Bach Cities and Bach Places: Hanfthal Near Laa on the Thaya, Austria..

1  Why Is Hanfthal One of the Bach Places?..

First of all, Hanfthal is not a “Johann Sebastian Bach place.” The Thomaskantor did not know Hanfthal. And Johann Sebastian Bach had no idea that his ancestors came from there.

Experience Hanfthal together with Ungerndorf and Laa on the Thaya, Austria. The video? Information, photos, film, music. Eleven minutes of entertainment about two villages and the beautiful town right next door. By the way, it's exactly the same video as the one about Ungerndorf. Info..

Until 2021, no one knew that the tiny community of Hanfthal, right next to the beautiful town of Laa on the Thaya in the north of Austria's Weinviertel region (... wine quarter), was a Bach location. Not the important historical Bach biographers, not the small group of Bach genealogists led by Professor Günther Kaft in Thuringia. And not even the Bach experts who were active in Bach genealogy until around 2010 and are now all deceased..

The fact that Hanfthal has now been added to the “collection” of Bach locations can be attributed to a special form of research carried out by the author of this page: In addition to his own active research, he can also be found on the internet. Specifically, this means that he places certain terms on Google in such a way that searchers become aware of his research..

In the case of Hanfthal, the Bach genealogy was actually completed in 2015. Hanfthal was not known as a Bach location. It was clarified that the Bachs did not come from Hungary, but from Bohemia. And specifically, they came back from Bohemia. Because they did not always live there. Instead, they first emigrated there. Then again... or, if you like, back again. To Germany. From and/or to Thuringia. Around five researchers came to this conclusion around 1960. However, the then Ministry of Culture of the GDR found this research, and especially the result, really uncool. Almost word for word, we still read in a document today: “So the Bachs were miners at first?! We tend to believe Albert Schweitzer more... and he didn't write anything about it at all”..

This exciting discovery about the genealogy of the early Bachs – and at that time, no Bach was playing music yet – thus “disappeared” back into obscurity. And Bach biographers and Bach authors continued to copy from one another. Namely, that “the Bachs” came from Hungary. Very few did not, however. Among them was the late Bach author and genealogist Helga Brück. And the leading Bach expert Christoph Wolff. Both of them refrained from mentioning Veit's origins in the book “Von der Apfelstädt und der Gera and den Missouri” and in the latest edition of Wolff's Bach biography. They did not mention Veit's origins at all..

So, to the point. I published my discovery, which had actually already been made: The Bachs moved to Bohemia and then returned from there. However, I also asked, at the very end of my website page, that if anyone reading it knew anything about the subject, they should please contact me..

Together with me and with us, he solved an incredible mystery in the Bach genealogy. Dozens of Bach biographers and Bach genealogists had previously “broken their teeth” on it: It is Michael Lehner, here in his modern bookstore in Laa. Because this bookstore is located in Laa, it is called “BuchLAAden” (... BookLAAden)..

Michael Lehner is also a night watchman in Laa. Not really, of course. But as such, he guides visitors through beautiful Laa, his hometown. I even enjoyed an exclusive private tour. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time for it. When you're out taking photos, you have to take the weather into account and, for many subjects, the position of the sun as well..

In fact, a full six years after I published my rediscovered work, I received an email from Austria. More precisely: from Laa on the Thaya. Michael Lehner had been searching and searching and searching and had “landed” on my page about this period in the genealogy of the Bachs. He “bravely” continued reading until he came to my request at the end of the page. He then did some more research to find out exactly where he and his fellow researcher had found what they had discovered. This was long before Michael Lehner contacted me..

Hanfthal is located right next to the town of Laa an der Thaya. It takes just two minutes to walk from the town exit sign to the town entrance sign of both locations. On foot. This Hanfthal is mentioned in a council protocol. Specifically, a Veit Bach is listed there. More precisely? At the appropriate time, that is, long after the Bachs emigrated from Thuringia. And before the date of death of Veit Bach in Wechmar, 1619..

Hanfthal is not particularly spectacular in itself. However, another village nearby is quite special to us. How far is it from Hanfthal? About 30 minutes on foot. Its exciting name? Ungerndorf. In the past, this was often shortened to Ungern..

Now it's becoming clear: If it waddles like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck... then it must be a duck!..

That's it, the ancient protocol ... or rather, the historical volume containing entries from the council of the town of Laa on the Thaya. Veit Bach is mentioned in it. © Mr. Lehner kindly provided me with this image for publication..

See for yourself: Veit Bach is mentioned. We also received permission to publish this image from bookseller, musician, band leader, local historian, and “night watchman” Michael Lehner. The red arrow, however, comes from our “electronic quill. © Michael Lehner..

Back to the “duck” mentioned above: Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his Origin of the Musical Bach Family in 1735. It is not a family tree: There are far too many details missing that would have been easy to research at the time. And all the women are missing. The "Urspung" (... “origin”) is a compilation of an unusually large number of male musicians up to the year 1735. Not even female musicians are listed in this origin. Only his second wife, Anna Magdalena Bach, was a court singer. She married the Köthen music director long after the sudden death of his first wife, Maria Barbara. After all, Anna Magdalena earned almost the same salary as Johann Sebastian Bach: with her musical job in Köthen. That was no small amount, because since his first position in Weimar, Bach had received four times more money for his services than his predecessors..

