Anton Mohelnitzky - Where was he born?
Anton Mohelnitzky was born March 24, 1848 and baptized in Seltschan on March 25, 1848. At that time, the town was located in Bohemia in the Austrian Empire. Today, the town is known as Sedlčany and is located in Czech Republic. The German spelling and Bohemian pronunciation for the town "Sedlčany" 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" or even Sulzau. Because descendants of Anton Mohelnitzky were not sure of the spelling or location of his birthplace, the town name was written incorrectly in family histories. Sedlčany is located south of Prague in the Czech Republic.
The baptism record of Antonin Mohelnicky was found by researcher Blanka Lednická on September 15, 2009. Blanka also transcribed the Czech handwriting to typewritten text and translated it to English. Finding this baptism record was a MAJOR breakthrough in our Mohelnitzky ancestor research!
The baptism record gives the names of baby Anton's parents and both sets of grandparents.
Birth/Baptism record of Antonín Mohelnický, 24th March 1848
Extracted from the Sedlcany parish, registry book no. 15 – births 1842-1855.
Czech transcription:
datum narození a pokřtění: 1848 Martii Nat. 24 Bapt. 25číslo domu: 78jméno pokřtěného: Antoniusnáboženství:katolické: /nekatolické: -pohlaví:mužské: /ženské: -lože:manželské: /nemanželské: -otec: Mohelnjcký Antonjn, mistr tkadlcowský ze Sedlčan N.C. 78 poddán ke Chlumczi, syn + Antonjna Mohelnjckého mistra saukenjckého ze Sedlčan N.C. 228, a matky Jozefy, rozené Slaba ze Sedlčan N.C. 169, panstwj Chlumeckého.Baptizavi ego Em. Urban, Dec.matka: Šulc Marye, dcera + Wáclawa Šulce, kramáře a obchodnjka ze Sedlčan N.C. 48, poddanéhoke Chlumci, a matky Marye, rozené Kopal ze Sedlčan N.C. 93, panstwj Chlumeckého.kmotři: Frantjzek Czapek, mistr saukenjckj ze Seltschan;Františka Czapek, geho manželkaEnglish translation:Date of birth and baptization: 1848, March born 24th baptized 25thHouse no.: 78Name of baptized: Antoninreligion:catholic: /noncatholic: -sex:male: /female: -status:legitimate: /illegitimate: -Father: Antonin Mohelnicky, weaver master from Sedlcany house no. 78, subject to Chlumec domain, son of deceased Antonin Mohelnicky, draper master from Sedlcany house no. 228, and mother Josefa nee Slaba from Sedlcany house no. 169, Chlumec domain.Baptized by me, Em(anuel). Urban, deanMother: Marie Sulcova, daughter of deceased Vaclav Sulc, peddler and trader from Sedlcany house no. 48, subject to Chlumec domain, and mother Marie nee Kopal from Sedlcany house no.93, Chlumec domain.Godfather and Godmother: Frantisek Capek, draper master from Sedlcany;Frantiska Capkova, his wife.Repository: Státní regionální archiv v Praze - State Regional Archives in Prague
Archivní 4, 149 00 Praha 4 - Chodovec. http://www.soapraha.cz/index_en.php
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Notes: Anton's death certificate incorrectly lists his birth date as April 24, 1848.
Family members, not sure of the correct spelling of the birthplace of Anton Mohelnitzky, have spelled the town name as Sellgan / Zellgan / Selzau. All these spellings are wrong.
Census records and Anton's marriage record indicate Anton was born in Bohemia, Austria.
The Post Card - which led to a 1998 wild goose chase in search of the wrong town!
Anton Mohelnitzky's son, Frank (who changed his last name to "Mohr" in 1905), wrote a message on a post card possibly in 1955 to Mrs. Frank Duren of Cazenovia, Wisc, RR2 USA (Stamp: Republik Osterreich 1945-1955):
"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, a large mountain with a cave below and a building on top. The words on the picture side of the post card said: "Engang zum Aufzug Kehlsteinhaus 1834 m"
Clues
Several clues of the town Frank visited 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 (the postcard photo shows 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 Salzburg within five to 30 miles from each other, within 70 miles (by winding mountain roads) from Eagles Nest. Local residents pronounced "Sulzau" as "Tsool-zow."
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 Alps. There was an iron factory nearby. The other three Sulzau "villages" consisted mainly of one or two farm houses (and no taverns). One of the Sulzau "villages" was located at the top of a very steep mountain road.
Conflicting Information
The area where all these Sulzau villages are located were always a part of the State of Salzburg in Austria. However, documents showed that Anton Mohelnitzky was born in Bohemia. This Sulzau area of Austria was never considered to be the Kingdom of Bohemia!
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 Anton Mohelnitzky was finally found. But questions remained - Why were there no records in Salzburg for any "Mohelnitzky" families? Why do census records and Anton's marriage record state his place of birth as "Bohemia" and "Austria"?
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.
Conclusion of this wild goose chase:
In September 2009, the baptism record of Anton Mohelnitzky was located in Seltschan/Sedlčany, Czech Republic. Finding the baptism lays to rest the theory that Anton's home was near Hitler's home. Frank Mohr obviously visited the wrong town! Oh, well, it was nice seeing where Frank Mohr once visited.