by
Robert J. Paulson

Weißensulz

​

Weißensulz with almost 2000 inhabitants was the sec on largest settlement in the County of Bischofteinitz and it was under the jurisdiction of Hostau. As time passed the place developed into a sort of moderate municipal and economic mid-point on the upper Radbusa River. In more modern times it became the center of education for the surrounding vicinity following the construction of a public school at Neubäu. This helped in the general development of the area.

The main street ran almost 2km in a northwesterly direction through the wide valley of the old Wald and Weiß branches of the Radbusa River. The town covered 38.68 hectares, and had 352 dwellings, a large manor house, 42 farms of varied sizes, a large Meierhof with the Manor House, a modern brewery and malt house, a needle point factory and sewing school, a town square, gardens, streets and lanes. The farmland belonging to the town of Weißensulz included 720 hectares of fertile fields, 268 Hektar of community meadows and small pastures, and 192 Hektar of damp forests.

Weißensulz lies on the County Road between Eisendorf and Heilgenkreuz at the point where the stream flowing south from Possigkau joins the Radbusa River. The local railroad line Tachau-Taus provides another mode of transport. The highest elevations are the Galgenberg (a mountain) in the north and the Kirchenberg in the southeast. The community-owned land is bordered by open fields that belong to Possigkau and Zemschen in the north, to Pabelsdorf, Zetschin and Heiligenkreuz in the east, to Wistersitz in the south, and to Schmolau in the west. On the west there is a portion bordering another section of land belonging to the market community of Possigkau.

Weißensulz has Three Bridges

A bridge built in 1703-1723, which the villagers thought was very expensive at the time, was a customs-collection point. It is 44 meters long and 7 meters wide. It represents a rare old example of bridge-building technique and is protected as a historical monument. The Pfraumbach bridge (over a stream named the Pfraumbach) with its Bleier über. (Could mean lead roof or lead covered). The first bridge was built over a ford in the stream in 1820. It was a part of the county road system and was first built with stone pylons and a wooden superstructure. The stone walls on today's bridge were constructed in 1875. It carries the inscription: “WBK MDCCXXT" which means that it was named for: Wenzel Baron Kotz 1820. (The Baron of the area). The site of the bridge near Fuchsn was first used as a ford after 1810. In 1877 a footbridge was built and the present bridge was constructed in 1810.

The earliest mention of the place-name of Weißensulz is in a document from the Kladrau monastery dated 1121. It reads: Quidam Teutonici infra terrnicos Boemorum in silva, ad quam itur per villam Bela, in praerupta rupe aedificabant castrum. It means: "A German constructed a castle on a high rock (Pfraumberg) which can be reached by way of the village of Bela”. The chronicler (history scribe) Cosmas, mentions that the way to the Pfraumberg castle would pass through the village of Bela. It should also be mentioned here that an ancient cart road led from Regensburg, past the Schönthal monastery and through the valley of the Schwarzach (a stream which has its source in Bohemia). It then proceeded past Rötz into the Weißbachtal (that stream is called the Radbusa today), and on past Weißensulz where it became the Burgweg (road to the castle) to Pfraumburg castle. The same route was exactly described by Bishop Otto von Bamberg, who took that way to the Kladrau monastery in order to give the Sacrament of the Dead to King Wratislav.

The town belonged to the Bishopric of Bamberg during the earliest Christian period. Later it was under the Bishopric of Regensburg and became a part of the Prague Bishopric in 1973.

The village of Bela is first mentioned in the year 1121, and becomes Weißensulz before the end of the twelfth century. It appears as Weiß-Sulz and Weißensultz. In a document dated 1331 it is named Weißensultz. Other documents dated 1436, 1487, and 1596 call it Weißensulz, and after 1600 it is always referred to as Wei ensulz or Czech Bela. Since both Bela and Weiss mean "white" both place-names point to the same origin. The Radbusa was often referred to as Weissenwasser (white water) or Weisbach (white brook) and that name is still sometimes used by local dialect today. The name derives from the numerous glistening small stones that lie along the ground. Thus the place on the Weissbach known as Weissensulz and the Czech place-name Bela are one and the same. Biela comes from bily, i.e. weiss - white. Sulz comes from the word sulzen, which means marshy. One old document cites the marshy ground there. It says: "The ditch has filled with slow-moving water and has become marshy". The Ursiedlung, the oldest part of the town settled during the 11th century, is located near the school and is recognized today by the Geibelseiten rudum (round cattle barns) in the ten oldest farmyards.

