Biking in Burgenland...

The highlight of our short vacation for Noah was the biking we did on Friday. Burgenland is a cyclist's dream, with bike paths everywhere - between every town and to and around the large lake, the Neusiedler See.

The hotel where we were staying, the Hotel Zur Post, had a collection of 10 bikes for renting and we were helped by the hotel owner, Otto. Noah couldn't find a bike small enough so we had to go the short 2 blocks to the main bike rental store. We swapped out his larger bike for one that was just the right size and we were on our way.

Our plan was to bike to the Neusiedler See and then take the ferry to the other side and bike to the Hungarian border. We had a false start by heading the wrong way on one of the bike trails, and ended up in the next town over from Illmitz further away from the lake. We retraced our way back to Illmitz and soon were on the right path to the lake.

On the way we passed a farmer with his herd of cattle, and there was much other wildlife to see. We got to the lake and quickly found where the ferries departed. It was 25 Euros (about $38) for roundtrip passage on the ferry for the three of us and our bikes. Ferries depart every 30 minutes but we were lucky and one was just about finished loading. We were the last passangers to board and off we went for the 20 minute trip across the lake to Morbisch.



Noah with his bovine friends.


Resting on the ferry crossing lake Neusiedler See to the town of Morbisch on the other side.


Everyone on the ferry had a bike. Bugenland is a paradise for bikers, even casual ones like us.


Because of recent EU rule changes, there is an open border between Austria and Hungary.

We made it to the Hungarian border, which is just a few kilometers south of Morbisch. Not much to see, really, but at least now we can say that we were in Hungary.

We went back to Morbisch and decided against biking to Rust seven kilometers further north. Instead we went back to the ferries and again got lucky with one boarding as we arrived. Upon arriving back on the east side of the lake we decided to have lunch at one of the restaurants with patios overlooking the lake. The food and service were quite good (and the prices not bad either). Then it was back to Illmitz and the end of our little ride. I figure that we travelled 25 kilometers, or about 15 miles. That's not very far for seasoned bikers, but it was the longest bike outing as a family.

The church in Andau...

After visiting Weinbau Sattler on Thursday we went to Andau and looked at the Catholic church there. I think it has an interesting architecture but Martin Sattler would say at dinner the next night that it "looks like a factory". I suppose it does, but I still like it.


The door to the church was unlocked - this surprised us since in the US it seems that churches are only open when services are being conducted.


Here is a mural on the ceiling of the church.


In front of the church there is a memorial to the Andau dead from WWI and WWII. It seems as if every town has at least one of these. There are 8 Sattler dead from WWI listed, and 20 from WWII. These numbers, from such a small village, is staggering. I know that the Martin Sattler killed in WWI is related to me since my aunt has a card, in German, with details of his death.


The surnames Peck, Pelzer and Thell are also in my Sattler line (as the maiden names of Sattler wives).

Meeting more of the Sattlers...

On Friday evening we had arranged to meet Martin Sattler for dinner. Martin is a member of the Burgenland Bunch - as I and my cousin Rick are - which has a web site devoted to researching family genealogy in Burgenland.

Martin Sattler is a common name in my genealogy, and is the name of both my great-grandfather and great-great grandfather, both born in Andau.

We were to meet at 7 PM and since we were a little early we decided to walkl through the little Illmitz cemetery that was just across the street from the restaurant. We had just entered the cemetery when Kathy heard a group of people speaking English and struck up a conversation. It turned out to be a group from Minnesota - from St. Paul no less. They were Gartners and were researching their family history in Burgenland. Al Gartner was the patriarch of the group and he is from Rice Street and knows my uncle Frank Tischler. Al's brother is Jim Gartner who ran the St. Bernard's bowling alley when I was in grade school and in a league there. Small world!

We met at the Presshaus restaurant in Illmitz, just a few doors down from our hotel (and, as noted, across the street from the cemetery). Martin brought his uncle Alfred with him. Martin spoke pretty good English but Alfed didn't speak any. Both men seemed genuinely interested in genealogy and we talked for three hours about the Sattler line and how we might be related. Unfortunately, we can't find the exact manner of how we might be related, and more work is required. I did find out that a Sattler left Burgenland for China in the 1920s and ended up farming 60,000 hectares, which is almost 150,000 acres. I may ask for more details from Martin about this since I am sure it is an interesting story.

