NABINGER FAMILY IN AUSTRIA

I recently heard from Ernst and Rosina Nabinger who gave the following information about the Nabinger Family history in Austria.  Following is what they reported.

Our family lives in a village in Austria called Wulkaprodersdorf, 50 kilometers from Vienna. The landscape is idyllic and is part of the "Wulka-plain" with the Wulka River crossing the area. We are in the Austrian state of Burgenland which is the easternmost state of Austria. Lake Neusiedl, the largest steppe lake in Europe is about 15 kilometers away. The area is quiet, has almost no crime, and people work as civil servants, laborers, artisans and farmers. Due to the mild climate and the proximity to the lake we have a strong vineyard and wine industry. People like good food with a glass of wine and Vienna schnitzel with potato salad and Hungarian goulash (spicy, with onions meat) are both popular meals. The population is almost exclusively Catholic.

In Austria, there are only about 50 "Nabingers". They come from our village and spread throughout the country only in recent years with the growth of motorization. Nabingers in our area were first recorded around 1850 at which time the area was inhabited with Croatian-speaking people. The colonization of the Croatian Adriatic Sea took place in 1650, as prior to that time the area was almost completely extinguished by wars and epidemics. Croatian culture has been partially maintained through language and traditions to this day. The people in our village still speak mostly Croatian and, of course, the language of the country, which is German. The area until 1921 was part of the Hungarian side during the time of Austria-Hungary Empire and at school we were speaking Hungarian. It was only in 1921, after the First World War, that our area was split off from Hungary and added to Austria. From that date, the official language has been German.

Nabinger is a German name. We therefore assume that a German journeyman came to our area and stayed. Family genealogy is difficult because before 1921 the files are incomplete and there are language problems. The church is planning a digitization of archives and perhaps after that is completed we can learn something more about our ancestors.

My husband, Ernst, was a police officer and I have worked with a notary. Our daughter Ursula studied Nutritional Sciences and her husband is a landscape architect. They have three daughters 18, 13 and 9 years old.

We live in a house with a 1,800 m2 garden, so since our retirement we work more with the garden, the own fruit trees, and bio vegetables. In addition we have a 10,000 m2 garden next to the Wulka River. We love this idyllic base and spend a lot of time with family and many friends.