Banat Villages

Caspar Pecho Tavern

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Approximate date: About 1910
More of: Mary Ann Unger

The Caspar Pecho Tavern, Engelsbrunn (now Fintinele, Romania).

Photo was taken circa 1910. From left: Anna Kiefer, Unknown, Terezia Dukarm Kiefer, Pancratz Kiefer, Elizabeth Dukarm Pecho and Caspar Pecho.

This elegant building was once owned by the Dukarm family. It's ownership passed to Caspar Pecho. The tavern was operated by Pancratz Kiefer and wife Terezia. When Pancratz died in 1911, wife Terezia and her blind mother Anna Koska Dukarm operated it. Caspar Pecho ran the butcher shop portion.

Following WWII, the ornamental work was knocked down from the building and it became the town store for many years. The building was razed in the late 1990s and an apartment house stands on the site.

My grandmother (Anna Kiefer) recalled that Anna Koska Dukarm, despite her blindness, ran a tight establishment and knew customers by their walk. As WWI approached, more and more soldiers came into the tavern and the women were becoming apprehensive. Anna Kiefer emigrated to Trenton, NJ in March 1914. Her mother Terezia Dukarm Kiefer came in 1922. Anna Koska Dukarm, Elizabeth Dukarm Pecho and Caspar Pecho remained in Engelsbrunn until their deaths.

Present site of Caspar Pecho Tavern

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More of: Mary Ann Unger

The home of Anna Koska Dukarm remains: it is to the left of the new apartment building.

Color photo by Ed Dukarm of Texas.

The charter of Moritzfeld

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More of: Don Mingesz
More Information

The charter of the village of Moritzfeld, Hungary (now Maureni, Romania). The German text is from a Moritzfeld heimatbuch by Dr. Anton Peter Petri--published in 1986.

The English translation is by Hans Listdfeld.

Both of these were provided to me by Dolores Carson.

The charter of Moritzfeld (cont)

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More of: Don Mingesz

Hatzfeld in the late 1800's

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Approximate date: Late 1800's
More of: Laura McCollum

Children playing in the street in Hatzfeld late 1800's.

Moritzfeld Church

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Approximate date: Unknown
More of: Don Mingesz

This Roman Catholic was built in Moritzfeld, Hungary in 1786. Moritzfeld is now Maureni, Romania.

Catholic Church in Engelsbrunn

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More of: Mary Ann Unger

First some information on Engelsbrunn, now Fintinele. The town was established in 1766 with 97 colonist families (352 people). The settlers came mainly from Trier, Lorraine, Luxembourg and the Saarland. By the spring of 1767 there were 104 families and 500-600 people! The original name was "Kisfaluda" meaning "small village" in Hungarian. In 1768 following a visit of Josef II, the town was renamed "Engelsbrunn" because the founder had put an angel (probably of wood) on the well over the spring in the center of the town. Today there is a column with a metal angel in the park in front of the Catholic Church, on the old spring's site.

The Catholic Church was dedicated in 1780, after the steeple scaffold fell during construction in 1799, killing five people and injuring another 19. In 1848, during the Hungarian Revolution, the church was struck (and still bears scars) by cannon balls. In 1853, the church received an organ and a 870 pound bell, new benches were purchased and the floor was covered in Kehlheim marble. In 1916, for the war, the benches are removed and the bells are requisitioned along with the organ pipes. In 1923, new bells are purchased, the organ gets its pipes and benches are installed. In WWII, the church sustains light damage.

Catholic Church and park, in foreground, white column has the "Angel over the Sring" statue at top.

Photo credits: Ed Dukarm.