Glass family in Austria

Question

Please help.  It is as though this family is fake...I also do not read German, so if any one can assist if they have time, that would be great.

Franz Glass is purported to have married Dorothea Silzer and had children as I have stated from an unscourced family tree handed down to me...

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Radautz, in German, is Radauti (actually Rădăuți in Romanian) is in north/northeast Romania near the Ukrainian border. The town’s population was ethnically mixed with a significant ethnic German population, and also a significant Jewish population. Persecution of the Jews was especially severe during the Holocaust, with the entire Jewish population, about 10,000 people, being removed in 1941 and taken to concentration camps. I would expect substantial destruction of records of the Jewish community.

“Glass,” I think most likely a Jewish name. If so, finding records will be difficult. Family Search has no Jewish records for Radautz.

If the family was not Jewish, then there are some Catholic and Evangelical records for Radautz. At Family Search Catholic records begin in 1785, and Evangelical records in 1835.

The Romanian archives may have additional records, but based on a survey I did a couple of years ago, Romanian records are not as accessible as records in other parts of the former Austrian Empire.

Comments

George!

I appreciate this History Lesson!  I did not know this and it's interesting.  I will have to look at the Silzer family to see what religion they were.  Maybe there is a hint there.  Maybe I am stretching, but if my ancestors were Jewish, would not that DNA show up in mine??  Perhaps it was too long ago.  

If it's okay will you can I copy and paste what you wrote into the Glass family profiles?  I think it would at least clarify why they profiles are scant and only a verbal handing down of info.

PS.  This is my mother's side and all links are seeming pointing to Romanian on the Silzer side although my GrandDad Silzer and I think the Saskatchewan bunch named themselves Austrian.  But I will double check.

Thanks again!

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Tanya

Thank you for the kind words.

Here are a couple if Wikipedia articles that may be of interest:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rădăuți

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukovina

This article from the FamilySearch Wiki may be helpful  https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Bukovina,_Austro-Hungarian_Empire_Genealogy

Best of luck in your research.

George

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In looking through you family tree I noticed a citation to Ancestry. My public library has remote access to Ancestry, so I did a search for August Glass, b. 1879. His birth/baptismal record came up. The family is Lutheran (or Evangelical). He was born and baptized Nov 1/Nov 9 in Altfralantz/Radautz. Parents Franz Glass and Dorothea Silzer, grandparents Peter Glass/Elisabetha Frenger and Franz Silzer/Maria Gaubi.

August’s brother Johann, b. 1877, is on the same page. There is another Glass Family on the same page.

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George that is a complete Fit!  I just Wish Ancestry was not so inaccessible!  I am borrowing your words to post on his profile so that others who come along and hav ancestry will know of your efforts.

Thanks again!  Wow!

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Very interesting!  thanks!

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Oh and George!  The Silzer's in Canada still are Luthern!  They even have picture of their Church on the family site on Facebook!  Exciting stuff!  You didn't happen to see any of the other siblings, did you?

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Tanya

I did see other siblings. This summarizes the family.

Parents: Franz Glass & Dorothea Silzer

P. grandparents: Peter Glass & Elisabetha Frenger

M. grandparents: Franz Silzer & Maria Gaudi

Name	record#	birth	baptism	house
Michael	138	13Nov1871	22 Nov	Altpralantz 119
Karolina	94	25Aug1874	30 Aug	Altp. 432
Franz	163	23Nov1875	27 Nov	Altp. 433
Johann	155	4Nov1877	11 Dec	Altp. 432
August	154	1Nov1879	9 Nov	Altp. 432
Georg	82	25 May 1888	3 Jun	Altp. 432

There may be other children in the gap between August and Georg.

Ref: Radautz, Austria-Hungary (present day Romania), Lutheran church, Taufen (baptisms) 1852-95, 1887. Film #1474918 (from FamilySearch posted at Ancestry.com). The location is incorrectly called Germany.

There are other Glass and Silzer families in the records I looked at.

So, going back to your original post: The family is indeed real, and we found them!

Best of luck in your further research!

George 

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Thank you so much!  Hugs from Canada!

Answer 2

There is a findagrave ID 160876313

Comments

Hi Chris,

Yes I request info on this name on FaG.  Yet still, it is not conclusive as to whose Franz Glass* he is.  Thanks though!!

