Anton Mohelnitzky
Anton Mohelnitzky (married to Mary Ruskauff) was born
Anton's place of birth has
not been verified, but several town names have been suggested by his
descendants:
Sellgan / Zellgan / Selzau
Census records and Anton's marriage record indicate Anton was born in
The Post Card
Anton Mohelnitzky's son, Frank (who later changed his last name to "Mohr"), wrote this post card possibly in 1955:
"Hi, had lunch at Selzan the town were our Dad was
Born. A very small village. Only thing there is an Iron Mine. The country is
Beautifull. It is near Hitlers home. Love, Frank." (The post card shows a
picture of Kehlsteinhaus)
Clues
Several clues were in the post card:
1) The village needed to have a tavern, since Frank wrote about having lunch there.
2) There needed to be an iron mine nearby.
3) The village needed to be near Hitler's home (known as Eagles Nest where Kehlsteinhaus is located).
4) The country is beautiful
The post card was handed down to later generations as
one of the few pieces of written "evidence" of the town name of
Anton's birth place.
In 1998, there came an opportunity for me to visit this area to try to find the
village called "Selzan" in Austria. Several maps were consulted, including maps
at the Salzburger Landesarchiv in Salzburg. "Selzan" was not found on maps.
Frank's handwriting was not very clear on the post card. Did he write
"Selzan" or perhaps "Sulzau"? Four villages named
"Sulzau" were found on a map - all located south of
Sulzau, Austria
On the 1998 trip to Sulzau, the largest Sulzau village, called "Bahnhof Sulzau," had a
train station with a few out-buildings, a tavern, two old houses, and some sheds. It was located on the Sulzach river in a beautiful valley between the
Conflicting Information
The area where all these Sulzau villages are located were
always a part of the State of Salzburg in
The description in Frank's post card certainly could describe the village called
"Bahnhof Sulzau" and a researcher might be satisfied knowing the town
of
Seeming to be on the right track, but still not sure if Anton Mohelnitzky was
born in Sulzau, there was evidence of two "Melnitzky" women who were
from Sulzau bei Puch in Austria. In the Salzburger Landesarchiv, wills were found for
these two women, dated 1855 and 1868. In both of their names, the "e"
from Melnitzky was retyped over an "o." Melnitzky is not quite
"Mohelnitzky," but is very close.
Research in Bohemia (Czech Republic)
Not wanting to leave any stone unturned, a letter was written to Josef Mohelnicky in the
Josef kindly replied to letters and sent several documents, including a will, and a "Mohelnitzky" crest. The name on the crest was spelled the same way Anton spelled his name! The crest said this Mohelnitzky family came from Niederschlesien.
The Will
From a 1825 Will for Vincensius (Vincent) Mohelnicky:
Antonin Mohelnitzky (brother of Vincent was a master silk maker in Sedlicanech (Sedlcany).
Sedlcany is
located south of
Seltschan - Could this be Anton's birth place?
The name of the town where Vincent's brother Antonin Mohelnitzky lived in 1825 was Sedlicanech (Sedlcany).
The German spelling and Bohemian pronunciation for the town "Sedlcany" is "Seltschan" and would be pronounced, in a Bohemian dialect, as "Sel-tsch'n." A person hearing this dialect, may think the spelling would be "Sellgan" or "Zellgan."
Click on the map to make it larger
Mohelnitzky or Mohelnicky?
"Mohelnicky" is how someone who speaks Czech language would spell their name. A Czech person may pronounce their name as "moe-hel-NIH-kee" - the first "h" sound is like a half-h. The Czech language doesn't have "tz" - which is why Czech's would spell "Mohelnitzky" as "Mohelnicky."
"Mohelnitzky" is how someone who speaks German as their native language would spell their name. German speakers would pronounce their name as "moe-hehl-NIT-skee."
Some descendants of Anton Mohelnitzky in America pronounce "Mohelnitzky" as "mole-NIT-skee" where the "h" is silent.
Some other descendants in Wisconsin pronounce the name as "mul-eh-NIT-skee."
My grandma Merie Mohelnitzky (who lived in Wisconsin all her life) pronounced her last name as "muh-HAHN-es-kee."
One son of Anton Mohelnitzky shortened his last name and changed it to "Mohr" sometime after 1900.
Research continues....
The "To Do List"
Czech
Find Anton's birth/baptism record. Perhaps the Antonin listed in the 1825 Will of Vincent Mohelnicky is the father of Anton Mohelnitzky (born in 1848), or is the grandfather of 1848 Anton. Or an uncle. For the towns Sedlcany/Seltschan, the archive is located in Prague, Czech Republic. For the county Ostrava in Schlesien, the archive is in Tropau, Czech Republic.
Find the name of Anton's mother, and any other information about the family.
Requests, Comments, Suggestions
I'm happy to share any information with other Mohelnitzky researchers. Please contact me at the link below.
~Debbie
