people and guards", yet,"alas, when it lets go" it spreads itself, then "the elements hate the structure of the human hand." 

image 

  Volunteer Firemen's Association in 1928
with commandant teacher Jakob Dietrich.

At the alarm call of the bells everyone who has legs rushes to the fire still today, everyone is prepared to jump in to lend a hand.  After the invention of the fire hose it could be seen that so much more was achieved than with so many pails.  These large hoses needed a strong shouldered team to operate them.

After the largest fire- which stands in our memory- at which the Schladt's steam mill fell victim up to its foundation in 1900, some men decided to establish the Volunteer Firemen's Association.  The association numbered 32 men.  The founding members included Michael Gutwein as "Zugskommandant", later he was also 2nd Kommandant; Martin Göttel and Peter Burger were non-commissioned officers.  The largest fire which the association took part in extinguishing was the large "Tristen" fire on the "Salasch" (field) of Georg Bittlingmayer, where all of his wheat and that of Ludwig Häuser, as well as the threshing appliances went up in flames.  This association also took part in the large fire "Brunste" in B. Topola where 10 to 15 homes fell victim the year before the war.  At the competition in St. Kanjiza in 1914 the association won first prize: a mug.  At another opportunity they won a beautiful smoking service.  Both objects still exist.  The association existed up until the year 1922 and was under the leadership of former pharmacists and postmasters.

An enormous mill fire was the impetus for the association to be newly established again.  In 1925 the Savossi Mill ,which stood on the east side of the main street not far from the marketplace, burned down completely. - The newly founded Firemen's Association existed in 1926 under the competent leadership of Commandant Jakob Dietrich who was a teacher.  Today the association has 20 men and 6 officers, of which the "Zugs"commandants are Philipp Hauser and Joh. Körper.  The association has two fire hoses which already existed 35 years ago, of which one is already more of a museum piece.  The competent team won first prize at a competition in 1935 in Topola: a mug.  Besides that they had won a touring prize twice.

It is necessary for this association to measure its importance, the necessary attention and support should be devoted to it.

     Of the German clubs to be mentioned from the years before the war are the two reading clubs: the "Progress Club" and the "People's Club".

     Hunting rights were formerly given only to individual persons, when no club existed.  At the time there was also more game, mainly a large amount of water fowl.  Before the World War no restrictions existed for the hunter - refrained from the closed terrain and from the closed season.  He was allowed to shoot as many as he wanted.

     The first president of the hunting club was Georg Bittlingmayer Sr. from 1920 to 1930, a passionate hunter and an excellant shot.

     Today there are 13 members in the Hunting Club of which 8 are German.

     After the World War ended a group of enthusiastic young men also came together in Feketitsch for sports, mainly to practice the football game (soccer).  Competitions were organized with players of neighboring villages.  The market place served as the playing field.  In the year 1928 the place for the playing field for the already established Sports Club was placed at the disposal of the Community Committee.  The land was found below the old Evangelical cemetery and had to be prepared first.  As the hill was dug out and the swampy land was drained, regular exercise could be begun on the appropriate and beautiful laying playing field.

image 

The players of the Feketitsch Sports Club

     The club took the name "Feketitsch Sports Club" (F.S.C.) and entered as a member in the association of the Subotica Football Club.  In a few years it could win first place in the second class and climbed up to first class in 1932.  The material and technical demands of this class still had not grown with this club so after two years of competition in the first class they had to be left out.  Our local relationship consisted of the team and the leadership which was not German alone, but they were predominant.

     German foremen of the club were: Christian Welker Jr., mill owner; Jakob Dietrich Jr., salesman; Jakob Schwebler, lumber dealer; Peter Frieß, salesman.  The enthusiastic sportsmen worked as tutors (trainers): Jakob Zuschlag and Jakob Göttel, building contractor, which through some sacrifice the club was brought up (in die Höhe).

     Besides football (soccer), the other branches of sports were used only in small amounts. - At this time the establishment of a new club is being tackled.

(Sentence missing)

The first point was largely and completely kept, but the second point could not be kept long.   

     Some years after the settlement, the Turkish war happened in the year 1789.  Each half session farmer had to drive his wagon filled with hay and straw twice in the winter to the imperial warehouse in Semlin.  

One of the war's ravaged villages  

     Up to 1851 captive recruits were taken once every ten years.  Court people went out at night with some brave men to capture them.  When they were successful, mortal danger overwhelmed the young man, they put him in irons and dragged him to the community house.  On top of that the captives had to be found suitable by the community, still well bribed.  During the war with Napolean in 1808

(Balance of long paragraph & next par. missing)  

     Our fathers lived from 1866-1914, almost a half century long, in an enviable time of peace, which through the occupation of Bosnians in 1878 it was hardly disturbed.  For a year the reserve was mobilized and had to be called up.  In August the community had about 20 loads which were ordered to be given to Bosnia.  It affected the large taxpayers in turn, yet for a good price one could send a representative.  The wagon was to be divided between the train and the orderly service, but the carriage driver came back all in good condition.  But the horse and wagon suffered many times, or were completely destroyed.  Also the military was already often put up in Feketitsch.  So from September 1877 until July 1878 "the Holoner" were billeted here.  It was this half of the "Eskadron" (squadron) of the "Ulaner" regiment that consisted of 78 men and 70 horses.  In each farmer's house were 2 horses and 2 men.  They did not have their own kitchen so they had to be fed in so far as the housewife prepared the food.  The other half of the squadron lay in Sekitsch.  In 1891 a whole squadron of "Husaren" were billeted here.  Sekitsch received received no military at this time.  Allegedly the tenants at the time bought alcohol from the "Arendator" so that the whole squadron came to Feketitsch.  He had certainly made a rough estimate what 140 Husaren on alcohol could demolish in a year.  

