Wednesday, October 15, 2025

FERDINAND I of HUNGARY AS PAINTED BY TITIAN

 'Ferdinand I of Hungary and Bohemia', 16th century, Italian... is a painting by Titian -c 1485-1576



Saturday, October 11, 2025

VAJAHUNYAD : A FANTASY CASTLE BUILT FOR THE 1000th ANNIVERSARY OF HUNGARY : WONDERFUL PLACES IN HUNGARY #31

https://vajdahunyadcastle.com/

While in Budapest....

Excerpt: The whole nation was in a feverish preparation to celebrate the 1000th birthday, but, despite all hurried work, the Expo had to be held one year later (Hungarian astronomists set the date of the Magyar Conquest in 895, so the Exhibition was in fact the 1001th birthday).

The original building of the Vajdahunyad Castle (officially called in 1896 the Historical Building Complex, i.e. Tortenelmi Epuletcsoport) was just a temporary structure made of wooden planks and cardboard designs. Even its plain name was descriptive signifying that it is nothing more than a complex of various historical buildings. Ignac Alpar designed the building of Vajdahunyad Var, which is actually the name of an old Hungarian Gothic Castle in Hunyadvar hence Vajda-Hunyadvar (Hunyadvar was part of Austria-Hungary before 1919, now found in Romania).



Wednesday, September 17, 2025

TELKI-BANYA : 800 YEARS OF MINING GOLD, SILVER, OPALS, CRYSTALS, MINERALS : WONDERFUL PLACES IN HUNGARY #30

 

Are you a "rock hound?" I suggest that Telki Banya would make for a leisurely day trip in Tokaj mountain country. I first heard of Telki Banya years ago in genealogy archival documents. I suspected I might have ancestors who lived there and research proved I was right, though the old handwritten records for the Protestant Church were both difficult to read and (surprise!) had been transcribed in the FamilySearch genealogy database! (The ancestors moved and became Roman Catholics along the way.) Telki Banya translates to Good Mine and I was intrigued to know that gold and silver had been mined there since the Medieval period. Years ago there wasn't much on the Internet about the little town. There is much more now. I was next amazed to learn that there are surface minerals and gem stones, especially opals! It seems there are so very many varieties of gemstones and crystals to be found in the area this place has true geological educational value. The reason why? Ancient volcanos. You can still see lava domes and other evidence above ground.

This beautiful video is a delight to watch:


Walk or hike, go to the mining museum, buy some locally made jewelry from the also local rocks, check out the Protestant church and graveyard (carved wooden posts), the Saint Catherine's Roman Catholic chapel and an old Jewish graveyard. 

ARCGIS - MINERALS AND ROCKS! CHECK THIS OUT! A colorful expandable geology map.



As I researched Telki Banya, I found some "gems and minerals" of information.

I have lost where I got this excerpt from: 

Far away from noisy towns, hidden in the Zemplén Hills Hotel Ezüstfenyő *** awaits its explorers continuously, reviving the atmosphere of the long-ago Károlyi hunting mansion. Telkibánya is situated between the Northern mounds of the Zemplén Hills; from its mines gold and silver were exploited during centuries. The roots of the 'magical' reputation of the small village go back to the special cultural heritage and the natural beauty of the neighbourhood as well as to the healthy environment excellent for curing asthmatic diseases.

Then there's this one:

Surface minerals, Telkibanya  (from a now expired site called szallasfoglalas) said:
The hills surrounding the settlement are the cherished terrain of mineral collectors who find many lovely and precious stones here on the surface including opal, jasper and mountain crystal.

Mineral tours are organized locally. Gyepű Hill primarily offers amethysts, smoky quartz and mountain crystals, Kánya Hill is known for its amethysts, smoky quartz, mountain crystals, and a pseudomorphosis of quartz after calcite. Sinta Hill is the place for the most beautiful mountain crystals but agates can also be found. White Hill (Fehér-hegy) holds geodes, the Ósva Valley varieties of opals. 

Here is the "big geode."



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Friday, September 12, 2025

BALATONUDVARI HEART SHAPED TOMBSTONES and ARTIST ILONA KERERU

Yes, believe it or not, there is a graveyard in the village of Balatonudvari (near Lake Balaton) where the tombstones are all "heart shaped."  (Some say shaped like an apple, but perhaps the point of the heart is in the ground?)  See the good photographs.

