1908: István Ács (swineherd), Lajos Nagy (estate servant), Sándor Lukács (coachman)
1909: György Pap (assistant gardener), Károly Bándi (estate steward, private citizen), István Tölli (stonemason), Lajos István Somogyi (coachman), István Farkas (coachman)
1910: Bálint Lámpli (shoemaker), János Horváth (swineherd), Dezső Kocsis (coachman), István Spándli (machinist), József Tóth (coachman)
1911: Klára Szabó (servant), József Bálint (horse herdsman), József Tallián (coachman, Szigliget Hill), Ferenc Szöllősi (field guard), Miklós Bakos (coachman), Ferenc Takács (cattle herdsman), István Horváth (shepherd)
1912: József Molnár (gardener), Erzsébet Hőbör (servant)
1913: Mátyás Horváth (mine worker), István Ilia (gardener), János Szántai (coachman, Szigliget Mill), Ferenc Katona (cattle herdsman), Antal Kudela (machinist), István Zöld (coachman), Imre Szájer (landowner)
1914: Alajos Kis (apprentice), Ferenc Hőbör (coachman), Vendel Protár (cattle herdsman), János Roszony (cutler).
It is also worth highlighting the situation of the millers of Szigliget. Four mills operated within the administrative territory of the village. One stood on the Eger Stream, on the site of today’s Distillery, two on the Lesence Stream — known as the Lower-Berki and Upper-Berki Mills — and one, the New-Berki Mill, on the Világos Stream.
We do not know exactly who worked in these mills, since after 1890 the church registers recorded only “Szigliget Mill” as a place of residence. However, we do know the names of several millers who worked there: Pál Cságoly (1892), József Katona (1900), János Vörös (1905), István Turbék (1909), and assistant miller János Vince Szabó (1913).
It is also worthwhile to examine the places of origin of Szigliget’s employees. More precise information can be obtained from church registers after 1890, since the parents’ places of origin were also recorded.
Let us compare three different years. In 1893, eight new names appeared among those who did not work as farmers, day laborers or farmhands. Of these, Matild Németh, Pál Gadácsi and János Pap were natives of Szigliget, while János Bindics came from Torna, József Szabó from Kisapáti, György Új and his brother Károly from Zalaapáti, and Gábor Bokor from Kapolcs.
In 1900, eight individuals again matched the above criteria. Among them, only Mihály Kocsis and János Horváth were born in Szigliget. Károly Lovasi came from Gyepükaján, István Mohos and György Pákó from Lesencetomaj, József Katona from Diszel, Károly Kuczagi from Zalaegerszeg, and Ádám Hári had previously lived in Tótkeresztúr.
In 1905, seven people met the criteria. Terézia Varga and Lajos Marton were natives of the village, while György Szűcs came from Lesencetomaj, János Vörös from Lesenceistvánd, Lőrinc Horváth from Miske, János Sabján from Pötréte, and István Mogyorósi from Nyirád.
The three selected years serve only as examples, but a similar tendency can be observed throughout the other years as well. Generally, two-thirds of the employees and workers who were not farmers, day laborers or farmhands were not natives of Szigliget. The reason for this tendency is unknown, though it suggests that the estates of Szigliget required such a large workforce that the local population alone could not sufficiently supply it.
As mentioned above, by 1912 Count Pál Esterházy already owned part of Szigliget. The modernization of the Village Manor was largely the achievement of him and his nephew, János Esterházy, and the people of Szigliget still retained vivid memories of this period.
Several interesting details connected to this era also survived in the records of the Zala County General Assembly. In 1861, Baron József Puteani requested permission to build a mill on the waters of the Világos Stream, on the border between Raposka and Szigliget. This later became the New-Berki Mill.
In 1862, the discharge of Ferenc Jánka, a soldier from Szigliget, from military service was discussed. In 1870, Szigliget petitioned for exemption from public labor obligations imposed by the county in February, and then in May requested that the public labor — presumably after the rejection of the earlier petition — instead be directed toward the construction of the church in Szigliget.
In 1888, a comprehensive investigation was launched in the county assembly concerning annual accounts, and from this we know the names of the village judges of Szigliget. István Németh held the office from 1883 to 1885, Gáspár Varga from 1886 to 1888, and certainly István Szabó between 1889 and 1891. By 1898, István Kovács was the village judge.
In 1894, Szigliget wished to join the district notaryship of Nemesvita instead of Nemestördemic, though this move likely failed. In 1897, the idea arose to establish a new municipal doctor’s position in Badacsonytomaj, and in connection with this, Szigliget and Tördemic jointly petitioned that, should the plan be realized, they too be included in the service area.
In 1899, Szigliget issued bonds and financed the purchase of a property from their sale, although we do not know exactly which property this may have been.
Though not directly connected to the period discussed here, an archival note records the name of miner Lajos Varga in the death register of the parish of Bodajk. He died on November 5, 1956, from a gunshot wound to the head sustained during combat. This may be of interest to us because, according to the entry, he was born in Szigliget-Szőllőslak (more likely the Vineyard Hill area) on March 23, 1935, as the son of Sándor Varga and Terézia Páhi. He may therefore have been Szigliget’s victim of the 1956 Revolution.
The aim of this work was not only to present a fragment of two centuries of history, but also to awaken interest in ancestors whom we may have known only by name — or perhaps not at all. We do not know their faces, but the traces of their labor remain visible in the Szigliget where we live today.
Dániel Balassa