Weißensulz was a forest frontier station for the royal castle, Pfraumberg. It belonged to the Choden district, with special rights and privileges, along with 8 other villages that were under protection of Pfraumberg — Heiligenkreuz, Zetschin, Zemschen, Pössigkau, Molgau, Wonetitz, Wusleben and Hesseldorf. The king ordered this arrangement because he felt it would strengthen the Pfraumberg castle garrison and make it easier to defend. The Galgenberg (gallows mountain) near Weißensulz still has traces of the Richtstaat (a place of executions) ordered by Choden the courts. These eight villages belonging to the community of Weißensulz had a population of 1000 whose main task was to protect the border. Because of this, they held a special position with special rights and privileges and were considered to be free farmers.

Weißensulz first expanded around 1340 under Count Frenzlin of Luxemburg who occupied the castle at that time. At that time, groups of Germans from the Oberpfalz built 10 new farmsteads near the present upper marketplace. Following that they built five additional farmsteads in an area they had previously avoided, the Weissbach flood plain on the lower edge of the market place. They cleared the area for their fields to the north in the direction of Pabelsdorf. Weißensulz was already an important settlement of 25 farmsteads back when there was only a chapel there and before the present church was built. The wooden houses with thatched roofs built during this period of expansion suffered the furies of the Hussite wars of 1429-1435. During those wars Weißensulz and all the Choden villages were burned down and the people and cattle were driven away. The need and misery in the Pfraumberg area was so great that 13 villages joined together in a plea for assistance from Kaiser Sigismund on 13 May 1437.

In a letter dated February 10, 1436 the Kaiser expanded the hereditary rights and privileges to all the villages in the community of Weißensulz as compensation for their loyalty, suffering and frequent losses from fires during the Hussite wars. From that date their farms held the status of "freeholdings" and were not subject to any fees or other compensation payable to the occupant of Pfraumberg Castle and their wives and children could inherit the land. As far back as 1331 King Johann of Luxemburg cited both the Germans and Chodens living in the area in a "Freiheitsbrief" (Declaration of Freedom) saying that both were loyal servants of the Holy Roman Emperor.

The Choden people of the Grenzwald (the frontier forestlands) were subjects of the Counts of Pfraumberg who, with the King's permission, occupied Pfraumberg castle and the royal Kammergut (a large estate owned by the King and administered by the court chamberlain — Kammerer -- or his agents) until 1596. A different noble family ruled the area between 1454 and 1596. The people and farmers of Weißensulz suffered under the oppressive rule of the Schwamberg family during that period while the Herrschaft (noble estate) of Pfraumberg castle was deeply in debt. For 142 years they were treated as hereditary serfs without regard for their hereditary rights and privileges as free men. The worst years under the rule of the Schwambergs were 1560-1592 when there were episodes of violence and riots. They finally won freedom from servitude and restoration of earlier rights and privileges in 1596 after the sub-division and sale of the huge royal Kammergut. The patronymic period during which the estate was known by the name of the noble family to whom it belonged followed.

The first Besitzer (owner), who purchased the villages of Weißensulz, Wistersitz, Fuchsberg, and Hammersbrun (today's Neubäu), was named Hyronimus Buchfelder von Hennersdorf. He built 13 small wooden houses for those who would work new farms in a clearing known as "Schmale Aue". That settlement later became known as Schmolau and another cluster of seven wooden houses in the Rosengarten meadow became today's Rosendorf.

