About the question of
when the first Germans settled in Feketitsch,
they have little to worry about. We must
undertake a detailed examination of those
explanations which touch on this question before
all else.
1. The first notary
from New Sivac, Johann Eimann wrote in the
year 1820 in his work " The German Colonist"
about our village the following: "Feketehegy
is a picturesque village built in 1782 in
the Teletschka Valley settled by reformed
Hungarians, lays in the direction of St.
Tomasch. In in there lived 20 Catholics, 4
Old Believers, 1,763 reformed Hungarians,
and 23 Jews, in total 1,810 souls." Eimann
got his data from the Archbishop's
Kalotschaer calendar for the year 1820 and
did not know that Germans already lived here
at that time. One should not forget that
these statistical data appeared already
appeared the year before and even appeared
in the 1820 calendar. There are also no
contradictions that can be seen in the
Sekitsch church register or in the
villager's Hungarian reformed church
community which can prove that not only were
Germans here in 1820 but Germans lived in
Feketitsch before then. Eimann's record
about the establishment of our village was
also not correct because Feketitsch was not
founded in 1782, but in 1785, as this was
the date recorded in the Hungarian reformed
church community minutes in 1786. Since the
completion of the Sivac notary's work
concluded with certainty that numerous
Protestant Slovakians were in the Hungarian
reformed church community at the time, it
became clear that the German Protestants had
already arrived in Feketitsch. Perhaps the
missing document could have clarified this.
Besides the linguistic difficulties, the
Protestant pastor, Johannes Gottlieb
Weinrich, in the neighboring Sekitsch with
the organizing of his own community
completely occupied and meanwhile he aged
and the successor, his son Samuel August
Weinrich, from 1813 to 1827. However, a
lost field was found. The descendants of
these Protestants have turned out a nice
church community today.
2. A further record
about the time of the migration of Germans
to Feketitsch comes from the village's first
Protestant pastor, Ferdinand Hamel. In his
paper about the Canonical Visitation in 1874
he wrote that the first Germans settled here
in the year 1823-1824. These unsafe
explanations have not substantiated
anything. The existing parish registers,
which are the property of the local church
community already showed an organized church
life in the year 1826. Probably in
combination with all the data that could be
derived from the first settlements the dates
could be pushed back two or three years to
the years 1823-1824.
3. The historian of
the Monographic of the Batsch-Sremer
Seniorates: Gustav Bierbrunner, the senior
notary and pastor of Pacicevo (Altker) at
the time got his dates, which referred to
the settlement of the first Germans in
Feketitsch, from the above mentioned
statements of the local pastors at the time.
4. Just as the dates
in the short history of our Protestant
church community, which on the ocassion of
the 400 year Reformation celebration on the
31st of October, 1917 were written and the
church protocol was laid down, from the
above-mentioned sources were simply adopted
without verifying them.
5. Next we turn to
the truth-giving of the single commendable
schoolmaster, Johann Jauss in Sekitsch. He
wrote in his thorough and valuable work:
"Szeghegy in the first century of its
existence" on page 215: "Notice that already
Germans had settled here in Feketitsch since
the year 1820." The task of determining the
exact date when Germans arrived in
Feketitsch does not belong to the historians
of Sekitsch.
6. In the baptismal
register of Sekitsch one finds the following
dates:
|
DATE |
NAME |
PARENTS |
WITNESSES |
BAPTIZER |
|
16. i. 1819
born |
Christina |
unknown |
Johannes Scheer |
Kertvelesy |
|
17. i. 1819
bapt. |
|
Christina
Karbiener |
Christina
Ziegler |
local pastor |
|
6. VI. 1819
born |
Dorothea |
Friedrich
Wagner |
Georg Wagner |
in Feketehegy |
|
8. VI. 1819
bapt. |
|
Christina
Gerberin |
Dorothea
Eidenmuller |
|
|
16. VI. 1819
born |
Barbara |
Heinrich Berron |
Georg Adolf |
|
|
27. VI. 1819
bapt. |
|
Magdelina
Nayerin |
Barbara Berron |
|
At this baptism it is
noticed that on the same day, on the 27th of
June a baptism is also registered which the
pastor of Sekitsch, Samuel August Weinrich had
carried out.
|
DATE |
NAME |
PARENTS |
WITNESSES |
BAPTIZER |
|
25. VI. 1819
born |
Joannes |
Joannes Czeh |
- |
Kertvelesy |
|
29. VI. 1819
bapt. |
|
Sofia Balg |
- |
local pastor |
|
24. VIII. 1819
born |
Johann |
Michael Gerber |
Nikolaus Gerber |
in Feketehegy |
|
26. VIII. 1819
bapt. |
Nik. |
Katharina
Bieber |
Anna Maria
Bieber |
|
|
9. II. 1820
born |
Maria |
Gottfried
Eckert |
Georg Adolf |
|
|
11. II. 1820
bapt. |
Dorothea |
Elisabetha Brod |
Barbara Berron |
|
According to these it is
certain that already in the year 1818 Germans
were living in Feketitsch because it is assumed
that Christina Karbiener did not come to
Feketitsch after the New Year in 1819 for her to
deliver her baby here on the 16th of January.
