Books about Obresch

Obresch -- Ansiedlung der Deutschen (Donauschwaben) in der Gemeinde Obresch
Dr. Jakob Zeller
The book is written in German. It has a history of the village as well as many photographs of the German settlers life there and a drawn map of the village. It also has a family registry.

This book is no longer in print.

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Surtschin -- Ortsbiografie der deutschen Minderheit eines Dorfes in Syrmien

By Michael Schmidt - published in 1980. The book is written in German.
"Surtschin" 1897-1945 Evangelical - 1920-1945 Reformed - from the village of Surtschin and includes the neighboring villages of Aschanja, Betschmen, Detsch and Obresch.
It has a recorded history of each of the villages listed as well as a family registry.

This book is no longer in print.

Excerpts from the Obresch book

These excerpts from the book Obresch are published here with the kind permission of the author, Dr. Jakob Zeller

The Obetzer Bare [Obedzka Bara, Obetzer swamp] serves as a floodplain for the Sawa river and is even today a paradise for birdlife. It starts at the village of Kupinovo (Kuppen), continues in a semi-circle to the north toward Asanje (Asen), turns toward the south at the village of Obresch and it fades away between the marshy woodlands along the Sawa river. Originally this area was an old arm of this river. The wealth of flora and fauna stems from the location and topography. The many low areas contain a number of bogs and swamps. The horseshoe shaped oxbow of the Sawe river, connected to the river only at times of high water levels, encloses this area and is the source of the riches described above.

The former crown prince Rudolph von Habsburg (son of Emperor Franz Josef) visited this favored area often for studies. From his hunting lodge, located in the Frankengebirge (Fruska Gora) [“Franken Mountains”] closer to the Donau [Danube river] and between the the villages of Banoster and Scherewitz (Cerevic), his visiting hunting guests would make their way cross-country over the hills along the Kastanienweg [“Chestnut Road”] to the Rotschopf (Crvenicot) [“Redtop mountain”] past the cloister Remete to Pawlovci, then through Ruma, Nikinci, Untertowarnik and Ogar to Obresch. They camped in a large tent that they brought along and set up at the fork of the road between Obresch, Asanje and Kupinovo. A monument honoring Crown Prince Rudolf presumably still exists there today.

Agriculture:

The portion of the agriculturally utilized privately-owned areas (excluding state or community owned land) that was owned by Donauschwaben was at the end, that is until 1945, approximately 45 percent. Among other farmers owning land were: Franz Aras, about 35 [about 50 acres. 1 Joch = 1.422 acres = 5750 m²]; Heinrich Damm, about 15 Joch; Michael Damm, about 15 Joch; Franz Federmann, about 85 Joch; Jakob Fritz, about 15 Joch; Georg Geyer, about 45 Joch; Karl Heinz, about 15 Joch; Karl and Johann Lang, about 60 Joch; Georg Schenk, about 70 Joch; Philipp Schenk, about 150 Joch.

Threshing Equipment:

They were active in the months of July and August in the village of Obresch as well in the neighboring Serbian villages. Payment was made in produce (wheat, barley, oats). The equipment consisted of one tractor, one threshing machine, and one elevator [loader] (most recently already fitted with a straw bailing press). Owners were Franz Aras, Johann Fix.

Administration and economy:

Performing as mayor in Obresch were Peter Klein (1941 – 1942, Johann Müller (1942 – 1943) and, after the resettlement of the Obersch inhabitants to Wogan, the community leader was Philipp Schenk (1943 – 1944) until the flight to Austria and Germany ahead of the front in October 1944. Franz Federmann functioned as chairman of the cultural association until 1941. Andreas Siller was director of the choral society, he also conducted the small brass band, in which, among others, Nikolaus Leopold played the harmonica and Johann Heinz was active as the drummer. Chairman of the hunt club and main hunt leaseholder was Jakob Federmann. Other participating in hunt were: Franz Federmann, Karl Lang, Philipp Schenk, Franz Sigmund, Georg Geyer, Franz Aras and Andreas Wagner.
Inns: Here were held celebrations, weddings, balls etc.
Innkeepers were: Peter Klein and also Andreas and Sofia Staud.
General stores: General stores were run by the brothers Schenk, Andreas Siller and Michael Schön. Their stores were frequented by all residents of the village.
Andreas Back, Jakob Weimann and the Serbian Peric were active as blacksmiths.
Cartwright [wagon maker] was Daniel Heinz. Johann Heinz was carpenter.
Heinrich Sigmund was a tin-smith and Johann Fix was locksmith.
A fuller mill [cloth processing] was operated by Anton Greiling. Andreas Kniesel was butcher. Antal Tobias, a Hungarian, owned a brick factory.

Fishing industry:

Donauschwäbische fishermen from Apatin (Batschau) also leased fishing rights on the Sawe river. The families Bailer, Brantweiner, and Panduritsch leased from the 136 kilometer river mark (at Mitrowitz) to the 56 kilometer mark (Obetzer swamp = Obetska Bara). Furthermore Alexander Streicher, hotel owner in Semlin, leased from the 56 kilometer mard to the confluence with the Donau [Danube] including the small swamp Zivacer Bare. Also the fishing families Ziehaber, Wolf, and Bichler from Semlin had the islands Mischar (at 100 km) and the Obresch island (Podgoricka Ada) at the 80 kilometer mark.

In the 1930s the small boat owner Franz Mora, originally from Apatin, living in Semlin / Franztal, provided [river] shipping services between Semlin and Neusatz on the Donau [Danube] and Semlin Mitrowitz on the Sawe river including the river loop at Kupinovo (Wiederkehr). Also Anton Kartali, Josef Konrad with his son Matthias and Josef Basler, also from the Batschau.

The fish found a good market in the aspiring city of Belgrad.

River mills were largely in the possession of Donauschwaben on the Donau [Danube] (Apatin), but such mills were rarer on the Sawe. Besides many sport fishermen in Obresch, Ludwig Scherer and Jakob Kraus, Obresch residents, were professionally active.