Poppendorf Bergen

Der Name Poppendorf ist im Jahre 1427 im fürstlichen Archiv in Eisenstadt und 1428 im fürstlichen Archiv in Körmend zu finden. Aber damals hieß es nicht Poppendorf, sondern Podaboch (Podabach). Im Steuerausweis des 16 Jahrhunderts hieß der Ort Pathafalva.

Erst von 1604 an findet sich der Name Poppendorf (deutsch), im ungarischen aber Pathafalva. Im Jahre 1698 kommt in der katholischen Visitation der Name als „Ujfalu ander Poppendorf" vor.

Die alte Benennung Podabach stützt die Vermutung, wonach unter dem im Stiftsbrief des Güssinger Grundherren Walfers vom Jahr 1157 angeführten Worte „versus Theotonocus" die an der Körmend - Fürstenfelder Landstraße liegenden Ortschaften, darunter Podaboch, zu verstehen seien. Somit kann der Bestand dieses Ortes in eine Zeit vor dem Jahr 1157 gesetzt werden.

In Aufzeichnungen der Güssinger Zeitung wird erwähnt, dass Ban Franz Batthyány in Pathafalva im Zeitraum von 1524 bis 1550 vier bis fünf Porta und Freiherr Franz Batthyány im Jahre 1599 sechs Häuser in Poppendorf besaßen.

Das 16. Jahrhundert war die Zeit des aufopfernden Verteidigungskampfes gegen die Türken. Obwohl nur 8 km von Poppendorf entfernt Graf Montecucculi 1664 das Türkenheer schlug und über die Raab zurückwarf, ist über diese Zeit über Poppendorf kein Dokument zu finden. Möglich, dass der Ort von diesem Unheil verschont blieb.

Die weitere geschichtliche Entwicklung ist sehr mit der von Eltendorf und Heiligenkreuz verbunden.

Bei Ausbruch des Ersten Weltkrieges wurden auch die Poppendorfer Burschen und Männer zu den Fahnen gerufen. Ein Teil von ihnen geriet in Gefangenschaft und kehrte erst nach Jahren wieder heim. Die Gemeinde beklagte 14 Gefallene. Bis zum Anschluss des Burgenlandes an Österreich im Jahre 1921 litt die Bevölkerung unter den Schikanen der ungarischen Freischärler.

In der Zwischenkriegszeit konnte man aufbauen und hier zufrieden leben. 1924 bekam der Ort elektrisches Licht; am Berg geschah dies erst 1949. Eine erste Postablage wurde 1923 eingerichtet. Schon 1927 wurde das Fernsprechnetz angeschlossen.

Abermals großes Leid brachte der Zweite Weltkrieg. Auch hier waren nach Kriegsende viele Opfer zu beklagen. Jedoch der Lebenswille der Bevölkerung war nicht gebrochen. Mit Fleiß und Einsatz begannen die Menschen, Schäden auszubessern und neue Häuser aufzubauen.

In wirtschaftlicher Hinsicht mussten viele Rückschläge hingenommen werden, und so wanderten in der Nachkriegszeit (wie auch nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg) viele Menschen aus. Dieses Mal war Kanada das gegehrteste Auswanderungsziel.

Von 1953 bis 1955 verließen über 60 Poppendorfer ihre Heimat. Aufzeichnungen darüber sind in der Schulchronik der Volksschule Poppendorf verewigt.

Anlass „100 Jahre Auswanderung" fand 1990 ein Heimattreffen vieler ausgewanderter Poppendorfer statt. Bei dieser Feier wurde ein Stein mit Gedenktafel enthüllt.

Das Vereinsleben spielt auch in Poppendorf eine bedeutende Rolle für die Bevölkerung. Vereinsinterne Zusammenkünfte für die ganze Bevölkerung gehören zu ihren Hauptaktivitäten.

Bereits 1888 wurde die Feuerwehr Poppendorf-Dorf gegründet; 1952 eine zweite in Poppendorf-Bergen.

Die Landjugend besteht ebenfalls seit 1952.

Der Fremdenverkehrs- und Verschönerungsverein Poppendorf sorgt für eine schöne Ortsbildgestaltung, um den Ort sowohl für die Bevölkerung als auch für den Fremdenverkehr attraktiv zu erhalten.