As you know it was and is still today in this
scenic district during Michaelmas in the fall
the period of migration.
Starting in 1820 the
names of the fathers whose children were
baptized by the local pastor Kertvelesy in
Feketehegy are listed as follows:
|
DATE |
FATHERS |
DATES |
FATHERS |
|
15 - 17 May
1820 |
Josef Muller |
17 February
1822 |
Vorn. Bieber |
|
28 - 31 August
1820 |
Friedrich Feige |
1822 |
Johann Hess |
|
20-22 Sept 1820 |
Jakob Gutwein |
1822 |
Wilhelm Stand |
|
1820 |
Jakob Lehr |
1822 |
Georg Karbiener |
|
1820 |
Fried. Neumann |
1823 |
Johann Eckert |
|
1820 |
Christof
Strasser |
1823 |
Christian
Muller |
|
1820 |
Georg Mandel |
1824 |
Jakob Fetzer |
|
|
|
1824 |
Friedrich
Bieber |
By the 17th of
February 1822 it is noticed that baptisms took
place that were entered before the baptisms of
19 February 1822 in which Reverend Weinrich was
the baptizer.
On the 5th of June
1826 the child of Daniel Pister was baptized by
Reverend Kertvelesy.
Before this a baptism
is entered which Reverend Weinrich had planned
for the 7th of June. In other places four
baptisms are squeezed into the margins at the
top and bottom of the pages. All of the
baptisms were performed by Reverend Kertvelesy
of Feketitsch. The fathers of these children
are:
|
7th of May
1827: |
Adolf Howe |
|
12th of May
1827: |
Heinrich
Battruf |
|
13th of May
1827: |
Philipp Heck |
|
30th of April
1827: |
Peter Müller |
The column listing
baptisms lists 1 January 1819 first. Before
that it is not cited whose baptism was planned.
And already on the 19th of January 1819 the
Hungarian Reformed pastor of Feketitsch
functioned as the baptizer.
It was this baptism
which was already planned for the children of
Evangelist Germans living here. The local
Hungarian pastor performed these baptisms in
Feketitsch, which were then transferred to the
register of the Evangelist church community in
Sekitsch. This resulted in the registration of
the baptisms performed in Feketitsch later
causing an interruption in the sequence of the
dates which was frequently the case.
On one and the same day
Reverend Weinrich and also Reverend Kertvelesy
baptized, ruling out standing in.
There is no direct
record that the parents lived in Feketitsch, but
Reverend Weinrich had hardly died when his
successor, Reverend Skultethy, had already
baptized children of some families who lived in
Feketitsch in 1827. But Reverend Kertvelesy
continued to baptize and the parents are always
residents of Feketitsch. Reverend Weinrich just
did not consider it necessary to remark that the
parents lived in Feketitsch because these
families belonged, of course, to the church
community in Sekitsch and came exclusively from
Sekitsch initially. It is even assumed that the
parents of the children who Reverend Weinrich
baptized lived in Feketitsch. In our death
register it is recorded that Christian Gerber,
who died in 1876, was born in Feketitsch on the
10th of November 1819. His wife was M. Elis.
Henkel. Also Gottfried Lackner, who died in
1871, was born on the 19th of October 1820 in
Feketitsch. These dates clarify the issue.
Therefore the baptismal
register of Sekitsch only determined a part of
the first families were residents in Feketitsch
where the baptizer was Reverend Kertvelesy.
In the register of the
Hungarian Reformed church community these
baptisms are not performed but took place on the
days of the child's baptism of Hungarian
parents. The same thing happened at the baptism
of the children of the local German Evangelist
parents. But they were not introduced into the
register because there were no Reformers.
Nevertheless, in 1820 the following German
baptisms were introduced into the Hungarian
Reformed register:
|
DATE |
PARENTS |
NAME |
WITNESSES |
|
1820 |
Christina
Gutwein Elisabetha Naderin |
Andrasch |
Adam Gutwein &
Anna Catharina Loschin |
|
1821 |
Kruger Peter &
Beron Margareta |
Terez |
Freidinger
Gyorgy &Serin Katalin |
These families are
Reformed families who are also entered into the
register of the Reformed church community.
More German Reformists
also resided in Feketitsch in 1820. In the
years before that no German names are found in
the register of the local Hungarian Reformed
church community. The owners of the
aforementioned Evangelist and Reformed German
family names are therefore the very first
Germans which resided in Feketitsch. Some of
them migrated again out from Feketitsch and in
some cases they came back again after so many
years.
After the new pastor,
Josef Skultethy, took over his office in
Sekitsch we notice in very many cases the remark
next to the names of the parents that they lived
in Feketitsch, which his predecessor had never
noted.