MEDIUM : HEART SHAPED TOMBSTONES of BALATONUDVARI by Alexandra Palconi 

Excerpt: "THE DEAD HEART TURNS INTO STONE, TOO.  FIRST IT BECOMES DUST< THEN IT TURNS INTO STONE."

Of course, there is also a local legend about these monuments; apparently, a local handyman convinced the villagers of Balatonudvari to order heart- shaped tombstones because "the dead hearts turn into stone, too.  First it becomes dust, then it turns into stone."  There are rumors that the last of the heart-shaped tombstones stands at the handyman's grave.  The creepy thing is, according to the same legend, he even engraved his own tombstone.

STEVEN FRIENDMAN GALLERY : ART BY ILONA KESEWRU INSPIRED BY THE HEART SHAPED TOMBSTONES


Tuesday, September 9, 2025

WAYS TO FIGURE DEATH OF AN ANCESTOR IF THE RECORDS ARE MISSING OR INCOMPLETE : HUNGARIAN CEMETERIES , READING DEATH RECORDS, GENEALOGY RESEARCH IN HUNGARY #5


Those of you who have been into genealogy for some time may already know this. Those of you who are early in your research may not realize; Warning! - This is a lot of work - a lot of time will be required.  I suppose it's about how motivated you are to go back further, another generation.

Because I'm an "extreme genealogist" I frankly enjoy the challenge.

1) Do your family group sheets. Often you find the birth/ baptisms of children is what reveals a married couple.

2) On some birth records, you may notice a cross mark which indicates death and a date listed. If the date is not listed and it's a baby, then the baby probably was still born or died soon after birth.

3) Notice the pattern of children born and the age of the parents. Is there a point where a reasonably fertile youthful couple stop having children?  You might make a timeline in which you figure the age of the mother at each childbirth.  

4) Notice if a given name has been used in that family before. That indicates that the child in the family first given that name has died, and so the name is being used again.  (This ties into a religious belief that God is giving a replacement child and blessing the couple. So many babies and children died without becoming adults before vaccinations, I often truly wonder how people could emotionally handle so much death.  Since it was happening all around them, though, they had the experience of "this is how life is.")

5) The remarriage of a man or woman almost always indicates the death of a spouse in those days before divorce, so the records may state that they had a previous marriage, that they are a widow or widower, and might mention the woman's previous married surname. (Don't be shocked if the remarriage comes soon after the death.  People were pragmatic and work was gender-based. Pressure was on to remarry.) Until you find a definite date, you would note "death previous" to the marriage date on your research.

5) Informal adoption : Notes may also indicate that a child's parent died. Sometimes you will notice on a marriage record that a mention has been made of a former parent's surname. Because adoption for common children was so informal, it could be that they went to live with relatives, or they may have started working to support themselves very young... This may be revealed also by doing a "house number"/ farmstead study, seeing who is living at the address and when.


C 2025  Magyar-American BlogSpot  All Rights Reserved including Internet and International Rights.   This genealogy series can be brought up using the tag Hungary Death Records - Gen Tips

Saturday, September 6, 2025

HUNGARIAN CEMETERIES NEED UPDATED MAPS AND DATBASES BUT... HUNGARIAN CEMETERIES , READING DEATH RECORDS, GENEALOGY RESEARCH IN HUNGARY #4


HUNGARY : CEMETERIES : NEED FOR UPDATED MAPS and DATABASES  https://rmx.news/hungary/grave-matter-hungarian-cemeteries-lack-up-to-date-maps-and-registries/

 But please remember this: Many cemeteries in the United States, Hungary, everywhere, are missing tombstones - a grave was never provided one, or a wooden cross or other marker was destroyed by weather, or the stones were stolen or - in the case of some places in Europe - removed to be used for other purposes by the Nazi's, BUT THE POINT IS....  Just because a tombstone is not there does not mean that the burial didn't happen. And so...

CONTACT THE CEMETERY! As this article mentions, finding out who was buried and where might not lead anywhere... But some cemeteries have hundreds of burials recorded in their books that have no stones. The first place to look is the cemetery associated with the church in which you've found the record of death. If you are going to visit in person, make contact as far in advance as possible. Knowing a relative is going to visit may be inspirational to the care-taker.

CONTACT THE DIOCESE! Often burials in cemeteries that are religion-based are also recorded with the diocese and not just the local church.

CONTACT THE UNDERTAKER! Sometimes the funeral home keeps records which may mention where the burial took place. This is a more modern approach.

