053725

Hello!
We are visiting Budapest and Prague in the fall, and my husband's family originated in what is listed as Petersdorf, Moravia, Austria. We would like to visit the area and do some genealogy research if it is close enough, but where would that town be today? Could I get some help from any locals or Bohemian historians??!! Thanks!!

fmpden

Plug it in google and you will have your answer. I did Petersdorf and received all kinds of hits that you need to sort through.

Rubicund

It appears that Petersdorf is now called Petrovice:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrov...3%A1l_District)

053725

THank you for the reply, but I found that too. The only problem is there are about 4 towns in and around that area called Petrovice! I don't know which one was the former Moravia, Austria, since none of them are in Austria now. That was why I was hoping someone local or who knows the history of that area would know for sure.

cdnyul

Try this:

http://oldmaps.geolab.cz/

sparkchaser

cdnylu is on the right track.

OP, just go to a local library and look at a 1914 atlas.

cdnyul

A searchable version of the above link:

http://mapire.eu/en/map/hkf_75e/?bbo...3313.361171201

Mark

cdnyul

Forgot to add that as you move the cursor around the numbers on the screen display the longitude and the latitude.

Mark

Gardyloo

Found this one halfway between Znojmo and Brno in South Moravia: https://goo.gl/maps/CujJtETP2gM2

MmePerdu

A search of JewishGen Gazetteer online gives 3 results, at least 2 of which appear to be the same place:
http://data.jewishgen.org/wconnect/w...gsys~gazetteer

If your husband's family are (or may be) Jewish, there's a book called Shtetl Finder that pinpointed my grandmother's family's small town in Hungary, even though the spelling I had was wrong. It was confirmed by a search in the archives in Budapest and I was able to visit.

More information on the above here:
http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/ShtetlFinder.html

MmePerdu

The gazatteer link seems to not be working so use this one and put "Petersdorf" into the search line "Search for locality:". I used "Austria" but you can try other countries too.

http://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/LocTown.asp

Since Moravia seem to be mostly in Czech Republic...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravia ...it makes sense to look there too, where you'll get a number of results. But take nothing for granted. Until you actually find the family in local records, names of a group of family member together, for instance, you cannot be sure. It can be time consuming and may need more time than a day on a vacation, but it will be wonderful if you find them. It can pay to make use of a local genealogist in advance of your trip.

fmpden

But this is something you really cannot do on your simply because all of the records will - most likely - be in German. And with the script used when recording those records are even more difficult to read. You will need to employ a local genealogist to sort records. I know it is kind of a fun idea to find the old family grave sites, etc., it is just not that easy - experience from chasing records in Prague.

MmePerdu

I was able to find and read documents in Budapest with the help of an Hungarian friend. I couldn't have done it on my own. Hiring someone in advance would serve you better than waiting until after arrival for the simple reason if nothing is available it will save you a trip, to where you aren't yet sure. Pinning it down is the first job. You may find that wars and changing politics have made the whole thing moot. But I found documents, so I urge you to look into it further. But it will likely mean time, money and a test of your commitment.

My break came in the form of a town name noted by cousins I hadn't seen for 40 years. If it's worth it to your husband I'd urge you to get in touch with eveyone he knows in the family, especially the oldest members, and even cousins he may never have met. Someone has more information. Write every hint down, no matter how unimportant it may seem. Any hint can be the one.

053725

Thank you everyone! I was lucky enough once to be able to see the small town in France my family originated from, and my husband always thought he was 100% German, but I happen to be doing his genealogy and found he is part English and his mothers side is from this town. It was just a coincidence we were going to Budapest and Prague in September already, so I was hoping it was somewhere along the way and we could visit, but I don't know how much time we'd have for multiple stops and record searching, but it's worth looking into!

Cowboy1968

Since there are several Petersdorf or Petrovice in Moravia, you should check if you can find out the county (which is Kreis in German).
Otherwise, it's a bit like searching for Springfield, USA - without knowing state and county.

btw.. Bohemia is on the other (Western) side of Czech Republic and has nothing to do with Moravia, which is the other major region of CZ

tower

While in the area of Budapesht and Prague, stop into the town hall in Znojmo (Moravia...now part of the Czech Republic). Look up the 19TH Century township of
an Austrian name for Znojmo. Through this morass you will likely come across Petersdorf(the Austrian name of one or more of the surrounding villages).

Jewish or not, The JGS is the most respected of the Genealogical sources you seek. Engulfed in tedious research for one of my books of historical fiction I was asked to
be one of the speakers for the 23rd annual International JGS 2003 Conference in DC. I have spokn to their chapters in Europe and USA several times and have only good comments for the organization's work.

Mme Perdu's links should work fine to get you going(above)

tower

053725:
Just checked.... the German/Austrian name for Znojmo was "Znaim"

tower

053725 (are you a prisioner in a local jail? Just joking)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...-cary-1801.jpg

This is a blowup of a very detailed map of Moravian Znaim (Znojmo) and vicinity latter part of 19th century. All names are in German/Austrian. I see no Petrovice (which would be Petrovitz in German signifying Peter's Town (or dorf which means village in German or Yiddish) There may be other translations which I will continue to scout out...but it looks like the Petersdorf you're looking for may be in another location in MOravia/Bohemia. Will keep you posted. Try those JGS links.

MmePerdu

A better way might be to approach this from the opposite direction. Instead of trying to find the community, with so little exact information, I suggest you try looking first at documents in the US (assuming family is in the US) to find specifics of their origin.

Try census records, immigration, arriving ships, death certificates, etc. - all the places we normally look for places of origin. Many of these can be checked online.

tower

Yes. Mme. in some of my personal research other than publisher's assignments, I was able to find a source for ships manifests many years ago...my father was then still alive, was able to provide the names of the three ships that transported my family in 1912,1913 and 1914. My family emigrated from old Russia (The Ukraine)to Boston. It was rather painless to contact the ship's manifest section of the Immigration Department in DC. I still have all the documents in my files. Everything was handwritten by Custom's Officials.

The youngest at 4 was my last remaining aunt (a Navy vet) who died at 104 two years ago. On a few investigative trips to the core townlets, I was able to seek out some very defining information at the source also and even discovered my mother-in-law's birth village in Poland and her teenage home intact in Eastern Poland. As I mentioned before, the JGS was most instrumental in helping me reach my research goals. Many JGS local experts are now on the ground throughout Europe.

At 88, I am the reigning Patriarch (ahem!)of the remaining family which numbers about 35, several of whom reside here in my little town of Ojai, Ca. I have the coordinates for these search sources if anyone wishes the information.