Hamilton, Ohio is a town about 23 miles north of Cincinnati, Ohio therefore one is reminded of the German presence in Greater Cincinnati. In the early 1900`s, many immigrants from the Burgenland settled in Hamilton. They came mostly from the village known today as Deutschkreutz. My grandfather, John Reumann, was one of those immigrants. He and others from Deutschkreutz settled in East Hamilton where other Germanic speaking people were. Hamilton was an industrial community; industries were metalworking such as foundries and plants making safes, also, several paper mills. My grandfather worked in an iron foundry as a molder, as did several of the Burgenländers. These foundries made iron castings for the machine tool industry in Cincinnati as well as for the stove works and for paper machinery. At the end of a hot working day, the men would meet at a local tavern and discuss the jobs they did that day; as well as the life they now had in America.
These people from Burgenland were a very tight knit group. However, as they died, contact with Deutschkreutz and the Burgenland generally came to a halt. When I first visited Deutschkreutz, I was taken to the cemetery by my father`s cousin. I could well have been back home in Hamilton, Ohio. Just looking at the names on the tombstones told the story; all familiar names. This was also true when my newly discovered cousins took me on a trip across the border into Hungary.
As we drove through Sopron, Hungary, many of the names on the mailboxes were all so familiar. Many of the people that I have met in Deutschreutz have asked me " why is it that people in America seem to have forgotten that they have relatives in Austria. This is a good question. We, in Hamilton, and those of us who have moved from Hamilton, who have roots in the Burgenland, need to rediscover our roots. (ed. note:-exactly why the BB was formed). Some family names of Hamilton settlers from the Burgenland are ARTNER; JUST; GROSS; WEBER; FUCHS; RINGEL; KALLINGER; [John REUMANN; George REUMANN; Elizabeth REITINGER; Mary NEMETH] GROHOL. I could come up with more if I would just sit back and start thinking. John Reumann and Mary Nemeth are my paternal grandparents; George Reumann, my grandfather`s younger brother and his wife Elizabeth Reitinger.

Written by: BB member James E. Reumann, (jreumann@prodigy.net); Perry Park, KY and published in the BB News in 1998. His family names are REUMANN, GLOCKL, NEMETH, VARGA, ERNST, EISENMAGEN, ROLL, SÁROS; all from Deutschkreutz (Sopronkeresztur)

G. Berghold <GBerghold@aol.com>, Editor BB News