     During the World War all men between the ages of 18 and 55 were directly inducted into the military; of the 2000 souls in all, about 450 were armed.  In August Feketitsch already got a sense of a taste and a picture of the war.  A part of "Srem" was evacuated.  The local inhabitants with their belongings gathered together hurried in a wagon or on foot all day long through the main street of the village and their lot aroused general interest.  One group stayed here 10 - 14 days until they went back home again.  It is these "Karlovicer" who are still mentioned some years after the war's end who were billeted in private homes and managed to get along well with the people of Feketitsch.  Because not all of the inductees could be put up in the first days, many went back.  For the first time all the people who normally stayed at home walked to the train station.  The soldiers' trains were almost covered with flowers, fruit, and food.  However the beginning of fall work still needed all the halfway capable working hands on the field.

     The women provided the elders and children with work and refused themselves - as well as they could - because of the war loans and requisitions, which the main task was less relieving.  As aid workers the captive Russians were soon distributed, which has gone very well here.  The Germans of Feketitsch came on all fronts and in all lands leading the war.  In the wilderness of the North and East Carpathians, by all the intertwining swamps of "Wolhinien", in the endless steppes of Russia, in the middle of the bitter cold of Siberia.  On the rough rocks of the "Karstes", on the mortal field of "Piave", in the original German land of "Tirol", in the hell of Albania, on the terrible deadly island of Asinara, Germans of Feketitsch have stood and the best - 54 in number, have not come back.  Today, after almost 20 years, it seems that it was not the cultivated bayonettes, the nerve shattering gunfire, all the strangling poison gas, or the dangling body all day long in a wire enclosure that made the warrr so horrible and gruesome, but the hunger, which was all gone in a fury.  But not only the hunger, which on the country road of the dead even the flesh of the dying was made desirable, but still much more over the mountain of bodies "Emporwollenden?" and unscrupulous war suppliers.  

     Are human beings really so bad that they can never come to a lasting world peace?  Two highly learned theologians dispute this theme in the setting of a lecture in Feketitsch.  The one, Rev. Berger, read from the Bible where it says that the human being from reason should not be so bad.  The other, Senior J. Jahn, proved that human beings always only brought laws to carry on warlike involvement and that peace on Earth was always promised.  During the war there were often one or two school halls furnished for one unit of convalescing soldiers.  They came for the most part from a hospital and stayed here until their recovery.  The bed linen was set by our women.  

     At the scene of the war are also the missing, which the children of the large city whose care had especially suffered to feel received.  During the war our Germans took in a group of poor undernourished children annually in the summer.  The children were from Vienna.  The village air, the nutritious diet, the many vegetables and fruit - which the supply in the city had suffered mainly because of the shortage of wagons - soon made the pale cheeks rosy.  The newly arrived undernourished children could fully recover in 4 to 6 weeks in Feketitsch.

     At the conclusion of the war the special so-called "Kulner Market" memorial was made in Feketitsch.  Two enormously long freight trains with all the imaginable worthwhile things were frozen on the Kulaer stretch.  Nobody was concerned about the general rashness and the irresponsible elements of the haul.  The Serbian soldiers called here by the village notary brought this to end shortly with their plundering.  In two school halls, one of them was the middle Evangelical school hall, the military was put up for two months at community cost.  To cover the accumulated expenses for the military the community sold the trees on the street.  The village could hardly be recognized after the trees were removed.  This act must one as the last which arise from the warlike mentality, was described.  Slowly the soldiers returned home from captivity in France, Italy, and Russia.  Several in Russia are still missing today.  

     The following are listed as war invalids today: Philipp Häußer, Wilhelm Ortag, Georg Bechtler, Adam Spieß, Fritz Schepp, Johann Arth, Christian Müller, Andreas Bittlingmayer, Gottfried Gerber.  

     Several of them have already died: Philipp Schwebler, Nikolaus Keiper, Peter Ludmann, Adam Willner, and many others.  

     The number of wounded was still much greater.   

     With the ending of the war was the "Eland"? in which the world was plunged, still not long before the end.  The following phenomenon has occurred to a great extent in Germany.  It was the hunger of children after a little bit of bread who were affected by the afflicted fertile land of our ancestors in the years 1923-24.  The echo of the appeal: "Germans in famine" was virually overwhelming to the Germans in Yugoslavia in general and by those in Feketitsch in particular.  The Swabians………??  

