History of Tschonopel

Tschonopel is located 11 km (abt. 6.8 miles) NNE from Sombor, in the Batschka region, today Vojvodina, Serbia.

Geographic position: 19° 25’ degrees longitude east - 45° 40’ degrees latidude north

Height above sea level: 90.6 – 105.2 meters

Boundary: 7,715 hectares (1 hectare = 10,000 square meters) or 19,064 acres.

The oldest relics found are dated back to the late Stone Age. Relics from the 7th and 8th centuries were also found, but they give no exact indication as to the tribes who lived there.

About 1242, the Tartars invaded Sombor and its environs. The Osmans (Turks) also left their traces. They had roamed the Bácska/Batschka region for decades, destroyed the area and menaced the people. Many inhabitants were sold as slaves.

In 1399, Tschonopel was mentioned for the first time in a document, as Chamokla, in a Turkish delfter (tax list), as property of the noble Czobor Family, from whom the Kalosca diocese levied the tax.

In 1590, the village had 28 households.

On September 16, 1687, the troops of the Austrian Emperor freed Sombor and its environs from the Turks, who subsequently withdrew from Batschka.

There was a census in 1715, but Tschonopel was not mentioned. However 31 households were mentioned for Siwatz, including a certain Tescha Tschonopljanin, aged 50 who was born in Tschonopel and had run away from the Turks in 1685; thus his name.

In 1747, Tschonopel counted 5 Sallasche (farms) with 42 people. They were Hungarians and Dalmatians of Catholic confession.

A few German families could be found as early as in 1758. Shortly thereafter, however, they left for other neighboring villages. A Paul Witsch is mentioned, interviewed in connection with having stolen a horse, but acquitted of a charge.

Freiherr Anton von Cothmann, a representative of Emperor Maria Theresia, visited Tschonopel in 1767 and his assessment was not very complimentary. Bad houses, untidy streets and big neglected fields, but nice vineyards existed. He decided to propose the place for settlement by Germans. The plans in Vienna were to settle Protestant or Reformed Germans there. But this was dropped, as the Hungarians and Dalmatians who lived there, were all Roman Catholics.

On May 16, 1786, 109 German families were to settle in Tschonopel, but there were 119, all Catholics. The major part, approximately 30 families, came from Elsass and Lothringen today in France, and approximately 30 from the eastern part of Hunsrück, a mountain range south of Koblenz, Germany, which included Andreas and Johann Witsch. From this time to the expulsion in 1944, Tschonopel was trilingual. In 1803, the population of Tschonopel was 2734.

The All Saints Church, still in existence, was built in 1819. Before this, a small church made of wood stood at the same place. Its interior is splendidly painted, 5 bells ring for the church. Its dimensions are 44 meters by 12 meters.

At the edge of the Teletschka hill, above the Calvary, there is the Antonius Chapel. The Calvary, with its 14 Stations of the Cross and statues of saints, was among the most beautiful in Batschka; it was built in 1878, with donations from the faithful.

On each July 2 (Visitation of Mary) many of the faithful, including those from the surrounding villages, used to go on a pilgrimage to the Tschonopel Brünndl Chapel.

The headstones at the cemetery were usually made of marble or artificial stone. Many families used to have a vault and in front of it, there was a column made of black Swedish marble, and a white cross was attached to its top.

In 1869, the population of Tschonopel was 5310, and had decreased to 4536 by 1910. This was caused by emigration to America and other places.

The railroad Sombor – Tschonopel – Kernei – Werbas was opened on December 21, 1906. Electric power has been supplied to Tschonopel since 1921.

Although Tschonopel was a rather agricultural place, many priests, nuns, and teachers emerged.

Many Donauschwaben farmers from Tschonopel owned a Sallasch (small farm outside the village). There was wine and fruit growing, hemp farmers and mills, fattening of pigs, and poultry breeding. The biggest farm within the boundaries of Tschonopel was the Kerschner farm with 1,200 jochs (approx. 692 hectares) of field.

Many clubs, from firefighters to a soccer club, offered an opportunity for leisure time activities. There was also a library. A theatre group performed in regular intervals.

"Tschonopel is a small, nicely equipped village in the Middle of the Batschka region".

The descendants of the Germans who settled in 1786 had lived in peace in Tschonopel for 158 years. World War II brought the misfortune. In October 1944, many people had to leave their beloved home overnight. They thought it was only for a short period, but most of them never saw their beloved Tschonopel again. Those who stayed were taken to concentration and work camps, where many of them died. Those who were expelled from their properties and estates that did not die in these camps or that simply escaped, left the area and ended up spread over the world, but they have not forgotten their Tschonopel.

1989 -DONAUSCHWÄBISCHE HEIMAT GEMEINDE TSCHONOPEL,

Franz Josef Rausch & Joseph Rausch, Nürnberg

1992 -Feith Johann Tschonopel bis Feith Johann Ober-Roden,

Johann Feith, Rödermark

1994 -Ortssippenbuch/Familienbuch Tschonopel 1762 - 1945,

Johann Kainrad, Messel - Johann Kemmer und Johann Feith, Rödermark

1997 -Donauschwäbische Gemeinde Tschonopel in der Batschka,

A little book written by a Yugoslavian journalist

Translated by Franz Kemmer, Bonn - editing by Johann Feith, Rödermark

2001 -Dokumentation über Tschonopeler Donauschwaben in Rödermark

Johann Feith, Rödermark

2004 -Chronik der Familie Feith

Johann Feith, Rödermark

2004 -Die Geschichte der Auswandererfamilien

Wilhelm Feyd/Fait, Damscheid - Jacob Gräff, Lingerhahn -

Johann Feyd/Veit/Fait, Perscheid

Karl Heinz Gräff, Emmelshausen - Johann Feith, Rödermark