Bach Cities and Bach Places: Ungerndorf Near Laa on the Thaya, in the "Wine Quarter", Austria..

1  Why ist Ungerndorf One of the Bach Places?..

Ungerndorf is the most significant discovery for Bach genealogists today. Because Ungerndorf is now a Bach location: after more than 270 years of arguing, speculating, bowing, prophesying, and copying from each other. The question was where the Bachs had fled to around the turn of the century, around the year 1600. Well... to be precise, it was not possible to define this exactly until 2021. But it was possible to be fairly precise... At least two family representatives had been in Thuringia (... again) in 1619. In Wechmar. That is, Veit Bach, forefather of the musical dynasty, and his son Hans. Hans the minstrel. Hans outlived his father. But not for very long..

Compactly, you can experience everything you get from me to read on two pages in a clear and concise eleven minutes: pictures, film sequences, narrated commentary, and music..

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his “Origin of the Musical Bach Family” in 1735. In it, he wrote that his family came from Ungern. This was also recounted by "Hans the Minstrel" to his son Christoph. He in turn told his son Johann Ambrosius. He reported this to his son, Johann Sebastian Bach. And he also passed it on. Probably to each of his children, if they did not die too young. So the world argued after Johann Sebastian Bach. At least, those who were interested in it did..

What did Bach mean by Ungern? Did he really mean Ungern? Or did he mean Ungarn (... Hungary)? We now know that he spoke, wrote, and meant Ungern, not Ungarn. How do we know this? Not from the “Ursprung” (... "Origin") ... which is now definitely irrelevant to the very early history of Bach..

On the contrary: the "Ursprung" is actually very misleading. How did this happen, and why does no one else agree with me on Wikipedia or elsewhere? This insight is new. Very fresh. Measured against 270 years of written nonsense, it is actually much more than a recent discovery. It was only in 2021 that the mystery was finally solved. With a very special way of doing genealogy: the "backward search". You can read much more about this in the chapter Bach Genealogy..

So why is the “Ursprung”, which so many considered to be the family tree of the musician family, irrelevant? Why does it even contribute to the "confusion"? How can I claim such a thing? Well ... my hobby within my hobby is the "streamlined" genealogy of the musician family. And that "from Veit towards the birth of Christ". Renate, my wife, is interested in all the Bachs of the musical family. I am only interested in Johann Sebastian Bach's father, his father, his father, and his father... as well as their fathers before them. No brothers, no sisters, no "other Bachs"..

After twelve years of searching, I had finally reached the goal of my dreams and my research. I “was done”. For Bach genealogy, especially for the very early period, it is not the “Ursprung” that is important. Rather, it is that which Johann Sebastian Bach told his friend and publisher Johann Gottfried Walter in 1732..

He had his “Musical Library” printed and published at that time. It can still be read today. You can read it too... here and now. In the next picture. Bach said that his great-great-grandfather came from Ungern. Ungern with an “e.” So he clearly meant not Ungarn (...Hungary). However, this is something that cannot be discovered in two copies of the original, even today. These two copies already looked like this in 1802, when Forkel wrote the first significant biography about the Thomas Cantor..

Wait, wait ... perhaps one was still undamaged and free of stains in 1800. On both copies, it is no longer legible whether the “word of desire” is an “ e ” or an “ a ”. But... it doesn't matter. Forkel shouldn't have looked in the "Ursprung". He should have researched Bach's friend Walther's "Musical Library"..

Now we turn to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the "rascal". For he changed history: the history of his father and the history of the Bach family. Both! We can assume that J.S. Bach did not tell his friend about Ungern... but he did tell his children about Ungarn (... Hungary)..

So after Bach's death, Carl Philipp Emanuel thought, let's set the record straight! That is, that his father meant Ungarn (... Hungary) when he said Ungern. Which is not okay. Because that was an interpretation of the facts. He should have left his obituary for his father, a first short biography of Bach, with the term “Ungern”! Thus, Johann Sebastian Bach's second most famous son laid the foundation for 270 years of nonsense. A Mr. Korabinsky then took this as a nice template and “went one better”. “From Pressburg ...” he quickly claimed, “... came the Bachs”. Because he had found an Urban Pach in the city's records..