Mit dem Bau des ersten Kirchleins wurde im Jahre 1845 an der Stätte eines alten Kreuzes begonnen. Schon 1847 konnte die Einweihung vorgenommen werden. Dieses Kirchlein stand auf dem Gemeindeplatz in der Mitte des Dorfes, wo die ehemalige Bezirksstraße von der Hauptstraße nach Güssing abzweigt. Wegen Verfallserscheinungen wurde es im Jahre 1904 großteils wieder abgetragen. Ein Teil davon blieb jedoch in Form einer Kappelle an der Bundesstraße stehen. Unter Pfarrer Anton Martin wurde auf einem Hügel am Ortsausgang auf dem Grund von Zwickl, Haus Nr. 10, eine neue Kirche gebaut. Aus Eigenmittel finanziert, wurde die Kirche 1909 eingeweiht und seiner Bestimmung übergeben.

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Families mentioned in the 1748-Urbarium: 4 MEDL, JUSICS; 3 JANY, STERN, DRAUCH, HEMMER; 2 GIBISER, FASCHING, GRÖLLER, STOLZER, HÖBER, STEINER, GALLITZ; 1 GAMLER, ZACH, KLANATZKY, PÖTZ, KOLLER, SCHERMANN, WEIDINGER, NIKLES, MAYER, SCHLEHNER, ZWICKL, LEITGEB, MARX, HADENWOLFF, GÖLLES, SPITZER, GERGER, ZIEGER, WIRTH, POPOFCSICS, KREN, UNGER, PREINER, SCHAUKOWITSCH, MÜLLNER. Söllner-families living on church-owned land: 3 NIKLES; 2 UNGER, MEDL; 1 DEUTSCH, SCHRAML, PETZ, BAUMANN, DRAUCH, PREINER; Söllner-families living in the village: 3 MEDL; 1 JANY, UNGER, DRAUCH, ZODL, KREN; Söllner-families living on the Heidenberg: 2 GRÖLLER; 1 MATTES, ZACH, KOLLER, HARNISCH, LEITGEB; Söllner-families living on the Goldberg: 3 JISICS, STELZER; 2 STEINER, GRÖLLER, GIBISER; 1 ZWICKL, WEIDINGER, HEIDENWOLF, BRANSTEIN, SCHERMANN, SCHLEHNER, HEMMER.

Number of inhabitants: 1812: 228 Catholics, 67 Lutherans; 1876: 631 Catholics, 119 Lutherans; 1924: 554 Catholics, 120 Luthernas.

Catholics: always belonged to Heiligenkreuz parish. Catholic teachers: Michael MAYER (1849-51); Johann WEBER (1861), Karl KAISER (1863), Emil LANGASCH (1876-95), Adolf KÖNIGSHOFER (1895-1914), Florian KNAUS (1914-20), Franz THALER (1920-38).

Lutherans: belong to Eltendorf parish. Teacher in 1930: Gustav EBENSPANGER.

(source: V+H Nr. 8/1959)

Berghold's of Poppendorf:
(by Gerry Berghold)

(This emigrant story, with two accompanying pictures first appeared in the March/April 1998 edition of the Burgenländische Gemeinschaft (BG) Newsletter. It is the second concerning my family. The first, the story of the Sorgers of Rosenberg (Güssing), appeared in the Burgenland Bunch newsletter no.-23. AUSWANDERERSCHICKSAL The Bergholds of Poppendorf (im Lafnitztal))

This is the history of a Burgenland family who for over two hundred years lived and worked in the hamlet of Poppendorf, Bezirk Jennersdorf, in the valley of the Lafnitz. There were many children, some of whom emigrated to America as part of the great "Auswanderung" of the early 1900's. One, Janos Berghold (1879-1945), became my grandfather.

Poppendorf ( Hungarian-Patafalva) had 645 Roman Catholic and 108 Lutheran inhabitants in 1873 (Hungarian Gazeteer-Vas Megye). The History of Vas County (Magyarorszag Varmegyei es Varosai Vasvarmegye, Sziklay es Borovszky) published in 1898 shows a population of 913. Today, as part of Marktgemeinde Heiligenkreuz, it has about 430, due to the many inhabitants who emigrated during the "Auswanderung". It lies on both sides of the Kormend to Fürstenfeld road (the E66) and is almost midway between Heiligenkreuz and Eltendorf. It was part of the domain (Herrschaft) of the Batthyany family. Although there is a small chapel (1842), the inhabitants attend church in Heiligenkreuz and Eltendorf.

