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Memorial to a German Colony
( Page posted: September 10, 2009 ) |
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Posting archival photos of Visitation of Our Blessed Mary Church
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Our initial YouTube posting of the "Memorial to a German Colony, Part 2" video clip Video of Cemetery was blocked from viewing in Germany. This had to do with an embedded royalty-free music score. We resolved that conflict, replaced the soundtrack, recompiled the video and uploaded the updated version. Previous visitors from Germany should now be able to view the Part 2 video. We apologize for any inconvenience. |
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Memorial Page Update! This webmaster has located the original video tape of the 2007 visitation to the Village of Muzhylovychi. That video tape has been converted into two individual video clips that are now included on this page. The first video shows the (then) condition of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church ... the second video shows the installation of the memorial itself (before the panel mountings). Each video is available for viewing below.
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My German Lineage ...
Our family consider themselves as Poles ... mine and my sibling's generation being born and raised in eastern Poland, prior to World War II, and before the partitioning of Poland (the region of our birth is now in western Ukraine.) However, my heritage is in actuality German (on the maternal side) - Austro Hungarian (on the paternal side.) It was only throught my systematic research into the family's ancestry that the full Germanic side of my family blossomed and revealed itself as a decisive and critical component of my heritage. This total Germanic discovery is best left for immediate family's consumption and is available only to those privileged to have access to our Genealogy pages.
However, one aspect of my Germanic ancestry that will de detailed here is the discovery that a certain small village called MUZHYLOVYCHI (initially called MÜNCHENTHAL in German then MUZYLOWICE in Polish), not far from present day L'viv (Ukraine), holds a special meaning to me. For in this village, I can trace my ancestry to the time period of the 1750s, when my great-great-grandfather settled in this hamlet when it became a German Catholic Colony (among others nearby - see MAP.) From that early time up until approximately 1895, the maternal side of my family lived, worked, died, and were buried (for the most part) in the nearby Roman Catholic cemetery. Therefore, the intent of this page is to honor the memory of the LAUTSCH ancestors that are traced back to this village
Visitation of Our Blessed Mary Church... Location of Muzylowice relative to City of L'viv
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Archival photo of the Visitation of Our Blessed Mary Church. Date: Unknown. Photo: Courtesy of Brian Lenius, Canada )
Archival photo of procession leaving the Visitation of Our Blessed Mary Church. Date: Around 1909-1911. Photo: Courtesy of Alfred Konrad, Stuttgart, Germany ) I must reveal that I have traveled four times (since 2001) to this village. I have walked the paths to the village's abandoned and derelict (and in ruin) Roman Catholic church (shown on left) and the nearby, but equally abandoned and overgrown, cemetery. Although still sanctified (as I believe), these two relics of the past German Catholic Colony, long forgotten, appeared as if there was some hope in restoring each to its past glory ... or at least a semblance of respectability.
) That very first year (2001) of my visit to Muzhylovychi, my path crossed an individual with a equal sense of interest in seeing these two relics restored ... Brian Lenius of Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada. Together we (as principals) formed an informal partnership and devised ways to address these two items ... restore the Visitation of our Blessed Mary church and do something about the cemetery. In the end, we had the way but not the means to do anything about the church ... it was too far gone in its ruined state and beyond hope of salvaging any restoration, or even halting its further decay. That project was placed on hold (actually cancelled) for lack of funds. That project's plan may be read here ... Church Restoration.
A historical synopsis of the village of Muzhylovychi and the church may be read here ... History of Muzhylovychi (extracted from the project plan mentioned above.)
Before we leave the topic of the MUZHYLOVYCHI (or MÜNCHENTHAL / MUZYLOWICE) church, the reader may be interested in viewing this church in its various in-situ stages during our four previous visits. The church images will clearly demonstrate our interest in its restoration and the eventual reason for cancelling the project.
HINT: If video starts/stops often, PAUSE the playback for 45-60 seconds to allow the video buffer memory to fill. To resume playback press PLAY.
