Purpose of this Genealogy Website
AustrianFamilyHistory.org has two primary purposes. First, to provide a helpful source of information and tools to assist you to conduct successful Austrian genealogical research. I believe that you will find assembled here a wealth of training resources not available from any other source. Second, to promote family history focusing on the Southern Waldviertel region of Lower Austria and publish genealogical research from that area. You will find these two main purposes reflected in links to the right.
Southern Waldviertel
Family History Project
Unbeknownst to me, my interest in the Southern Waldviertel began many years ago as a teenager. During a visit with my grandfather, he presented me with an aged marriage record that his grandfather had received from the Martinsberg Parish office prior to his emigration to America in 1884. With the help of several new Austrian friends and the information this document contained, nine years ago a virtual door was opened to my Waldvierteler ancestors.
I bear the Waldvierteler surname of Stütz, and as far back as records exist there, my ancestors lived in this region of Austria. Having researched their records and walked their lands many times over the past nine years, I am bound to the Southern Waldviertel and to its people.
The Southern Waldviertel Family History Project's objective, although grandiose, is very straight forward. It is to document every individual and family who lived in select Southern Waldvierteler parishes during the years 1600 to 1900 as far as records will allow. This website currently documents 13,105 individuals in 3,526 families from the southern and central portions of the Waldviertel in Lower Austria. One may access this information by clicking on the "Genealogy Project Data" link to the right.
What is the Waldviertel?
The Waldviertel or "Forest Quarter" is a picturesque semi-mountainous region less than an hour's drive west of Vienna, Austria. Its name is derived from the extensive forest covering much of its 2,850 square miles. Agriculture, forestry, and the production of glass and textiles have historically played a pivotal role in this area's economy. The Waldviertel is bordered on the south by the Danube or Donau River, which served as a lifeline for much of Central Europe. Castles dot its landscape and point to a former age of feudal rule. Although dominated earlier by Protestants, their expulsion or conversion during and immediately following the Thirty-Years War (1618-1648), referred to as the Catholic Counter-Reformation, transformed the Waldviertel into a bastion of Roman Catholicism. The Baroque Monastery at Melk lies near the Waldviertel's southern base and serves as the gateway to this mystical region.
Maps Identifying Südliche Waldviertel Project Location
Detailed Map of Southern Waldviertel Project Area
Catholic Parishes in Southern & Central Waldviertel
You may contact me with feedback or suggestions via email in English oder schreiben Sie auf Deutsch to: kentstuetz@austrianfamilyhistory.org.