In 1787 one Johann Berghold is mentioned as "Richter" and "Konvent" in Poppendorf, while Michael Berghold was "Konvent" in Heiligenkreuz. A Johann Berghold was also "Kantorlehrer" in Jennersdorf in 1743-46. Georg Berghold (Heiligenkreuz) and Hans Berghold ("bei Friedhof") were listed in the 1757 Visitation of Heiligenkreuz as inhabitants who had to pay rent (Zu"nss) to the church since they lived in rented houses (Zu"nss Hausser).

The Visitation of 1697 mentions Michael Pergholt in Heiligenkreuz and Jörg Pergholt as having a vineyard in Grieselstein (on the road from Jennersdorf to Fürstenfeld). A Perchtold is mentioned in Radkersburg in 1572 and a Berggold in Trautmannsdorf in 1628. From the above it is concluded that some time before 1693, one or more Berghold families emigrated to Heiligenkreuz and then to Poppendorf, probably from Styria, since the name is also found in early records at St. Margarethe and in and around Graz, Styria (Bürgerbuchs and Meldebuecher) and also Church registers of Peterhegy (Hidekut, Slovenia) as well as in Mühlgraben.

Bergholds are mentioned in the Urbar of 1693, Heiligenkreuz and Poppendorf, the Roman Catholic Kanonische Visitations of 1697 (Heiligenkreuz) and 1757 (Jennersdorf) and the Kirchenvisitations Protokoll of 1787 (Heiligenkreuz , Poppendorf, Eltendorf). I have linked my grandparents to some of these Bergholds by using the Martin Luther Kirche Records (Matriken) in Eltendorf which date from 1770 and the Königsdorf church records. Some also appear in the Hungarian Census of 1828 (Ungarisches Landeskonskription 1828, Comitatus Castriferrei).

Johann Berghold, my great-great grandfather was born in 1830 to Georg Berghold (Poppendorf 1790-1848) and Barbara Gamler (Poppendorf 1799-1866). He lived at number 44 Poppendorf and was a blacksmith (Schmied) who died in 1863 after an argument with Hungarian soldiers. He and his wife Terezia (born Krabath, 1825-1886) had 7 children, one of whom, Johann (1849-1929) continued his father's business. He married Theresia Neubauer, born 1854, Eltendorf. They had 11 children, not all of whom survived childhood. Johann eventually built a Gasthaus in front of number 44 Poppendorf on the Kormend to Fürstenfeld post road. The Gasthaus, modernized, still exists as "Gasthaus Gibiser", as does number 44, which is behind it next to the cemetery. There are no longer any Bergholds of that name in Poppendorf although two families live in Heiligenkreuz.

Three of Johann's sons, Janos, b1879, Joseph, b1882 and Frantz, b1884 emigrated to America in 1901 and 1902.

Frantz sailed in 1901 on the SS Karlsruhe from Bremen to New York. He had $12 from his father and left from Poppendorf. He had studied to be a miller (Müller), but poor harvests meant no work. He went by train to Allentown, PA where he worked in a brewery (Uhl's in Bethlehem), later buying a farm in Limeport, PA and opening a produce business in Allentown which still exits. He married Julia Halleman, b1885, from Poppendorf and has many descendants. Julia's parents (who also emigrated) had an "Auswanderer" boarding house at Front & Chew streets in Allentown. Frantz died in Allentown in 1963 and is buried in Coopersburg, PA.

Janos and Joseph emigrated in 1902 also with money provided by their father. Joseph was an apprenticed watch maker (Uhrmacher) but the factory burned and he was out of work. Janos the eldest son was not interested in working in his father's business. They too went to Allentown where they worked in breweries. Janos at Uhl's in Bethlehem and Joseph at Neuweiler's in Allentown. Joseph later married Julia Muhr, b1883, from Königsdorf, and opened a Neuweiler tavern (Gasthaus) in Whitehall, PA which he sold in 1924. He then formed the Berghold & Eder Coal Company which was active until the 1960's. He lived at 220 N. 2nd Street, Allentown across from the Allentown Turner Liederkranz. He died 1940, in Allentown, with many descendants.

Janos, my grandfather married Francis Langasch, b 1871, from Inzenhoff. They were married in 1903 at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Allentown, the church of many Lutheran Burgenlanders. Her father Emil Langasch (born Wien 1835) was a school teacher (Lehrer) and Kirche Docent in Heiligenkreuz. They returned to Poppendorf in 1907, but again emigrated to Allentown in 1912. They lived at 538 Ridge Avenue, Allentown and Janos continued to work as a brewery foreman. Janos died in 1945.