Wolf Joachim Laminger of Albenreut, who already owned Heiligenkreuz, bought the villages of Weißensulz, Bistritz-Wistersitz, Fuchsberg, and Hammersbrunn- Neubäu including 28,904 Sail (an old measure of unknown value) of trees for wood products in the Grenzwald (frontier forest) for about 7500 Taler, in 1596. According to documents found in the archives of the Heiligenkreuz Schloss (manor house of a nobleman), Heiligen-kreuz and the above-mentioned villages were owned by the citizen of Prague, Buchfelderin von Hennersdorf (a woman) and first passed to ownership by the noble Laminger family in 1600. Because of the great difficulties that preceded that sale the once-royal subjects and free farmers became serfs subject to the Herrschaft of the Lamiger’s and liable for Robot duties (compulsory labor), deliveries of produce and other payments to the landlord. The frontier forest, which they had previously guarded so faithfully, was divided into sections and much of it became the private property of the Herrschaft. Wolf Joachim von Laminger took away the fields the farmers had cleared for the Meierhof (large farm) which he built for himself in 1614. The Meierhof deprived the farmers of easy access to their more-remote fields. They were not allowed to pass through the noble lord's farmland. Von Lamiger also demolished five small farmhouses in the middle of the village and built a huge Herrenhaus (manor) there called "Burggrafenhaus" along with a brewery and other necessary buildings for the Meierhof. The manor house still bears an inscription for the year 1614 and the crest of the von Lamingers. The people of Weißensulz had to provide compulsory labor for construction of these buildings and at that point in time, they were bound to provide Robot in the Laminger's fields.

The Lamigers turned Protestant during the Reformation and compelled their subjects to take up the same faith. In 1624 they became Catholic once again. A new owner/ landlord, Count Zucker von Tamfeld, arrived in Heiligenkreuz in 1684 and took over the Gut (a type of Herrschaft that is used specifically for production of crops lumber, etc.) and managed the property in Heiligenkreuz and Weißensulz between 1684-1792.

The first woman landlord was the Countess Anna Theresia Zucker von Tamfeld, a just and industriou woman who expanded the chapel so the monks of the Kladrau monastery could say Holy Mass there. She also enlarged the old schoolhouse The road was often threatened by floods during the spring so the Countess undertook construction of a bridge over the Radbusa in 1703. It was designed to resemble the Karlsbrückle (Charles Bridge in Prague). The countess married a Count Metternich in her 3rd marriage (1678- 1713). She died childless after which the estate passed to Count von Zucker (1713-1781). Kaiserin (Empress) Maria Theresa ordered that all houses receive numbers in 1770. As a result Weißensulz ended up with 138 house

numbers. Franziska Katharina Zucker von Tamfeld was married to Kotz von Dobrz, the Oberbeamter (highest civil authority) of the Klattau Court district. Thus the descendants of the Barons Kotz von Dobrz became owners of our Herrschaft. The (new) Countess took and active and unselfish interest in the property. Under her patronage was set up a community threshing floor and built an oil mill.

Weißensulz became a parish. Her son, Baron Wenzel Kotz (1799-1857) took over the Herrschaft from his mother. He used hand- and Zug- Robot (compulsory labor with draft animals) from the villages of the Herrschaft to construct the road from Eisendorf to Heiligenkruez between 1818 and 1820. A second stone bridge also arose. The Barons Kotz were devout Catholics and provided faithful patronage to their subjects and acted as financial supporters of the school. They were progressive lords of the manor and taught progressive methods, and ways to improve livestock, etc. to the farmers of their dominion, on how to improve production.

His Excellence Wenzel Kotz (1883-1912) followed Baron Christian Kotz (1857-1883) and the last Baron Kotz von Dobrz occupied the estate from 1912 until the expulsion. The records of what the people of Weißensulz paid or how much compulsory labor they served during one year under the old Robot system is still in the archives of the Herrschaft. Innkeepers, millers and Jews did not have to provide any form of Robot; they had to pay cash instead. In 1848 Robot was abolished. It was replaced by a system of land, business, and income taxes payable to the tax authority.

The trade traffic between Bohemia and Bavaria was significant; most of it by high covered wagons with two teams of draft animals, which could only take certain, routes past Pfraumberg or Klentsch to cross the border. Other routes were too difficult or they were obstructed (too narrow for the large wagons). The von Lamiger men sought more commercial traffic by improving the roads between Heiligenkreuz, Weiensulz, and Eisesndorf. This also sent more customs collections to Weißensulz and they built a customs house there for both small and large customs transactions.