) Olesya Boyko(as our business representative) ) Slavko Fot(as our technical coordinator) Because there are many elements to this project, only the key segments necessary to explain our efforts, our progress, and our achievemnts will be detailed here. ) )
Using the sketches submitted, we wrote a PROJECT SUMMARY, which formed the basis for project management. Before continuing with the project progress discussion, it is necessary to identify the project participants, besides the two principals, that made the project a success that it is today. Over a period of several months we sent out, to a select group of people, a solicitation letter and managed to secure adequate funding to initiate serious work. The following individuals came forth and financially supported this memorial project. Although the amounts donated to this project will not be noted here, every one of these individuals' contribution was deeply appreciated. Each of these project partners became an acknowledged owner of this memorial:(if any participant is not listed, we apologize for that omission.)
) Mr. Fot, our technical coordinator, in concert with the sculptor visited several quarries to select the two types of stones to be used on the memorial ... the basic "white" stone for the memorial proper and a "black" stone to be used for the engraved plaques (to be discussed shortly.) The only way by which the results and the sculpting process may be described is by viewing images of this entire process. To that end, the gallery below should serve that purpose:
) names of families that still held a profound interest in this cemetery, either by support or visitation to the cemetery. The process was not perfect but the only logical one at hand. A sampling of the top surname occurrences (greater than 1% of all burials) on the death records is shown at left. The surnames of LAUTSCH and MASSINGER, predominant in our ancestral link to this village, are near the top. Surname LENIUS, the co-principal on this project, is likewise near the top.
A complete MÜNCHENTHAL CATHOLIC CEMETERY BURIALS (1787-1905) is available here ... Burial List.
Now on to the business of designing the panel layouts, both for the surnames and the "message". The selected surnames were not laid out alphabetically (for placement optimization), were split over the three panels and in a font and font size for ease of readability. This was a crucial decision as to allow as many names as practical but still be readable when a visitor is standing within a nominal distance from the mmonument. ) The "message" engraved was a composite of many differing opinions among the people involved in this creative process. Eventually when a concensus was reached, it was decided that the "message" would be in three languages ... German (obvious), English (universal), and Ukrainian (host country.) The font and font size for the "message" was left to the discretion of the engraver so that the full text body fit within the borders of the actual panel. Lastly, a shorter "epitaph" panel (left) was conceived that dedicates this monument.
Describing the panels is pointless when a image of that panel is available. The gallery below shows all six panels ... white on black to indicate how the panel would look like when engraved on black stone. Please note, that the Ukrainian panel includes an etching of the church as it looked like in an old archival photograph.
) The culmination of many years of effort is the assembly of the monument in situ. When the spring weather cooperated and the ground was dry to support heavy equipment, the sculptor and his crew, with the support of the project coordinator, commenced with the assembly. Images below tell the entire story (unfortunately, only a few images were submitted by our coordinator.)
) In 2007, the author made a visit to Muzhylovychi for a first-hand look at the final monument (less panels, which were in the process of being engraved.) The gallery below shows the monument after a "one year aging".
Olexi, the contracted custodian, kept the cemetery grounds trimmed of vegetation.
HINT: If video starts/stops often, PAUSE the playback for 45-60 seconds to allow the video buffer memory to fill. To resume playback press PLAY.
) Through late-2008 and early-2009, the sculptor worked on the panel engravings. During the course of this work, our project coordinator kept us apprised. Again, he sent us a few images of the completed panels ... just to let us know that the quality of the engravings was as expected and that they would be mounted on the monument as soon as weather permits ... sometime in mid-spring.
) Among one of our concerns was ... "will the engraved text be highly readable, considering the depth of engraving." As seen on the left, the verbiage is very discernible, highly readable. The partnership is pleased with the results. The balance of the panels ... surnames and "messages" are shown in the gallery below.
The plaque placement may be viewed here ... Placement.
The author dedicates this effort to his LAUTSCH ancestors.
Their memory is cherished. 
LAUTSCH Family, 1909 (left to right):Gizela Carolina Lautsch (1899-1950) Margaritha (nee Jahnsohn) Lautsch (1870-1943) Julia Lautsch (1897-1991) Rosalia Lautsch (1903-1990) THANK YOU for visiting. 
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