by
Robert J. Paulson

Pernaritz

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Around the year 1165, Milk and his son Pribizlav made mention of the “de villa Bernhardi” in a commentary on lawsuit. 200 years later, the village resurfaced in a ledge

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In the year 1553, Frau Anna Burkhart von Horaschowitz founded the oldest social welfare foundation in the region under the following stipulation: If any future pastor of Bernartitz is Protestant, the foundation will migrate to Bschofteinitz. This would never come to pass.

Around 1555, Sirt Merklinsky von Merklin (a knight) took ownership of Pernartitz. In 1650, Lieutenant Colonel Paris von Spanko, a hero of the war against the Ottoman Empire, was granted a swath of land. Following him, Franz von Sinzendorf auf Klan (1697-1734), then Alexius Wenzel von Hildebrandt owned the tract from and to Ottenhausen. His son Johann Joseph sold the family’s title in 11.17.1732 to Dominik Marquard of Löwenstein auf Haid.

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A tax ledger lists Pernartitz as having 5 farmers, 1 Chalupner, 6 gardeners, 1 new settlement and 6 suburbs. In 1838, Pernartitz had 70 houses with 428 citizens and 12 Jewish families, which stayed the same through 1930. Of the citizens, one was Czech and 3 were of mixed loyalties. The highest number of German born citizens was 287 in 1939, of which 78 were left. The nine houses surrounding the Jewish Temple were named the Jewish quarter, and the five houses around the grantee house were named the “Spitalviertel”.

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The original castle was a square building with an interior orchard and a small farm plot in the middle. To the West, where the frontier was, the castle situated its industrial buildings. Over the years, more and more housing was set aside here for workers. Before land reform, about 131,49 hectares were set aside for this purpose. The Prince of Haid lost a Hectare containing the crofter with the castle, and 105 hectares were sold by Karl Tauber upon his arrival in the village. The nobility maintained the forest, although a small portion in the south was tithed.

The old parish appeared in a tithing register in 1369, paying 11 Groschen to the Bischofteinitz Archdiocese. In 1643, the Benedictines took over the parish. In 1737, the small church was set to expand.

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The painter Wenzel Schmid incorporated contemporary images into the church’s frescos. Pope Benedict XIV, Empress Maria Theresa, and the pastor Hanika were all painted. Under the church, more of the royal treasury was buried in a crypt. This crypt has not been opened since 1895.

The village secured the right to a school under the supervision of Prince Löwenstein in 1766, where after he acted as a school patron. In 1829, the school was expanded to include two classes. His main duties as school patron were to take on the costs of running a school, which in 1884 again included an expansion to include a third class. The first headmaster was named Wanitschka who was followed by Joseph Peter- Schilka, who was followed by Joseph Paha in 1925.

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The citizens of the village were mostly engaged in agriculture. 20 farms stood on between 5 and 20 hectares of land, and 29 on less than five. These farms stood next to the different workshops and stores of the inhabitants. The new mill, “Untere Mühle” belonging to Joseph Baierl was one of the last businesses in the village. Granite mines in the forest provided materials for stone artisans. One lay south of Pfaffenberg, and was also engaged in blacksmithing.

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The war memorial was built in the village square and contained the names of 13 men who died in the First World War. In the Second World War 17 more dead and 11 missing were added. The Americans arrived on May 5th 1945, and in fall of 1945 began to take away the farms and noble houses. By the end of 1946, 21 estates were demolished.