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Archiver > AUSTRIA > 2000-03 > 0952286739


From: Dana Holm Howard <>
Subject: Re: [AUSTRIA-L] Eger
Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2000 12:05:39 -0800


Eger was never in Germany (unless you count the Nazi period). I believe
that the Eger Caspar Müller came from would have been Eger, Bohemia (now
Cheb, Czech republic). There is another Eger in Hungary, but I doubt that
it is the Eger in your documents.

Bohemia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in both 1886 and 1896. It
was a Habsburg crown land for centuries. The confusion here probably stems
from the fact that the concept of nationality under the Habsburgs was not
what we would think of as nationality today.

Germany was not unified until 1871. Prior to that point, and to some extent
for years afterwards, most German-speakers in the Habsburg empire thought
of themselves as “Germans”, just as the Bavarians and Saxons who later
joined the German Empire thought of themselves as Germans before their
kingdoms joined the German Empire. It was a supra-national language and
culture. “Austria” was at that time technically a small provincial portion
(and not all of the German-speaking portion) of the Habsburg Empire. Caspar
Müller, as a German-speaker in a largely Czech-speaking town in the Kingdom
of Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire, would most likely have thought of
himself as a German, regardless of his citizenship. The difference may have
been the geograpical sophistication of the person taking down the information.

There is another, remote possibility, which is that Caspar Müller was not
born in Eger.

At 08:05 AM 3/5/2000 -0500, "Pauline Cusson" <> wrote:
>What county or region is Eger in. At one time it was part of Germany. It
>changed between 1886 and 1896. Caspar Muller first filed his intention to
>naturalize in Outagamie Wisconsin and says he was born in Germany. He then
>naturalized in Hillsborough County New Hampshire [USA] in 1896 when he
>denounces allegiance to the Emp. of Austria. When daughter Louise marries
>in 1902 she gives her parents place of birth as Eger Austria. Where should
>I be looking for records. Austria or Germany?

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