Since that time, that is, since 1750, when the obituary was written, almost all Bach biographers, with very few exceptions, have copied each other. And the origin from Ungarn (... Hungaria) just “slipped in.” It is still present today in many, many reprints and articles, as well as publications on the internet. Even the Wikipedia article will probably never be changed to reflect the actual history. After experiencing enough personal frustration with Wikipedia, that is absolutely not my goal. Not even worth trying. Too many “gatekeepers and bouncers” at Wikipedia are insurmountable hurdles. Not only when it comes to Bach. In any case, there is so much nonsense in Wikipedia alongside valuable information..

When did I begin my research into the “leanest” genealogy of the Bach family? At a time when I was not yet interested in Bach’s music? I started in 2012. By 2015, I had finally found enough source material. I was able to rediscover the ancestry from Bohemia. Why rediscover? Well, a group of researchers – professionals and amateurs – had already discovered in the years after 1960 that the Bachs had migrated back from Ungernland. To Wechmar. From Ungernland in Bohemia..

Ungernland was a region in what is now the Czech Republic. Far, far away from Hungary. But the Bachs did not originate from Bohemia either. They were already living in Thuringia before Veit Bach's time. Where exactly? In Gräfenroda. They emigrated from there. How do we know this today? From a "lost" church document. It states that the father of Hans Veit Bach in the Bach family, together with his brother, had asked the pastor for his blessing for his son Hans Veit. Hans Bach is thus the first Bach mentioned in this family history. Because it is important, once again: not the first Bach in the musical Bach family. That was, is, and remains Veit, the stem father..

1504 is the earliest date that can be documented as being connected to the family of musicians. In the “Kirchenbuße” (... church penance), well known among Bach experts, a relative of Johann Sebastian Bach mentions the "world-famous musical family of 1504". That was long before 1735. We also know from church documents that Hans was the first Bach mentioned in Gräfenroda. The only thing that is completely unclear is what happened in 1504. Was it Hans' birth? Or did Hans move to Gräfenroda in 1504? We don't know. And we will never find out..

Back to this group of researchers who, in the years after 1960, discovered that the Bachs had emigrated to Bohemia. And later immigrated back from Bohemia. This knowledge was only acknowledged by the Ministry of Culture of the former GDR insofar as they were not interested in recognizing and publishing it. They did not want to deviate from Albert Schweitzer's well-known image of Bach. Schweitzer was one of the famous Bach biographers. And so this knowledge disappeared again into Bach's history for over half a century. Today, it consists of around 78,500 publications..

After much searching, researching, and traveling, I was finally able to rediscover these research findings in 2015. I published my findings on my website. I asked visitors to my Bach portal to please contact me if they knew anything interesting about the topic. This request is still posted there today. In fact, after six whole years, the likeable bookseller Michael Lehner got in touch..

He is a "night watchman", genealogist, local historian, bandleader, and bookseller: Michael Lehner in Laa on the Thaya, Austria. Of course, he is only a night watchman for tourists visiting the wonderful town of Laa. Click here to visit his bookstore LAAden on the market place. Yes... that's how this bookstore is spelled in German..

Michael Lehner found me. And that's how it should work. He surfed my website until he reached the “bitter end” of the topic – by the way, only around 25 percent of all searchers do that – and then read through the entire page. His band? It's called OroPax..

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Michael Lehner sent me several documents. Among them was a photo of the title page and a copy of the entry, which clearly proves that a Veit Bach lived in Hanfthal. And Hanfthal is just a short walk from Ungerndorf. Back then, people also called it Ungern for short..

So, after around twelve years of research, I had actually found two ( ! ) Ungerns. One was Ungernland in Bohemia. Shortened to Ungern. This research result remains valid even with the latest discovery. And then “a second Ungern appeared.” That is, the one in Austria. So the terms finally came together. Everything fell into place on that memorable day. Both the "Ursprung (... "Origin") and the "Musical Library". A 270-year-old mystery was finally solved. Thank you, Michael Lehner..