HOWEVER

The Jewish people have taken on cemetery projects in an admirable way. Starting many years ago, initially the idea was to visit cemeteries that had suffered from damage during the Holocaust, and from the neglect because generations had left Europe, and clean, straighten and record the stones, mow down the weeds, and sometimes erect other memorials.  

Here is an example ZEILSLER FAMILY PROJECT : EGER JEWISH CEMETERIES

And the INTERNATIONAL JEWISH CEMETERY PROJECT EASTERN EUROPE


C 2025  Magyar-American BlogSpot  All Rights Reserved including Internet and International Rights. This genealogy series can be brought up using the tag Hungary Death Records - Gen Tips

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

MASS BURIAL OF SOLDIERS WHO FOUGHT OFF THE OTTOMAN TURKS IN THE BATTLE OF MOHACS - August 31 1526 - DISCOVERED : ARCHEOLOGY IN HUNGARY

The excavated remains are planned to be laid to rest of the 500th anniversary of the battle, which is on August 29, 2026, in a crypt in a chapel to be built there.

HUNGARY TODAY : MASS GRAVE : BATTLE OF MOHACS good photos of the dig

MIAMI HERALD : MASS GRAVE WITH THOUSANDS OF SKELETONS BATTLE OF MOHACS includes audio....  A dark day in Hungarian history, thousands dead in an hour, including the Hungarian King... Some were executed, some may have been prisoners.

This is quite the animation by Aditu Laudis

Monday, September 1, 2025

Saturday, August 30, 2025

READING THE LATIN and MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE BACK IN THE DAY : HUNGARIAN CEMETERIES , READING DEATH RECORDS, GENEALOGY RESEARCH IN HUNGARY #3

  What did our ancestors know about the cause of death back in the 19th century and before that?  When there were no vaccines, when a C-section was only done to try and save the baby since the mother had already died in childbirth, and when average people rarely lived as long as we are expected to? It seems that the more populated the place, and the more likely an educated doctor, the more details or understanding there might have been.

I've been working with death records for some time and many have no connotations at all, rather the concern seems to be that last rites of the Catholic church were administered to the dying, and that a grave was provided. When we look at records we may see Latin being used, though sometimes other notes are in Hungarian. 

Latin was the universal language of the Roman Catholic church.

SOME CAUSES OF DEATH IN RECORDS FROM 19th and 18th century  Death = Halal 

Naturalis : a natural death.  In other words not an accident.  Can cover anything other than an accident but especially old age or being debilitated. Also Ordinaris - an ordinary death, nothing unexpected.  (So far I have found only one record, for a twelve year old boy, in which is was written tragikus baleset (in Hungarian, Tragic Accident.)

Note that handwritten F's may be used in some cases instead of S.

Tusis : (Tufis) cough  (Whatever ailed this person they were coughing a lot.  Can be a childhood illness or can be TB.)

Phthisis : pulmonary - TB or another progressive and systemic illness

Hydrops (Hidrop) : fluid in the tissues or edema (visible, this can indicate any end-stage of life including cancer.)

How much was understood about cancer is unknown to me. We now know there are very many cancers and generally the place they originated in the body is what they are called, i.e. "colon cancer" though it may have spread.

Aquio suffo - Aquio suffocatus : means suffocate with water (drowned) however, some illness the person's lungs or heart filled with fluid.

Dipenteria / Dipenterium : Prison  (Person died while in prison.)

Morbo grasante : morbid fat or fattening disease

Dolorum : Pain  Which might be followed by where the pain was such as Stomachi (Stomach), Internum (Internal), Guter (gut)... Our ancestors did not have much for pain control and death was often painful... Fajdalom = Hungarian 

Ulceribus : an ulcer or wound that would not heal, which could be due to an infection. Fekely =Hungarian  (A Note that this notation might also indicate the person had diabetes.)

Tumores : tumors.  These would probably have had to be visible or perhaps operated upon.

Febris : fever  laz=Hungarian

Senex : Old Person (senile?)


Plagues  (Wash your hands!)  Pestis = Hungarian 

Epidemia - Epidemic

Any illness that was the cause of many people to die was called plague, so Covid-19 would be considered a Plague.  Though we understand what caused some of these today, such as unsanitary conditions, bad water, fleas, some forms of plague are still not understood.

Typhus - (According to the CDC of the United States) Typhus fevers are a group of diseases caused by bacteria that are spread to humans by fleas, lice, and chiggers. Typhus fevers include murine typhus, epidemic typhus, and scrub typhus.  Fleas spread murine typhus, body lice spread epidemic typhus, and chiggars spread scrub typhus.