Four children survived childhood, including my father Julius John Berghold, b1906 in Allentown. He married Frida Sorger, daughter of Alois Sorger, another Burgenland immigrant from Rosenberg (Güssing). They had two children, Robert L. Berghold and Gerald J. Berghold (myself). We have 4 children and 8 grandchlidren.

Julius and Frida divorced in 1938 and both remarried, Julius fathering another 13 children, all of whom survived childhood and have many descendants. Frida died in Allentown in 1974 and Julius died in Florida in 1973.

The other children of Johann Berghold and Theresia Neubauer remained in the Burgenland. Julianna, (Poppendorf 1875-1959), married Joseph Mirth (1873-1968) from Poppendorf. Three of their children also emigrated to America in the 1920's. Teresa (1899-1986) and Joseph (1901-1988) going to Allentown and New York and Rezso (Rudy)(1904-1992) going to St. Louis, MO. There are many Mirth descendants. Rezso had eight children.

Other Berghold children and descendants left Poppendorf and today we find them in Rudersdorf, Graz, Munich, Vienna and even Thessalonika, Greece. A third cousin, Helena Gibiser Gilly of 29 Poppendorf and I share great-great grandfather Johann Berghold. I enjoyed a wonderful visit with the Gillys in 1993. I also had a nice vist with another Berghold cousin, Wilma Berghold Gibiser in Eltendorf.

A Berghold Genealogy was prepared which shows that in 1996 there were at least 579 descendants of Johann Berghold and Theresia Neubauer. Many, many people with roots in the Burgenland from just one family from this small village! I'd be happy to correspond with any other Berghold descendants. I can be reached by mail at Gerald J. Berghold, 327 Walker Street, Winchester, VA, 22601, USA or by email > Gberghold@AOL.com

EXCERPTS FROM UNFINISHED DRAFT OF POPPENDORF HISTORY

Burgenland Bunch member Fritz Königshofer's great grandfather (Adolf Königshofer) followed mine (Emil Langasch) as the school teacher in Poppendorf. In addition Adolf was also a correspondent for area newspapers and some of his articles have been found and translated by Fritz. They have appeared in various issues of the Burgenland Bunch newsletter. Recently Fritz also translated the draft of an uncompleted history of Poppendorf which was found among Adolf's personal effects. An exciting and important find.

Article from Fritz Königshofer follows: "Herewith, the translation of the excerpts which I recently transcribed from the draft Poppendorf History left among the few written notes that were saved from Adolf's belongings." (May 24, 1998) My greatgrandfather Adolf Ko"nigshofer, teacher at the Catholic elementary school of Poppendorf from 1898 till his retirement in 1914, who also died in Poppendorf in 1921, left the (incomplete) draft of a "History of Poppendorf." He wrote the draft on the back pages of a calligraphy notebook which he had saved from his time as teacher in Olbendorf. As a curiosity, this notebook contains an exercise in writing of one page each ("Probeschriften," dated 1884/85), written by his pupils in Olbendorf. If any current or future Burgenland Bunch member has ancestors from Olbendorf (O'ber), born around 1870 to 1876, I would be glad to look up whether the booklet contains this ancestor's exercise, and copy it or cut the original out (in the cases where the backpage is not used for the manuscript).

Adolf intended the following structure for his treatise. The first section was to deal with the geography and nature of Poppendorf. He started this section afresh at least three times. Then came the history part, divided into prehistory and the proper ("eigentliche") history. The latter was to be broken down into the time before 1848 (1848 marked the abolition of the "Grundherrschaft," i.e., the end of the period when only the overlord of the area could own the land), followed by the period 1848 until 1872 (1872 being the date of the "Komassierung," i.e., the forced exchange of small parcels of land between owners so that each owner would end up with larger contiguous plots which were easier to farm), then the period from 1872 to 1903 (when Count Dénes Draskovits of Güssing let the Poppendorfers purchase his remaining manorial grounds in the village proper), and lastly the period since 1903. The latter would mean that Adolf probably wrote his draft in 1910 or later, as a separate section otherwise would have made little sense.

