by Gerry Stifter <gstifter@hutchtel.net>

My wife Rosemary and I recently returned from a 10 day stay in Burgenland. Driving from Frankfurt to Linz, we continued onward to Eisenstadt, staying at Hotel Burgenland. We toured Schloß Esterhàsy, Haydn-Haus, the Domkirche of St. Martin, Kalvarienberg und Bergkirche, and the Haydn mausoleum. Next we drove to Klingenbach, but didn't cross into Hungary. The road passed through beautiful vineyards and forests. As we approached Mörbisch, we had our first memorable view of the Neusiedler See. 

We continued on through Rust to Breitenbrunn, where we stayed for a restful three nights at Familie Janisch, a small comfortable ,,farm holiday" we discovered on the Internet. The family owns vineyards and makes wine. We saw their ancient cellar as well as the area where the wine was pressed and held in vats. We were invited to help ourselves and we did often! The Janisch house is across from the Türkenturm, which dates from 1262 and now is a museum with impressive exhibits. 

We drove along the east side of Neusiedler See and the surrounding countryside and into the Leithagebirge. The final night, we visited with our hosts over a bottle of wine, using our dictionaries and maps to talk about Minnesota and Austria. We next went to Pilgersdorf, where my ancestors originated as well as Salmansdorf, Deutsch Gerisdorf and Bubendorf. We visited the villages and their cemeteries. In Salmansdorf cemetery, there were many Stifter family plots. The church in Pilgersdorf allowed us to look at the baptismal records from 1780 to 1855, where we found several ancestors. 

Then we visited the Edelserpentin museum in Bernstein and the Burg at Lockenhaus. 

We stopped next at Güssing to see the Burg and the Auswanderermuseum. Our guide spoke excellent English and gave us a fine tour of the exhibits. This museum is a must for anyone from the US visiting Burgenland. 

Finally it was time to depart Burgenland for Westphalia where we researched Rosemary's ancestors. We traveled by way of Graz, Klagenfurt and Salzburg. The scenery was overwhelming, but Burgenland gave us a chance to walk in the country of our ancestors and to experience the living history of Burgenland. 
A new appreciation of Burgenland resulted from our visit.

Edited by G. Berghold <GBerghold@aol.com>