In the 1678 there was a declaration naming Herren Maut as the oldest man in the village of Weißensulz! The first letter carriers were regular cart drivers. In 1775 the first Post Wagons carried mail between Pilsen and Klentsch by way of Teinitz. Bishofteinitz had a Post Office after that date while prior to that the nearest Post was in Pilsen. A runner collected the mail along a given route every day and delivered all letters to the office of the Herrschaftliche Amt (manorial office) in Heiligenkreuz and Weißensulz. On Sundays the Amtsdiener (manorial clerk) called those who received letters to come to the office to pick them up. The old teacher of Weißensulz, Stelzer (from 1806-1843), read many of the letters and also wrote the answers because many of the inhabitants could not read. The first official mail carrier who went to Teinitz daily was Joseph Lessner (1789-1831) from Heiligenkreuz. About 1850 Hostau became the Post Office for Weißensulz. Daily the elderly Herr Lang (nicknamed Grobnschuster or known as Grobnschuster to local folk) carried the mail and delivered it to Hostau. Upon the recommendation of Lord Kanonikus Zenefels (who was born in house number 59 in the Schlögelgasse) established a Post Office in Weisensulz and Eisendorf on January 1,

1872. The first Postmaster was Andreas Martinka (and the first Post Office was in his residence). A two-horse wagon carried the mail back and forth between Hostau, Weißensulz, Eisendorf, Eslarn. A rural mail carrier from Weißensulz Post Office began to serve surrounding villages in 1873. He had different routes on different days of the week. A telegraph office opened on December 14, 1891 and a telephone office with ten lines opened on September 11, 1911. The Post Office was transferred from the Martinka private residence to the mayor's office during 1925.

There was already an ambitious effort to build a railroad system since 1865 but negotiations to build the Taus, Weißensulz, Tachau line (Taus - Tachau by way of Weisensulz) that is still in use today, first began in 1905. The first train arrived in Weißensulz on August 1, 1910. It was all decorated for the occasion and was cause for a big celebration. Weißensulz contributed 55000 kronen as its capital share for railroad track construction. The state required a quit-claim deed for that sum when the railroad became a state-owned enterprise in 1924.

Weißensulz already had a community school in 1673. There was a little wooden schoolhouse next to the church. In 1780 the children in attendance came from: Weißensulz 145 children Schmolau 39 children Barbtanz 2 children Abdeclierei Neuhof Schafhültte 10 children Schleifen Zetschin 8 children 8 Czernahora 14 children 218 Children In 1790 the countess Zucker-von Tamfeld built a new wooden schoolhouse from the ground up at the site of the old one. That schoolhouse burned during the big fire on September 1, 1826, and the Herrschaft then built a larger school of masonry on the same site. That building served as an einklassige (one-class school) with teacher and assistant until 1892. In 1800 there were 216 children attending the school, and there were 330 in 1857.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The Austrian schools system had oneclass, (einklassige), two-class (zweiklassige) and three class (dreiklassige) schools. This passage refers to a "funfkassige" school in 1892 -- first time I have seen that reference and I wonder if it represents a change in how the schools were organized over time. I have never learned what distinguished one from the other except that the more "classes" the higher the level of teaching, i.e., an einklassig school may be an elementary school while a dreikassig one includes the upper grades similar to high school. The word "Class" may translate as "category" meaning a school is in a given category for the level its pupils reach. It is hard to believe that a single teacher and assistant could handle 330 pupils! I know that if a school had two or three classes it also had more teachers. I believe I have read somewhere that students were "promoted" between the first class and the second class so I assume that going into the third class also required some sort of promotion. The text uses "mit Lehrer” not "ein Lehrer" so there is a possibility there was more than one teacher depending on how you want to interpret that word. ) KH