As it happened, the draft ends with the clearly unfinished section on 1848 to 1872. There is no indication that the last two sections were ever started, let alone completed. The papers are in Krumpendorf, Austria with my father. Over time, I hope to transcribe all sections and translate them into English. However, for these first excerpts, I concentrated on the section describing the period 1848 to 1872, see below. As for the previous sections, the introduction describes the location, plants and wildlife of Poppendorf. The early history sections mention that the name of the village most likely stemmed from the name of the founding family ("Popp"), but that a second, much less credible explanation was from an early Greek Orthodox settlement of priests ("Popen").

The section about the time before 1848 concentrates on describing the hard life of the people in the time of "Untertanenschaft" [Albert notes that Leibeigenschaft (serfdom) did not exist in Austria and Hungary, and there was only Grundherrschaft (ownership of all land by noble overlords)]. Adolf's draft does not comment or speculate on the origin of the first settlers of Popendorf, nor on the question why there were Lutherans and Catholics and on their respective origins.

In the section on the period 1848 to 1872, Adolf first mentions that not much change from the abolition of the Grundherrschaft (the earlier complete land ownership by the aristocracy) was immediately evident, because the land remained formally owned by the former overlords who now either demanded reimbursement (a price for selling the land) or the tithe ("Zehnt") for farming it. Adolf writes: "The tithe for grain was collected at the tenant and overseer of the manorial farm, house no. 21. The last manorial representative had the name Knoblauch. Today [1910?], this house is owned by the family Schlener."

Since due to the tithe and generally low prices for grain and livestock it continued to be very difficult to make a living, some Poppendorfers tried to gather additional income from haulage. A textile factory had been established in Neudau and Burgau, and a tobacco (cigarette and cigars) factory in Fürstenfeld, both in Austria just behind the border between Hungary and Austria. Cotton and raw tobacco from Hungarian heartlands (e.g., Zala county) needed to be hauled there. However, because of the border, there were customs and excise fees to pay, a fact that apparently created an incentive for evasion. Adolf writes: "A lot of smuggling took place. Michael Spitzer, of house no. 17, and Andreas Schlener vulgo [original house name] Ruster Schlener [?] engaged the inn-keeper Johann Berghold for carrying tobacco. However, they were caught near Kanizsa [could this be the Nagy Kanizsa in south Zala county?] and Berghold lost horse, tobacco and cart [presumably these were confiscated]. Grain and limber were also hauled, as far as Vienna and Graz. The remuneration for carrying goods from Fidisch [Rabafüzes] to Fürstenfeld was 2 Florins and 50 Kreuzer per day, and from Poppendorf to Szent Gotthárd it was 1 Florin and 50 Kreuzer."

Nevertheless, despite the income from haulage, it remained hard to make ends meet. Again in Adolf's writing: "Later on, there was simply not enough work for everybody, because the arable plots were too small. The one with most land was Spitzer of no. 16; he had 40 X of wheat in 1860 [I wonder what the X stands for, either hold/acre or Metzen?]. The lack of work led to idleness among the young people, and an increased propensity for sickness. This contributed to the reasons for emigration."

"The breeding of livestock was not profitable either, because of lack of fodder and low prices. For example, in the year 1860 Johann Berghold sold two horses in Graz for 64 Gulden [Florins], and [with the proceeds] purchased two cows, one for 17 Gulden, the other for 24. The price for a suckling calf ("Tuttelkalb") was 5-6 Gulden; a [kilogram? pound?] of beef [meat] cost 15 to 20 Kreuzer, while a "Tuttelfadl" (suckling pig) cost 50 to 60 Kreuzer in 1860. Despite these low prices, very few could afford to buy enough for eating, as money was lacking everywhere. Those who - on top of this - still frequented the inns as well, lost house and farm [Haus und Hof]. This happened to Gröller Andreas, house no. 51, who had a large farm but eventually died in the poorhouse of Gu"ssing (Gotzy and Zach also lost their properties this way)."

"During the winter months in the years 1860 to 70, military were quartered in Poppendorf, namely dragoons and uhlans. Their riding school was at the brickyard near the arboretum [?], where the willow trees ("Hutweiden") stand today. There were two kinds of inns (Gasthäuser) in the village, firstly the manorial inn which was leased by the overlord (Herrschaft), and secondly the village inns which the commune had leased out, and which had the right to pour (serve) wine from October to April."

"The postal service first operated from Heiligenkreuz, but came to Eltendorf in the year 18xx [Adolf apparently did not know the exact year when he wrote the draft]. The first postmaster was J. Nikitscher. Several times a week, a mail carrier went from Poppendorf to Eltendorf. The first mail carrier was the Herzlieb Nädl ("the old Herzlieb"), a 70-years old granny."