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I have added some sources on some of the glass profiles

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I saw that!  Thanks so much.

Answer 3

Radautz belonged to Bukovina (Buchenland).

For centuries Bukovina was a part of the historical Principality of Moldavia, from 1775 to 1918 the area with its multi-ethnic population belonged to the Habsburg Monarchy. Today, the northern half belongs to Ukraine and is part of Chernivtsi oblast; the southern half belongs to Romania and is part of Suceava County.

Glass is a normal German name; the name can belong to a christian family as well as to a Jewish family.

Church records, as George has described, are available for free viewing in part on FamilySearch.

Church records are now stored in many different archives:
- Catholic and Protestant church records in the Leipzig State Archives, Department 33: German Central Office for Genealogy/Special Collections.
- bishhöfliches Zentralarchiv Regensburg for some Roman Catholic parishes
- Archive of the Oberkirchenrat A. and HB in Vienna some Protestant church records  
- Archive of the Archdiocese of Poznan Roman Catholic church records from Northern Bukovina
- Archive Zrenjanin, Vojvodina some Catholic church books
- in various Hungarian archives church books from some Roman Catholic parishes
- in some Romanian archives a few church books.

Many church records are considered lost or are in still unknown places.

Comments

For Radautz are available in the State Archives Leipzig:

Radautz, Kreis Radautz mit Filialen Satulmare, Alt-Fratautz, Milleschoutz, Buria, Badautz, Vadi VIadi-ka, Neu-Fratautz, Andrasfalva, kath. und evang.
a) 1785—1817, 3742 — 1820—1850, 3760 — 1785—1940, 3743 Reg. (A— H)  —  1819—1838,  3744 — 1838—1850, 3745 — 1840—1890, 3761 ev. — 1850—1860, 3746 — 1891—1896, AS 2870 ev. —
b) 1786—1817, 3747 — 1802—1827, 3744/1 ev. (für gesamte Bukowina) — 1817—1836, 3748 — 1817—1940, 3749 Reg. — 1820—1835, 3760 — 1835—1851, 3751 — 1841—1890, 3761 ev. — 1852—1883, 3753 m. Reg. — 1857—1858, 3753/1 —
c) 1790—1816, 3765 — 1817—1940,  , 3766 Reg. — 1820—1831, 3760 — 1841—1890, 3761 —
d) 1858—1890, 3755 —’1890—1939, 3758—
e) 1818—1849, 3750 — 1849—1867, 3752 – 1868-1879,3754 – 1880-1900, 3755 — 1925—1940, 3756 —
s) 1869, 3763 FB, 1. E. 1898 Bruch­stück — 1869, 3764 FB, 1. E. 1893 Bruchstück — 1869—1912,
3770 Kirchenaustritte ev, — 1896—1903,3767 Verkündigungsbuch ev.
Bd. l 1903—1911, 3768 Verkündigungs­buch ev. Bd. II — 1912—1931, 3769 Verkündigungsbuch ev. Bd. III — 1913—1935, 3771 Kirchenaustritte ev. — 1900, 3762 FB, 1. E. 1940 — 1935, 3772 FB, 1. E. 1937 — 1931—1936, 3759 Firmung —

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See also this page:

https://bukovinasociety.org/bsa-files_history/bsa-file_immigration-settlement/bsa-file_immigration_die-ersten-deutschen-erbzinslerfamilien-in-der-bukowina-e/

An Andreas Glass from Swabia arrived in the Bukowina in 1790.

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Thank you!  It's nice to know it's both Jewish and German.  My DNA states I am German and Dutch so it fits.

Answer 4

Hi Tanya!! It can be ignored also that due to the rising anti-semitism in most parts of Europe in the 50 years before Hitler took power, many jewish families converted to catholicism or lutheranism. Specially if they wanted to ascend socially or they lived in places where there weren't strong jewish communities. Or if a jewish person wanted to marry a christian one.

 I have a case in my own family (Viennese great-grandparents, he was born catholic, she was born jewish, both converted to lutheranism and the children were baptised lutheran). Also I've seen lots of records of adult baptisms both in Catholic and Lutheran Church books. That makes following the family lines a bit more difficult (I spent months looking for my great-grandfather's lutheran birth record - which didn't exist). So I would advice not to assume any religion and check all the available sources.

Comments

duly noted!