The volume from 1590 to 1592: It gives you goosebumps when you see the result of twelve long years of research. © Many thanks again, Michael Lehner..

It's written here in black and white. It refers to Veit Bach from Hanfthal: He gets a yellow card, and it's recorded for posterity. Data protection more than 500 years ago... with a smile. By the way, you can read what this text says for yourself in the PDF below: However, it has not yet been "translated" into our language. In the next three years ... so in 2026, 2027, or 2028 ... we will also post this motif on Flickr. Then you can check it out yourself in high resolution. And translate it into a language that is spoken today... we'll see. Continue below the ad. © Michael Lehner..

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2  Music by Bach and Pictures of Ungerndorf Near Laa on the Thaya.. 

The video without “distracting text.” Ungerndorf near Laa on the Thaya in pictures. Accompanied by a piece of music by Bach. At the very top and a little further down, there is a second video about Ungerndorf: This one with lots of information. Why twice? At the top, so that you don't "click away" before I've had a chance to present it to you. Further down, because that's where you'll find all 17 Bach location videos with information..

3  The Bach Place of Ungerndorf in Just a Few Pictures (... Simply Because It Is So Small)..

Bach Cities, Bac Places. Pictures of Ungerndorf can be found here with one click..

Info About the Bach Place of Ungerndorf..

Ungerndorf is a cadastral municipality in the municipality of Laa on the Thaya. Laa is located directly on the Austrian/Czech border, exactly north of Vienna. It takes about an hour and a quarter to drive from Laa to Vienna. A cadastral municipality in Austria is an administrative unit for demarcating areas for statistical and geographical purposes without self-government, registered in the land register. This means that Laa and Ungerndorf are located at the very top of the Austrian Weinviertel (... Wine Quarter) region. And that was the definition of the term by artificial intelligence (... one of two times that I used AI for my text ... on all websites)..

Ungerndorf was founded between 907 and 955. It belonged to one power or another over the years. However, Ungerndorf was first mentioned in a document in 1304. Until almost the present day, Ungerndorf has repeatedly been the scene of fierce battles, looting, and pillaging due to its strategic location. This happened for the last time during World War II..

Ungerndorf has a population of 129. Of course, sometimes there is one more person. And sometimes there is one less. With 129 inhabitants, Ungerndorf is actually the smallest Bach location among more than 33 Bach places. It is even smaller than the smallest Bach locations where Johann Sebastian Bach once worked for a very short time..

Without question, Ungerndorf has its own website. As a Bach place, that almost goes without saying. But of course, it existed long before this special feature was researched. Local mayor Thomas Appel presents the community in a likeable way, and the website provides exciting information about the municipality. There is a volunteer fire department, five clubs, a restaurant, the Gasthaus Olschnegger, and a village newspaper. There is even a warm invitation to tourists. Many photos crown the webmaster's work. If you look at the events page, you will see that there are a huge number of events listed. And so Ungerndorf is today ... a really charming Bach village..

The Short Video about Ungerndorf..

Hier gibt es Informationen, also gesprochenen Text. Und Musik sowie Film und Bilder. Gemixt. Zum Thema „Bachstädte und Bachorte“ über Ungerndorf. Wissen Sie danach alles? Nein. Aber hier könnte Ihre Reise in Sachen „XXL-Bach-Tour“ beginnen. Genießen Sie kompakt: das Video über Ungerndorf wartet auf Sie. Übrigens: Es ist das Video von ganz oben auf dieser Seite. Nochmals. Warum zweimal? Weil Sie, bei so viel Lesetext wie zu diesem Bachort, vielleicht nicht bis hierher durchgehalten hätten..

6  Where Exactly Is This Bach Place Located?..

Ungerndorf on the map? It is located just north of Vienna. Therefore: a 123-hour walk away. However, that is from the edge of the “Land of the Bache” in Thuringia. Namely from Wechmar. Not from Vienna. Or, if you don't accept that as cool enough, then 600 kilometers away. From “Bach Country.” © Google Maps..

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