"The first notary was a Rado' from Minihof. He was succeeded by Rudolf Ebenspanger in 1871. Previously, the writing duties were carried out by the teacher, and/or by the overseer ("Mahr") of the manorial farm who was capable of reading and writing. In the year 1872 the land of the village was "comasiert" [see meaning above]."

This ends the contiguous text of Adolf's draft for the section covering 1848 to 1872. However, his papers contain additional loose-leaf notes which clearly also refer to the same period. Let me cite: "With the abolition of the Leibeigenschaft [serfdom, in 1848, see comments above], the tithe supposedly had also been abolished. However, the overlords [in this case, the counts Draskovits] nevertheless demanded the tithe. This enraged the farmers and they did not want to hand over the tithe. In Poppendorf, it was Schlener, house no. 47, who dissuaded the people from paying the tithe. He also managed to get the people of Zahling (village north of Eltendorf) on his side. The district judge ["Stuhlrichter," the highest civil servant of the district] arrived from Güssing with the intention to settle the conflict. In this case, however, the story goes that the people of Zahling locked the district judge into a pigsty and roughed him up with pumpkins. Now military was called in, and all the leaders and instigators received 25 [with the cane] on their posteriors. The old Angerhacker [family Hacker who lived at the village border -- the "Anger"?] of house no. 39 also got his 25 laid on. As for Schlener, he had been hiding in the bed of Schabhüttl, house no. 60, but was betrayed. The Pandurs [a military formation of southeastern Hungary, originally set up for guerilla warfare, but later onwards evidently used to quell civil disturbances] surrounded the house, some of them entered it, and found Schlener in the bed under the straw. He was carried to the castle of Olmu"tz [now Czech Republic] and nothing was ever heard from him again."

In another small loose leaf, Adolf might have noted family names of Poppendorf as they first appeared in historical records. The earliest year mentioned on this little sheet is 1717, for which Adolf notes the names Drauch, Koller, Gröller, Weinhofer, Gibiser, Medl Michael, Jany, Hans Homer, Josef Gerger, Berghold, /// Klananzky, Weidinger Mathias, Scholl. All these names except the last three [the ones after the three slashed put in by me] are underlined, which could mean that these names (except the last three) were still present in the village in the early 20th century. (ED.-from reading church records, they were and many still are). Adolf noted further family names for the years 1718, 1720, 1723, 1725, and 1726.

This ends the notes I have made or excerpted from these papers. Best regards, Fritz.

POPPENDORF THUMBNAIL SKETCH
(Gerry Berghold)

POPPENDORF im Burgenland; (Patafalva) 0 33 25; 7561-Combined with Heiligenkreuz, District of Jennersdorf. Aristocratic family, Batthyany (later intermarried with Drasskovits).

Have list of family names resident here 1850-1890 period. Pop. under 500, but percentage wise, beginning 1890, sent more immigrants to the US than any other Burgenland place.

For Lutheran church records, see Eltendorf. Catholics, see Heiligenkreuz & Königsdorf. Civil, see Eltendorf.

Monument to emigrants erected by B. Gemeinschaft reads "Only a Burgenlander can be as constant as this hard stone. He is driven into the wide world and there earns his money the hard way. Thanks to all our loved ones, we have remained faithful to our homeland."

Early emigrant, Andreas Mirth, to PA 1893. Many went to Canada and NY and emigration continued through the 1950's (60 from 1953-55). A satellite village in the northern hills is known as Poppendorf-Bergen.

Gasthaus Paul Gibiser on the main road may be 200 years old and was originally owned by Johann Berghold.

In a Stiftsbrief of the Güssing Grundherrn Wolfers, the village name Podabach is mentioned as early as 1157. Earlier existence of a village could be assumed. Name is mentioned in 1427 in Archives in Eisenstadt and again in 1428 in Archives in Kormend (Hungary). Known then as Podabach (during the 1600's changed to Patafalvva). Six houses mentioned here in 1599. While only 8 kms from the battle of St. Gotthard-Mogerdorf which resulted in a massive Turkish defeat in 1664, no document mentioning Poppendorf during that period can be found.

From the Kirchenvisitationsprotokoll of 27 Feb. 1787, we find the names "aus Poppendorf Joh. Berghold, Richter- und Konvent., Georg Greller, Joh. Gamler.

Übersetzung (c) Burgenland Bunch