Pupils from Schmolau, Barentanz, Neuhof and Schleffen no longer attended the school at Weißensulz after 1803 and the same is true for pupils from Zetschin and Czernahoras between 1880-1881. A schoolmaster named Weber wrote to the authorities in 1850 requesting that a second class be established at the school because

it was no longer possible for only two teachers to instruct 315 students. At first they wanted to add a second story to the schoolhouse but they decided to rent the big wooden building that was formerly used as the manorial customs house instead. A forest owned by the Baron was involved in the negotiations and required a prolonged legal action against him before Weissensulz was finally able to dedicate the school with the second class on May 8, 1871

(EDITOR'S NOTE: It is hard to believe they waited almost 70 years. Also can't believe the old customs house just stood there unused all that time. I wonder if it was still a customs house until the rebellion of 1848 and what they are trying to say here is that they could not agree on building a second story onto the old schoolhouse prior to 1848 and when the customs house became available after 1848 they decided to try to get that.) KH

In 1878 the school added a third class. The second class section used the remodeled teacher's residence and the third class took over the old school building near the church. A new school building erected in 1892 on the same site as the old one had five classes. In 1886 they received the first industrial teacher (sewing/handi-craft teacher). She was Barbara Gröbner and later Frau Axmann taught until June 28,1925 teaching almost 40 years.

The various teachers who taught at Weißensulz school were: Johann Mayer 1673-1721; Franz Steinsdörfer 1721- 1746; Andreas Martinka 1746-1806; Christoph Purkholzer -1785; Franz Stelzer 1806-1843; Peter Weber 1843-1885; Max Weber, Beichel, Abel, Fränzel, Kribek Schwarz, Travnicek 1880-1881; Stefan Lang 1882-1886: Georg Kuttner 1886, Peter Baar, Stefan Lang, Georg Kuttner, Barbara Gröbner until 1889. In the years 1890-1905 Axmann, Gröbner, Spörl, Zenefels, Stöger, Andr. Steinsdörfer, Barbara Gröbner, Peter Steinbach, Anton Egerer, Lenk, Feil. On January 1, 1905 came Peter Axmann; 1905 - 1912 Axmann, Spörl, Steinbach, Adam, Waiz, Peter Axmann, Barbara Axmann, Stich, Antonie Klika, Albert Axmann, Johann Gröbner; 1913-1914 Axmann, Spörl, Steinbach, Alb. Axmann, Johann Gröbner, Guldan. On January 3, 1914, Axmann becomes Director, Steinbach, Axmann, Mahal, Guldan joined the military with the call for general mobilization.

Weißensulz belonged to the parish of Heiligenkreuz from earliest times. Heiligenkreuz was once the seat of a noble family line and the Church was originally established at a site with the ruins (remains) of an old hermitage. Only a small Ortskapelle (local chapel) located where the present tower and choir are found, stood in Weißensulz. Another public chapel was built in 1696 and consecrated in 1697 at another location. It was the beginning of the path to the church from where Weißensulz burials, weddings and baptisms took place after December 31, 1785. In 1700, Thersia, the Imperial Countess Metternich, donated funds for a chaplain at Weißensulz. The chaplain read the daily Mass, but was not allowed to carry out any other ministry (i.e. baptisms, burials, etc.). He was also knows as Frühmesser (early Mass reader). One chaplain, Frühmesser A. Schuster erected a beautiful church tower on the west side of the chapel in 1721. It had a shingled roof, two bells and a clock. It burned during the big fire of September 1,

1826, and renovated to its present shape. The parish and school buildings, 38 residences and 21 barns fell victim to the fire. On January 1, 1786, matriculation in the Heiligenkreuz parish ended and a priest named Rauscher began to serve the new parish in Weißensulz. The cemetery was laid out in January, 1786 but the existing church was too small. The Rectory was torn down and on July 17, 1826, the cornerstone of the present church was laid. The church was damaged by the big fire and it stood for fourteen years without vaults or a roof (1826-1840). The local people were very poor and could hardly afford to rebuild their own houses. The church vaults and roof were not finished until 1840. The new choir and organ were added in 1842 along with an addition to the Sacristy. The floor was paved and furnishings provided in 1845 and the church was finally consecrated on May 15, 1846. The six Stockstäbe der Zünfte (Guild Staffs) were old friends from the older churches along with two old pews along the wall and the paving stones under the choir which were also from the former church. The villages of Neuhof, Schmolau, Bärentanz, Zetschin, Tschernahora, Roudnitz, Hankasäge, Neuhofer Mühle, Oberhammer, Schwarzweiher, Wassersägeu Ziegelhäuser were included in the parish of Weißensulz.

