Family Information

A Disclaimer.- Anyone, who in one moment of inspiration (or madness) tried to come up with a family history, eventually realizes that there is no such a thing as a family history. First of all, members of the same family might recall the same events differently. Secondly, sources of information recede in time, some of it never to be remembered. So, whoever wants to add, subtract or modify these events, or "facts" just let me know.

The Germanic surname of "KRISCH" is a derivative of the Slavic word for "Christian." As far as we can trace it, our forefathers come from a small town of Käsmark ( in German) or Késmárk (in Hungarian), presently a part of Slovakia, next to the Carpathian Mountains, and its highest peak, the Tatra. For close to 1,000 years, the territory that is now Slovakia belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary, which eventually became the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

General Information on the Area and its History

Beginning with the 12th century, Germans settled in the area of today's Slovakia. These Germans are collectively called Karpatendeutsche, or Carpathian Germans, because they lived in the northern part of the great arc formed by the Carpathian mountains.

The Carpathian Germans lived mainly in three areas, around Preßburg (Bratislava), in the Hauerland in Central Slovakia, and the Zips (Käsmark or Késmárk)in the East.

In 1938, there were about 150,000 Carpathian Germans in Slovakia, including 18,000 in the Karpatho-Ukraine. After the second world war, they were deported with great loss of life. In 1991, the last Czechoslovak Census counted 5,900 Carpathian Germans in Slovakia (though it is thought that about 15,000 live there).

Political History - Borders

Most of today's Republic of Slovakia belonged for close to 1,000 years to the old Kingdom of Hungary, and was generally known as "Upper Hungary" or "Felvidek." In 1919, Slovakia became part of the new state of Czechoslovakia. In 1938, Slovakia became autonomous. On March 14, 1939, the Slovak Provincial Parliament declared independence.

In 1945, Slovakia in its pre-1939 borders became again part of Czechoslovakia, less the Karpatho-ukraine, kept by the victorious Soviet Union. Czechoslovakia dissolved in Spring 1993 into the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovakia.

 

The Family

The Krisch Family comes from the original German settlers that settled next to the Carpathian Mountains in the 12th Century, and lived there ever since. They were known as the "Zipszers" and kept their German language and customs. Our grandfather, Krisch Jakab was part of this settlement.

Grandfather Jakab was born on October 15, 1843, and he was married twice during his life-span of 97 years (died on December 8, 1940). He had five children from his first marriage to Schnek Anna, three boys and two girls. The three boys were: János, Jenö and Károly; the girls were: Elza and Gréti. After his wife (our grandmother) died at the age of 50 from tuberculosis (a frequent cause of death at that time) he married Wawrek Zsuzsanna.

Visit
"The Historical Gallery"
for some nice old photographs!