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Disasters
The colonist houses built of brick and wood
had mostly straw roofs until the end of the
19th Century. Because of the straw roofs, in
a few hours a large fire could change whole
streets and even whole towns into ruin and
ashes. Around the turn of the century, the
tiled roofs had to be wetted down, but the
typical barns had thatched roofs also. So it
is no wonder that almost all the towns
suffered heavily with fires.
In 1862, three Swabian towns fell victims to
the flames. In Bildegg, Kalmandi, and
Scheindorf, the fires consumed not only
houses and barns almost completely, but also
harvest and feed-stock. In Scheindorf,
during the fire on July 8, 1862, even the
church and rectory were consumed. The
rectory was a new building, built in 1861
for the first pastor of the parish.
The elder inhabitants should be able to
remember the major fire of October 6, 1905
Ten houses, seven barns, and four cellars
for cold storage were destroyed. Because the
rectory burned down again, Pastor Erni was
forced to move into the home of the teacher
Hans Muller. The following families suffered
because of the fire: Michael Tepfenhardt,
Josepf Schimpf, Stefan Manz, Josef Koch,
Johann Schimpf, Stefan Leili, Johann Majer,
Martin Holzli, and Martin Pataki. The
rectory was rebuilt by July 26, 1908,
through insurance payments, money from the
diocese, and the parishioner's
contributions.
The last major fire in August, 1917 took 19
homes, 15 barns, 7 sheds, 9 cellars, and 23
pigsties. The damage was estimated at half a
million Kronen. The school was also burned
down and rebuilt by 1919.
That the Scheindorfer Swabians, like the
settlers in other towns, also suffered from
illnesses, hunger, as well as insect
infestation in crops, must be assumed. There
are no records of these. The only record is
of 30 deaths - 13 Swabians and 17 Rumanians
- who died of the Spanish flu in October and
November, 1918.
Crop failure as a result of unfavorable
weather was often a serious problem. During
the serious frost in September, 1906, the
wine-growers especially sustained
considerable damage and in 1912, everyone
suffered because of the abnormal weather.
Even April announced itself with snow,
frost, and storms. From August until
November, it rained uninterruptedly, so that
the grain fields could not be harvested.
That the farmers could not restore their
fields to normal the following year was a
disadvantage. The wine was undrinkable, and
the harvest brought only one quarter of the
usual profit.
The year 1924 was marked by drought. The
grain harvest was so bad in many areas that
the price of wheat climbed from 800 Lei in
September to 1,200 Lei in December and 1,600
Lei in the Spring.
If we look back at the 190-year history of
the Swabian settlement in Scheindorf, we can
conclude that, in spite of disasters, the
inhabitants were successfully able to create
a place out of the forests of Count Karolyi,
that became a loved homeland. Working
together in time of need and a great trust
in God gave them the strength to complete
the work that was begun.
[Credits,
Originally Published by Jody McKim Pharr at the DVHH.org 29 Sep 2006]
[Published by Sarah Coraggio
at the DVHH on 2 October 2018]
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Last
Updated:
13 Oct 2018 |
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