From the year 1596 Weißensulz was not a possession of a Herrschaft. First Anna Buchfelderin bought Neuhof and the Neuhöfer mill. Laminger erected the Meierhof, the Schäferei (sheeps shed) in Weißensulz and Neuhof, Herrenmühle (lord's mill) with three wheels. The mill residence was also a brewery with it's Lagerkeller (storage vats) in the cellar of the local manor house. The Meierhof itself was rebuilt often. The current manager's house was a brandy distillery once.

Besides acting as the patron to the church and school, the herrschaft (noble lord) also was responsible for the courts and collection of taxes. In 1850 the herrschafts office in Weißensulz had to transfer all the books concerning it to the newly established district courthouse in Hostau where they were kept until 1945.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This was after the nobility lost their power to administer the land in 1848) The Meierhof served to advance local society and as a model for the farmer in many things. So in 1880, the first Göpel-driven tractor and threshing machine appeared at Luxen.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Luxen may have been the name of the Meierhof. A Göpel is a winch or a lever or it is the turnstile to which animals were harnessed for threshing grain by trodding on it in a circle. In some cases it was people walking in a circle holding onto a turnstile lever. In some other cases the animals or people walking in a circle while leaning on levers attached to a turnstile provided the power to drive a machine -- a mechanical thresher. I would think that they just used the Göpel first (long before 1880) when it replaced flails. Then, by 1880 they adapted the Göpel to work a threshing machine). HK

Weißensulz Had Five Mills:

1. The Preisenmühle is the oldest and named after the owner. Before 1595 it was designated an outpost for fully armed horseman in case war against the Castle Pfraumberg should break out.

2. The Herrenmühle was converted to a sawmill in 1610 and by 1614 it had three running gears for different work.

3. The Müldickenmühle belonged to the noble landlord. It was built in 1786 by Franziska Kotz, of Heiligenkreuz parish, on land owned by her and was named after the first miller who was a short, fat man.

4. The Sichernmühle in Hundsschwanz was built about 1780. After the Neuweiher (dam to create a pond) proved able to provide only a weak source of water power it was reopened. It was never a grist mill, only an oil mill. It produced rape see oil and this was used to make lubricants for wooden axles on wagons drawn by the numerous teams on the manor.

5. There is a saga of a mill that sank deep underground in Weißensulz. It was located near the pond opposite the Mühldickenmühle. There actually once was a mill there but after the Herrenmühle was built it had little business because the noble lord made sure that all grain went only to his own mill.

Until 1596 all the local people were simply called farmers. After that all Robot rosters required that the farms and farmers be divided by size of land-holding — half-manor, three-quarter manor, quarter and eighth manor -- because that was what determined the amount of Robot due the noble lord. Smaller landholders and cottagers were also on Robot rosters at first during the herrschaftlichten period (period of serfdom). Although the first duty in the area was work and service for the noble lord, the glassworks, polishing works (probably for making mirrors), hammermills, breweries, and Breitnereien (a metal stamping facility that made sheets of metal for metal-craftsmen -- similar to a modern rolling mill) established by the nobles became regular places of employment. The granary was built in 1795 -- under the Contributions rules of Robot -- to stockpile as a reserve in case of shortages caused by war. Each farmer had to deliver a certain quantity of grain that had a given value against his total payments due. The balance was paid in cash. The granary was the forerunner of modern storehouses and the building served that purpose until 1867 when Josef Deitz's father purchased it and converted it to an inn with a dance hall.

A man named Wild, the great grandfather of FerdinandWild, married the daughter of Spörl, the butcher. They managed the butcher shop in a low wooden house and in 1864 they began to handle fine lace. In 1870 they built a new single-story building and in 1892 expanded it to a building with two stories. In 1896 they did a final expansion to the building's present size. The Wild's lace factory and Nähschule (sewing school) gave many people the means to earn a living.