The first baptism where
it is noted that the parents resided in
Feketitsch is the following:
|
DATE |
NAME |
PARENTS |
GODPARENTS |
BAPTIZER |
|
17 August 1827 |
Martinus
(+ 1905 in Sekitsch |
Martinus
Pratscher & Christina Werlaner,
residents of Feketitsch |
Georg Pratscher
& Wilhelmine Schmelser |
Josef Skultethy |
Starting in July 1827
the children of the following fathers were
baptized and lived in Feketitsch:
|
1. Georg Weiß |
7. Leonhard
Seibert |
|
2. Eberhard
Burger |
8. Adam Walter |
|
3. Peter Burg |
9. Theobald
Schäfer |
|
4. Friedrich
Kränzler |
10. Ludwig
Geist |
|
5. Nikolaus
Bollinger |
11. Nikolaus
Karius |
|
6. Johann
Müller |
|
In the year 1828:
|
1. Christian
Klos |
10. G.
Bollinger (Kðrtvelesy) |
|
2. Andreas
Mayer |
11. Georg
Müller |
|
3. Gottfried
Gutwein |
12. Friedrich
Jung |
|
4. David Bieber |
13. Jakob
Bittlingmayer |
|
5. Adam
Pratscher |
14. Johann
Machmer |
|
6. Jakob
Schäfer |
15. Heinrich
Schäfer |
|
7. Heinrich
Schwaner |
16. Christian
Schäfer |
|
8. Johann Baron |
17. Johann
Barron |
|
9. Adam Kieß |
18. Conrad
Müller |
In the year 1829
|
1. Anton Scheer |
8. Johann
Walter |
|
2. Conrad
Fischer |
9. Johann Mayer |
|
3. Nikolaus
Reitenbach |
|
|
4. Georg Schück |
11. Heinrich
Schäfer |
|
5. Adolf Howe |
12. Philipp
Schäfer |
|
6. Johann
Bender |
13. Philipp Hut |
|
7. Leonhard
Seibert |
|
From the year 1830 on
a separate column was made for the birthplace.
According to this the number born in Feketitsch
in each successive year are listed below:
|
1830. . . . . .
. 21 children |
|
1833. . . . . .
. 26 children |
|
1831. . . . . .
. 16 children |
|
1834. . . . . .
. 21 children |
|
1832. . . . . .
. 15 children |
From the start, after
Reverend Kertvelesy was buried, the new pastor,
Skultethy, noted the birthplace and residence of
the deceased and already on the 16th of March
1827 we find that Carl Spengler, a child only 6
years and 5 days old, died in Feketitsch and was
born in Feketitsch. That is also a clear
indication that nothing was left unanswered.
It is also noted that
of the settler ancestors who came from the
Empire, several of them died in Feketitsch. So
it is recorded that on the 10th of March 1828
the Feketitsch resident Balthasar Müller died at
the age of 72. His birthplace was in Grumbach
in the Empire.
The first weddings were:
28th of May 1822: Balthasar Burger and Anna
Maria Jentzen; 13th of June 1822: Georg Jud and
Elisabetha Weintrank.
The exact dates of the
weddings are first found in the year 1842:
Johann Stutzmann, a 20 year old carpenter was
born in Feketitsch in 1822; Peter Heck, a 20
year old miller, was born in Feketitsch in 1822.
Reverend Weinrich did
not pay attention to birthplaces in 1822.
The census of Germans in
Feketitsch around the year 1820 was not exactly
determined. But it is certain that the Germans
who lived here in 1820 were already so numerous
that the Hungarian
Reformed church
community saw reason to separate the community
from the political community which up to then
were one in administration and finance. This
separation did not seem necessary to them before
then, although according to Eimann's records
there were already 20 Catholics, 4 Old
Believers, and 23 Jews who lived there,
altogether 47 souls. It is therefore accepted
that the number of Germans and their taxable
abilities was significant.
The Germans came from
the neighboring Protestant villages. And
initially they came exclusively from Sekitsch.
For the most part two to three families were
drawn to Feketitsch. Their homes were the
Hungarian colonist homes which they bought from
the Hungarians.
The first Germans were
dispersed in the village from one end to the
other, yet they already preferred the streets
which were conveniently near to Sekitsch. They
built new homes in the "outermost row", today
the street of the steam mill which is across
from the pathways to the homes. Around the year
1900 the Germans lived united on the streets
which lay near Sekitsch.
The Germans set
themselves up in business here, as is still the
case today. The resident Hungarians here did
not place any weight on business, so the
efficient German masters found sufficient work
opportunities here. The first business was the
cabinet maker Nikolaus Reitenbach which proves
all things already came from Crvenka.
Most of the Germans who
resided here were farmers whose yards and fields
of the father's homes were too narrow. The
older brother received the father's possession
and the younger brothers would buy a field which
was just and must have been cheap. Such a
purchase gave the larger Feketitsch Hotter a
rich opportunity. It gave cheaper fields which
were also not so good as the ground of the
smaller Hotters of the German community had been
diligently worked for three or four centuries by
German workers.