Cholera - (According to the CDC of the United States) Cholera is a bacterial disease spread through contaminated water and food. Cholera can cause severe diarrhea, dehydration, and even death if the disease goes untreated.  People living in places with unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene are at highest risk of cholera.  (kolera = Hungarian)

***

Provisus - provisions made for burial.  Often the name of the priest who performed Last Rites is given. 

C 2025  Magyar-American BlogSpot  All Rights Reserved including Internet and International Rights. This genealogy series can be brought up using the tag Hungary Death Records - Gen Tips


Wednesday, August 27, 2025

THE FIVE MOST BEAUTIFUL CEMETERIES IN BUDAPEST ! EXCELLENT ARTICLE FROM WE LOVE BUDAPEST

WE LOVE BUDAPEST : FIVE MOST BEAUTIFUL CEMETERIES 

Excerpts:

Farkasréti from 1894

Violets, fresh air and tranquillity surround the names of the famous Hungarians on these gravestones. It may sound morbid, but beautiful Farkasréti Cemetery, in a lovely natural setting, is a fine place for an autumn walk. This is the largest of its kind in Buda and the last resting place of composers Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, as well as many revered actors and not so revered politicians.  ...


Kerepesi from 1847


Kerepsi Cemetery houses the graves and magnificent mausoleums of the most notable Hungarians.  Many are true works of art adorned with ornate sculptures, frescos, and mosaics... The most grandiose funeral of the Dual Monarchy was that of the most emblematic figure of the Revolution, Lajoz Kossuth, governor of the Kingdom of Hungary during the fight for freedom.  After 1849, Kossuth emigrated and lived the rest of his life abroad.  His ashes were brought to Budapest and buried at Kerepesi.  His strikingly adorned mausoleum is still the grandest piece of funereal architecture in Hungary. 

Kozma utca  from 1893


The Jewish Cemetery on Kozma utca opened alongside Új köztemető (New Public Cemetery) in 1893. It is currently the largest Jewish cemetery in Hungary, the last resting place for around 300,000 people. It also holds priceless architectural treasures, unfortunately some in extremely poor condition. ... Families of the Jewish elite are buried in ornate mausoleums near the cemetery walls, such as the Schmidl mausoleum decorated with Zsolnay ceramics, and the Gries mausoleum, with mosaics by the equally renowned Miksa Roth.


Salgótarjáni utca from 1874


Opened in 1874, this cemetery alongside Kerepesi provides a comprehensive picture of Jewish emancipation in Hungary and the social and artistic life of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Prominent figures here include influential entrepreneur Manfréd Weiss, Unicum pioneer József Zwack and Moritz Wahrmann, a leading figure in the development of Budapest in the 1800s. Among the designers of the tombs are the greatest architects of the day.


MORE DETAILS AT THE LINK!


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Saturday, August 23, 2025

SACRIFICE CAULDRON UNCOVERED : EURASIAN STEPPE CULTURE of ANCIENT HUNS : MOUND BURIAL BUILDERS

MKI GOV HUNGARY : SACRIFICIAL CAULDRAN : ANCIENT HUNS  It's a rare, thousand year old cauldron, and it's also about diplomatic relations. 

Excerpt: When an excavation area is designated, there's no way of knowing what the burial sites are hiding.  But usually the chances of finding such a wonderful find are slim.  Indeed, after the fall of the Hun Empire, the Chinese emperors supported and sometimes even financed the looting of Hun graves.  On the one hand, they were after the gold and treasures, and on the other, they were seeking to eliminate scared sites that had played an important role in the identity of the people living there.  The imprint of this today is that almost all the Hun tombs are in plundered state.  That is why we had great luck with the excavation of the Asian Hun cemetery at Ar Gunti.  Here we found unmolested graves, and in one of them the amazing artefact we have just unpacked.

- Let me add,"the Ambassador resumes, "that these graves are easy to find and rob because the tombs are still visible on the surface, in the form of stone and earth piles that have been standing for thousands, sometimes two thousand years.

- Such burials were very common among the steppe peoples. From the Scythians to the Cumans it was customary that the more important the ruler, the more soil was brought to the tomb from distant parts of the empire, and the higher the mound was under which the ruler could rest in eternal sleep. We have such tombs in the area of Százhalombatta, for example. That's why the name of the town translates into English as 'hundred mounds' explained the Director-General.