Weißensulz was elevated to a Market Town on March 25, 1875 after long negotiations to obtain the consent of all the surrounding communities. The Marktordnung (Market Ordinance) of 1877 authorized four annual markets:

1. On the Monday after Okuli (This should be sometime in late Feb. or early March). 2. On the Monday before Pfingsten (Pentecost-- usually in May).
3. On the Monday before Maria Himmelfahrt (The Assumption of Mary into Heaven) 4. On the first Monday in Advent.

The ordinance also authorized weekly markets but when they proved unprofitable because of poor attendance that permission was withdrawn. In 1878 Ferdinand Wild built a poor-house as a residence for local poor people on the site of the old Hülthaus (Wooden House). Weißensulz has two mineral springs with water quality that is probably equal to that of Eger but they have never been tested.

Weißensulz is the birthplace of the Erzdechanten (Dean) of Bishofteinitz, Valentin Pöhnl, a Canon Cenfels. It is also the birthplace of the Erzpriester (the ranking priest in a cathedral or Bishop's church), vicar (a substitute or deputy of the Bishop) and parish priest Karl Pöhnl of Heiligenkreuz. Herr Lange led an effort to establish a Bürgerschule (public high school) in Weißensulz. The Landesschulrat (State School Board) finally approved a school in 1931. The building cost 667,000 Czech Kronen and although the shell went up in 1933, harsh economic conditions delayed completion until 1938. Before 1931 all upper-level instruction took place in private rooms and in free 11 land in 1848)

The Men Who Served Weißensulz as Mayors:
The emancipation of 1849-50 brought about political reorganization and creation of the Bezirkshauptmannschaften (main county offices/authorities = captaincies) along with the district courts, taxoffices, and land register-offices. Each community had the freedom to make its own Community statutes. Weißensulz held its first election in 1850, electing Andreas Martinka the first mayor. He was the schoolteacher's son and only a Hauslmann (had only a very small cottage) but the residents of the oberen Ortsteiles (upper town -- probably refers to a detached section of the town located on heights above the main town KH) refused to accept him. Nonetheless he proved to be a circumspect director who fought vigorously for the community. The big Waldprozeß (forest lawsuit referred to above) began during his term of office. The first case was lost but the intrepid schoolteacher's son had an audience with Kaiser Franz during which he presented the case with the result that Weißensulz ultimately won the case in 1870. The lawsuit gave Weißensulz a cooperative-forest of 315 yokes or 182 hectares. Andreas Martinka also was responsible for erection of the post office and he became the first postmaster. Franz Wolfgang Pföhnl from house number 132 (called the Luchsenhaus) was the second mayor from 1862 to 1865. From 1865 to 1870 Johann Tschada house number 135 was mayor. The terms of these two mayors was filled with the arguments and excitement associated with the Waldprozeß . Andreas Stich from house No. 103 in the oberen Ortsteil governed the fate of the town from 1870-75 as director (Ortsversteher ) and from 1875-92 as mayor. Johann Pöhnl from house No. 29 who served from 1892-95 secured the market rights and rights for a dreiklassig (three-class)