For the earliest genealogy of the Bachs, the “origin” (... the "Ursprung") is not only worthless, but in the form of two transcripts, it is even extremely confusing and counterproductive. That is why the current genealogy of the Bachs also refers to the publication of Bach's memoirs in a “Musical Library”, a book. Johann Sebastian Bach had briefed his good friend and publisher in Leipzig about it. In 1732, three years before the creation of his Ursprung, one can still read here about the origin of the Bachs from Ungern. Ungern with an " e ". There is definitely no mention of Hungary (... Ungarn, with an " a ")..

This meant that almost all biographers up until the present day were wrong in their references to Hungary and, even worse, to Preßburg. Carl Philipp Emanuel, Bach's second eldest famous son, is responsible for this. He reinterpreted the Ungern he had heard for many years as Hungary (... Ungarn with an " a "). Then the first great Bach expert, Johann Nikolaus Forkel, took it up. Finally, one Bach author copied from another..

However, Ungern could not be found anywhere for years. Not on maps, not on the internet, nowhere. So it came that a small group of researchers, around 1960, first found Ungernland, as a region in Bohemia was called at the time. This region was also referred to as Ungern for short. Veit was born there in 1551, as documented in records... he later became Veit the Elder. You can read more about him in my Bach genealogy "even more excessive"..

However, with the email from Laa on the Thaya, everything finally fell into place even better ... and definitively. If at least one Bach moved to Hanfthal ... and later to Ungern (... Ungerndorf), and this Ungerndorf was also abbreviated to Ungern at the time, then Bach actually meant Ungern in his original. That is, when he wrote Ungern. Incidentally, the two copies of the "Ursprung" were not very helpful, because all four crucial letters, whether Ungern or Ungarn – the word is mentioned twice – cannot be “deciphered.” First, the crucial word is literally scribbled twice in one document. On the second important document, there are two heavy stains exactly where it would be possible to make out the " e " or the " a "..

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2  Music by Bach and Pictures from Hanfthal..

The video without any “distracting” text. Hanfthal in pictures. Accompanied by a piece by Bach. For more information, see my second video: right at the top and again a little further down on this page..

3  The Bach Location of Hanfthal in Pictures..

The food here is excellent: I know this from my own experience. I am already looking forward to my next visit. In Hanfthal and at the Hanfwirt. There aren't many photos you can take in Hanfthal. But there are a few: Click here to see these photos..

At some point, Veit Bach the Elder or Veit Bach the Younger ... or both, and thus the entire family ... left Hanfthal. They settled in Ungerndorf, right in the neighborhood. The topic of “Bachcities, Bach places”: As mentioned... more pictures of Hanfthal can be found here with one click..

4  Information About the Bach Location of Hanfthal..

Hanfthal is a cadastral municipality ... and indeed, on January 17, 2024, you will encounter my first (... and almost only) small AI-generated text here: An Austrian cadastral municipality is an administrative unit that demarcates areas for geographical and statistical purposes. However, it has no independent self-government. Cadastral municipalities serve to identify properties and are entered in the land register. Here it ends, the text of "my" AI. Hanfthal is actually and truly located directly on the city limits of Laa on the Thaya. It takes two minutes to walk from one town sign to the next town sign..

Hanfthal has around 600 inhabitants. Sometimes a few more, sometimes a few less. But as small as Hanfthal is, it has a pretty church and something worth visiting: Be sure to check out the hemp museum. Hanfthal was probably founded around 1060. It was first mentioned in a document in 1149. Of course, Hanfthal has its own website. There is a lot to read , especially on the subject of hemp. There are seven clubs and the smallest wine trail in Austria. Hanfthal is now considered a flower village: In the “Blühendes Niederösterreich” (... Blooming Lower Austria) competition, it won second prize in only its second year of participation. In 2004, it even won the competition. In 2010, Hanfthal received another award. In 2007, Hanfthal succeeded in becoming the most beautiful flower village in Austria. In 2008, the village was awarded the silver award “Entente Florale Europe.” What a nice achievement for such a small place..

You can find excellent food in Hanfthal (... I tried it myself and I'm looking forward to going back), and there are good places to stay. What's more, you can celebrate at festivals there. How do they say it in Hanfthal? Essentially, not everything in this small, friendly place revolves around hemp... but a lot of it does..

4  A Short Video with Information: The Bach Place of Hanfthal..

Why have I placed the video from the very top here again? Because all Bach cities and Bach places on my website offer the corresponding video right here. However, there is so much more text to read about Hanfthal that I am concerned that visitors will not “persevere” this far. The video contains information, that is, narrated text. And music and film and images. All mixed together. On the subject of “Bach cities and places” as well as Johann Sebastian Bach and, in this case, Hanfthal. Will you know everything after watching it? No. But this is where your planning for the “XXL Bach Tour” could continue. Enjoy it in a compact form: the video about Hanfthal is waiting for you..

4  Where Exactly Is This Bach Place Located?..

Of course, there is also a map for every Bach city and every Bach location. On it, you can explore where this part of the Bach family's life took place during the period you read about above. In Hanfthal, the master himself was ... however... "never, ever." © Google Maps..

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