Like so much of Europe, the Hungarian political and geographical boundaries have shifted over the centuries. In 1877 Janos Dvorzsak published an Hungarian locality dictionary, similar to a Gazatteer. The work included the 63 counties of the Kingdom of Hungary with a political and religious classification of the population in each. Genealogical Gazetteer of the Kingdom of Hungary, compiled by Jordan Auslander, was created to outline and compare the 1877 publication with Hungary today.
73 percent of the 1877 entries are no longer part of Hungary and have different names, belonging to different countries. This work is to help genealogists identify the different locations and recognize them for their prior names, ethnic and religious associations. Auslander provides a short history, including a chronology, to Hungary. The background includes an 1877 Population of Hungary by Religion table. The table is broken down by county, showing total population along with the religious breakdowns, including:
- Roman Catholic
- Greek Catholic
- Greek Orthodox
- Augsburg Evangelical Lutheran
- Reformed
- Jewish
- Unitarian
- Armenian Orthodox
- Other
A map shows the boundaries of Hungary in 1877 and the areas lost to Austria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Romania in 1920. The book has over 500 pages with three columns per page, but was printed on a full 8.5″ x 11″ at a readable font size. The entire book is in alphabetical order for each location. Each entry includes the town name (as it appeared in 1877), the county or district, any alternate names, the current name and country, and the population by religion.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgment
A Short History of the Hungarian Region
Religion
Civil and Sectarian Vital Record Keeping
Chronology
1877 Population of Hungary by Religion
Other Hungarian Data
Counties of the Kingdom of Hungary
Partitioning of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1920
Genealogy and Gazetteers
Beginning Research
How this Gazetteer was Compiled
Note on Religious Population Breakdowns
Notes on Translations, Anomalies, Comments and Calculation Errors
How to Use this Gazetteer
Bibliography
Sources Used for this Work
Additional Sources (not consulted for this work)
Internet Resources (not consulted for this work)
Gazetteer of the Kingdom of Hungary
Appendix List of Contemporary Town Names
Order Genealogical Gazetteer of the Kingdom of Hungary from Family Roots Publishing; Item #: AV219, Price $45.54.
Is the $45.54 book in English?
My mother was born in Hungary in 1895 and emigrated to USA in 1914 and her mother, stepfather and 2 yr. old half sister emigrated in 1905 and they came from Peterfah, which according to mapmaker was no such place. That is what is on their ship passenger manifest. My contact thinks it was probably Petersdorf.
Frances,
Yes – it’s witten in English. Petersdorf “might” be the place (acutally Peterfalu), however there are several Peterfa locations also noted in the gazetteer – as well as a number of communities with very similar spellings – like Peterfai, and Peterfala.