school. The grade school become a five-class school under Johann Martinka from house No. 52, son of the first mayor. Peter Helfensdörfer , a merchant from house No. 136 was in office 1898-1901 and the term of Adam Pöhnl, a farmer from house No. 45 (called Farber house) was mayor from 1901-04. During that period Weißensulz suffered from catastrophic floods and storms and Phnl and his successor, Michael Dietz from house No. 14 had to deal with those disasters. Mayor Dietz successfully solicited emergency financial aid from the State. It was also during the terms of those same two mayors that negotiations began concerning construction of a railroad line Taus- Tachau. Many varied projects and concerns about the railroad construction, partial mobilization and the beginning of World War I lay heavy upon the communities of the Weißensulz area. The railroad was built between 1900-1920 and the Banhof Hotel in Weißensulz appeared in 1910. The heaviest work-load dealing with railroad construction lay on the shoulders of the next mayor, Franz Kuttner -- a farmer from house. No. 29 who served from 1907-1918. While the railroad was under construction the wooden bridge over the Radbusa near house No. 129 was replaced with a concrete bridge and the work was done by master mason Johann Pöhnl of house No. 182. In addition the community acquired the Glauberhaus at No. 202 on the market place and undertook expansion of the south side of the cemetery towards the Kirchberg in 1912. Acquisition of the Glauberhaus provided a remedy to a situation which was no longer tenable. From 1850 until 1912 the town offices were always located in the various houses of each town director (Vorsteher) or mayor and all of the files had to be transferred every time a new mayor was elected. The Glauberhaus provided permanent town offices and archives. Herr Franz Schwantner, house No. 81, resigned as mayor (1918) but led the community until the next election -- the first under the Republic of Czechoslovakia. Josef Richter, master tailor residing at No. 19 won that vote and served until 1922. Application for the new Bürgerschule (high school) was made during his term in office. Carrying out much- needed public works involved considerable difficulties. Peter Spörl from house No. 125 vigorously undertook getting the school built and bringing electricity to the town and his efforts finally met with success. As mayor he conducted the town business with prudence and energy from 1923-1927.

Summary:
The oldest documents in the Weißensulz archives show that the hereditary holdings of castle Pfraumberg included the town of Weißensulz after 1596 when it had 24 farmsteads, 16 Chaluppner (small holders) and 12 Tripfhäuseln (?) with a total of 500 residents. When the first school was built in 1678 there were 112 houses and 896 residents and in 1770 when houses received numbers for the first time there were 138 houses and 1000 residents in Weißensulz. The parish house went up in 1786 when there were 151 houses and 1080 residents; at the time of a catastrophic fire in 1826 there were 163 houses and 1100 residents and by 1836 Weißensulz had 167 houses and 1438 residents. In 1848 Weißensulz was a free community (no longer enserfed). In 1860 there were 175 houses and 1700 inhabitants. Community growth continued until there were 217 houses and 1836 residents in 1886. By 1900 there were still 217 houses with a total of 1860 residents. In 1945-46, at the time of the expulsion, the town of Weißensulz included about 2000 residents. Thus, in its 830 year history Weißensulz grew from a small but free Chodendorf to a lively manorial cultural center with a busy

customs and duty station, to an extensive school and parish center for a hard-working primarily agricultural community. Ultimately it became a significant market center which saw busy traffic related to industry that developed in the area.

Weißensulz had its own high school and an elementary school as well as a kindergarten. There was a railway station along with Reichsbahnausbesserungsamt (offices for railroad maintenance), a telegraph and telephone office and a post office. The town had 1 brewery, a Meierhof, 1 lace factory, 1 savings and loan, 1 branch bank, 1 cinema, 2 Kunstmühlen (perhaps a tapestry mill), 1 sawmill, 10 restaurants three of which had dancehalls, 8 butcher shops, 3 bakeries, 1 soda-ash production facility, 1 pastry shop, 1 fruit and vegetable business, 4 bigger and several smaller food and dry- goods (textile) businesses, 1 shoe store as well as building contractors, tailors, saddlers, upholsterers, painters, carpenters, glaziers, oven-designer/builders (for the tile-covered stoves in local farmhouses) and butter, eggs and poultry dealers that created jobs and income for the people. Social clubs included the regular Fire Brigade as well as a special fire brigade for the railroad. Veterans had a club as there was a book reading and discussion club, an agricultural organization, casino, the German Böhmerwaldbund , the Bund der Deutschen (probably a political group), the German Sängerrunde (singing group) called Edelweiß along with another Gesang und Musikverein (song and music society). There was also a club for the school, for the savings and loan association, a club for agriculture and forestry and others for those who raised beef cattle, kept bees, Sportverein (interested in sports), Verschonerungsverein (interested in community beautification). There was also a Kreigerverein (local militia or national guard). The two World Wars decimated the male population of Weißensulz and the expulsions scattered citizens of the town to the four winds. Emil Reimer who served as a teacher all year in Weißensulz was the first Kreisbetreuer (coordinator of information about the district) for the Bishofteinetz district after the expulsion. He remained the honorary Kreisbetreuer after he gave up the position because of age until his death.