It was a great evening. The company was wonderful as were the food and the wine at dinner. I also told Martin about Rick's probable visit next year. I have a feeling that we will meet Martin again.

Meeting the Sattlers...

Our first stop on Thursday after we settled into our hotel was the Weinbau Sattler, a little winery run by Erich Sattler in Tadten, just a couple of miles from Andau which is the area where my Sattler family came from. I assume there is some relation between me and Erich but don't know for sure.

I had looked at the Weinbau Sattler web site but had not contacted Erich ahead of time. We found the winery which is on the main street through Tadten - we had expected something out in the country. We brought with us the article from the International Wall Street Journal from February that had reported on the great Austrian wines and noted a Weinbau Sattler red as one of the best.



The sign for the Sattler winery on the main street though Tadten. In the background is the memorial for the men from Tadten who died in WWI and WWII. There are many Sattlers and a couple of Tischlers listed.

We went through a big wooden door from the street and entered the compound. We didn't see anyone and so continued to the back where we found the tasting room. We also found the door to the wine storage warehouse and rang the bell. After a few minutes an older gentleman came out and we tried to explain that we were looking for Erich. He didn't speak English but we understood that he wasn't in now but would be later. We thanked him and left to explore Andau.

We returned a couple of hours later and this time found Erich at home and I explained that I was doing some genealogy research on Sattlers and thought we might be related. His English was quite good and he graciously invited us to sit and have a chat. He brought out some of his wine (and apple juice for Noah) and I showed him a summary of my Sattler line and asked him if he recognized any or thought we were related. His answer, with a shrug, was "All Sattlers in Burgenland are related". He is a low key guy and I got the impression that he didn't really see the point of trying to find old relatives. Kathy sees a family resemblance, and I guess I do as well in the weak chin (which is nice way of saying no chin).

I asked him if business had picked up after he was mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article and he had a blank look. He was not aware that one of his reds was proclaimed one of the best in Europe by one of the best known papers in the world. We gave him the copy of the article that we had brought with us and he seemed proud and happy.

We bought 13 bottles of his wine and then returned the next day and bought 8 more. The prices were very reasonable. The red wine mentioned in the Journal was listed at $32 a bottle at retail, but at his winery it can be had for about $12 a bottle. Again he brought out wine and apple juice and we had another nice visit.


I still don't know for sure if Erich and I are related or how, but I will keep looking with the help of my cousin, Rick. Rick and his wife plan to visit Burgenland next year and I let Erich know that he would probably be having more visitors. We also got the name of Erich's distributor in the US and we hope to be able to buy more of the Weinbau Sattler wine when we get back home.

Off to Burgenland...

The three of us are leaving this morning for eastern Austria, which is the area known as Burgenland. This is the land of my Sattler ancestors - my dad's mother was Barbara Sattler. Anyway, I have some good information on my Sattler ancestors going back to around 1800 and had formerly posted on the topic here and here.

While we are there we are going to have dinner with Martin Sattler and we will try to figure out if or how we are related - I have a high confidence that we are kin. We are also going to visit the Sattler winery, which was lauded in the International Wall Street Journal a few months ago as having some of the best wine in Europe.

We are staying in what looks to be a nice hotel, the Hotel Zur Post, in the town of Illmitz, just east of lake Neusiedl am See. The town of my forefathers is Andau, and is located about 15 miles east of Illmitz on the border with Hungary.

I will report more but it will likely be when we return on Saturday.

Sattler wines...

I was reading the Weekend Journal from Friday's Wall Street Journal and there was an article on Austrian wines. Accompanying the article was a list of the top ten rated Austrian red wines. Eight of the top ten red wines came from the Austrian region of Burgenland, which is the area where my Sattler ancestors came from (on my paternal grandmother's side). Surprisingly, one of the best wines from Burgenland is Sattler Reserve 2005. Priced at $31.99 a bottle, the description of the wine is "Looks dark, smells dark and, at first, tastes purple [?] and dark, but then the grapefruit-like acidity kicks in and it's light on its feet".

I actually knew that there was a Satter vineyard, but had no idea that it produced such quality wines. A visit to the Sattler vineyard is now on our list of sites to see when we visit Burgenland in the spring, and I hope to carry back several bottles to share with family. Here is a link to the Sattler web site (and, surprisingly, it is in English).

The Sattler estate.