§

     (When one thinks that many families still settled here after 1860, so that the number of those who moved away can still be estimated higher.

     Especially towards the end of the last century many of our Germans began to seek their luck in a foreign country.  Many more families wandered to Beschka, Hajduschitza, Franz-Josefsfeld, etc.  Besides that our industrious maidens were courted and married there.  Also a slow and constant migration back to Sekitsch could be observed.)  Where from????

     Many went to Germany looking for work, almost exclusively as seasonal farmers in the farmland.  They saved so much there that they could build a house at home.  That is why a "Deutschländer" (Germany) Street existed from 1903 to 1913.  Many finally also stayed in the old homeland.

     However since the turn of the century the destination of our immigrants has been to the praised land of unlimited possibilities: the United States of America.  However, from there there was no easy way back as from Germany.  At the outbreak of the World War there were several hundred of our Germans in America.  For a large part of them their luck good.   They obtained considerable prosperity which they had never achieved at home with God's help and through their German diligence.

     The intimate connection with their homeland village showed that they were prepared to help after the terrible war by donating their gifts to the poor of Feketitsch from whose ranks they had come from for the most part.  They sent 104,350 Kronen for the poor and for the purpose of the church congregation.  The sum with which they thought of their relatives in cash and presents made up many of the above mentioned amounts.  More than a dozen of our American relations bought the Meierhöfe Salasch at home, which a farmer could be proud of.  The largest group of them lived in Brooklyn, where they lived in a city quarter next to each other.  Many others are in Detroit, Cleveland, and in other cities of the United States.  Many were to come back to visit in the old homeland, or let their parents come over.  Several also stayed here, but it cost them trouble to find their local relations again.  Our fellow countrymen are mainly busy in large knitting mills, or are owners of such.  They stand firmly in loyalty to thier homeland, beliefs, and the German mother tongue.  Likely it is to remain so in the future.

      Also, a few dozen Germans who came from Feketitsch live in Canada and Brazil.  However many from these lands were disappointed and returned.

All of our fellow countrymen in the distance, who call Feketitsch their birthplace and homeland, are remembered at the occasions of celebrations at which we thank our ancestors and are most sincerely greeted!  

§

 On the occasion of the commemoration of our ancestors who left the beautiful Empire 150 years ago, this book will appear to give a picture of our Germans so far.

On this island far in the sea of people we are only a half island which were especially harshly washed about.  The waves are already so high that several little bits have broken off on foreign coasts.  So many are flushed to the bottomless depths of oblivion that they were not worth recording.  The industry of the author has gone into keeping the necessary strength of the people's consciousness existing.  We are still only a minority in this minority community.

Since then the Germans live in Feketitsch, where most were separated from Sekitsch, a purely German community where most had come from, by a large horrible swamp.  Soon the Swabian homes stood on firm ground in rows that were connected to Sekitsch. - So very likely all the Germans often only absurdly get.

Feketitsch had 1810 inhabitants in 1820 according to "Eimann."

   According to the 1857 National Census there were 3851 inhabitants; 610 Ev., 337 Ref.

       "1880"   4212  " and 907 house numbers.

       "1910"   5800  " 

       "1930" 6294 " and 1500 house numbers.

       "1936"   1894 Germans in 419 residences.

     With it should be noticed that on the occasion of the National Census of 1857 there were no empty house lots in the community.  A house stood on each one of the house lots.  Today perhaps 20% of the house lots are empty.  The property owners use the house lots as gardens.  Therefore the village had to spread itself out on an unnecessarily large surface.  Even on the Main Street in the immediate neighborhood of the community house up to the marketplace very many house lots were used for clover gardens, which unfortunately made a very bad impression on the travelers who neared the inside of the village from the south side.  Especially since no care was devoted to the fencing of the garden.  When the scene of the community in this half of the village should also be improved, the community committee had to find a way that would remedy this nasty condition.  

     As a result of the national census of 1930 it is noticed that included in it are: the war volunteers on the new settlement who received about 9 yokes of field on the remaining field.  They have 110 souls, 19 house numbers, and a beautiful school.  Counted at the time were all foreigners who were served on the Hotter (border field), so are those living in America also and their children who are born there.

Results of the National Census

which was taken on the 24th of February, 1936

Authored by Johann Schwebler, house number 100

Co-workers:

1. Dietrich, Jakob Jr.
2. Feige, Johann
3. Gutwein, Arpad
4. Gutwein, Ludwig
5. Gutwein, Nikolaus
6. Häuser, Jakob
7. Hoffmann, Filipp
8. Kern, Daniel
9. Märtz, Johann
10. Ries, Andreas
11. Seibert, Filipp
12. Ries, Karl
13. Schwebler, F. Huber
14. Schwebler, F. Klaus
15. Schwebler, Wilhelm
16. Schwindt, Christian
17. Schwind, Johann   
18. Weber, Friedrich
19. Welker, Christian
20. Wolf, Jakob
21. Tauß, David
22. Zuschlag, Filipp

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