BCHS Lecture Series 21 with Rudi Schabl Feb 19

The Barnes County Historical Society Lecture Series Season 21 Presents: Rudi Schabl “From Austria with Love: Austrian Immigration to Barnes County” 2 PM SATURDAY, February 19th at the Barnes County Museum. (315 Central Ave N, Valley City)

NOTE THE DATE AND TIME CHANGE! This is a first-of-its-kind presentation for the Society’s Lecture Series. It will be by ZOOM! Our presenter, Rudi Schabl, will be several hours ahead of us in Europe, and so the necessity of a date and time change from our regular schedule.

During the 19th and early 20th Centuries, many immigrants from Austria came to America. Many of these people came to live in an around Fingal and have descents still in the area. This presentation will be about the history of the Pilgersdorf, Austria with a concentration on the families who left for America and came to Fingal.

Rudolf (Rudi to his friends) Schabl was born in 1955 in Pilgersdorf house no. 12 as the 6th child of Rudolf and Leopoldine Schabl. In 1956 his parents moved to St. Pölten (about 45 ml west of Vienna). He has been involved in genealogy for many years and is very interested in the people who emigrated to the USA and Canada, as many of our family also emigrated to the USA and Canada. A few years ago, during a visit to Pilgersdorf, he met Professor Josef Schermann, who knows the history of Pilgersdorf like no one else. Josef has written several books about the history of this community. Rudi had the idea to create a database and started to enter all baptized persons as well as the marriages, the emigrants, and their descendants.

At the moment there are about 12,500 entries in the database, unfortunately, he is still missing a lot of data. During his work, he has read through hundreds of passenger lists to find the entries. Also, the census lists and other documents. He may never be able to finish the work because life is too short for that, but he has a remarkable amount of information he is willing to share with anyone interested.

“I think that for many the history of Austria and the reason why so many emigrated is interesting. I will try to give a short overview. Of course, I am at your disposal if someone wants to know more and I have records.”