Bonnya

Bonnya 
Bonna 
Bonnau 

Somogy County

Although there were both Lutheran and Reformed congregations in Bonnya, they were both filial (daughter congregations) of a Mother Church in the vicinity.  If you are tracing your family members who were Reformed, they would be included in the records of the Reformed Church in Felsö Mocsolád.  The vast majority of the Reformed families migrated to Bonnya from Nagyszekély (Gross Säckel) in Tolna County at the beginning of the 19th century and information on those families previous to that time would be found in the Nagyszekély Reformed Records.  Some Reformed families also migrated to Bonnya from Gyönk and are included in the Gyönk Reformed Church Records.

The Lutheran families settled in Bonnya shortly after 1730 and some early references can be found the Roman Catholic Church Records in Kisbarápati.  Some references to the Lutheran families in Bonnya can be found in the Roman Catholic Church Records in Törokkoppany.  The vast majority of the entries associated with the Lutherans in Bonnya are in the church records of the Lutheran Church in Somogydöröcske (usually referred to as Döröcske) after 1787, which later officially became Bonnya’s Mother Church in 1806 after a large influx of settlers from Somogydöröcske.

While visiting in Bonnya a number of years ago I discovered an old journal that had been kept by the Becht Lehrer (teacher) in a wooden box in the Reformed church.  The journal records births and deaths of the Reformed congregation from 1900-1941 and the Lutheran records from 1893-1941.

When there was intermarriage between Lutherans and Reformed, the marriage is usually registered in the church records of the bride.  When searching for the children of a family in a mixed marriage, the girls were usually raised in the religion of their mother, and the boys followed the religion of their fathers and as a result you will have to look in both sets of records to get a picture of the whole family.

by Henry A. Fischer

  • Lookups Guide: Henry Fischer - Bonnya, Somogy Co. (Evangelical Lutheran) 1893-1941 Church Record Transcriptions. 
  • Lookups Guide: Henry Fischer - Bonnya, Somogy Co. (Reformed) 1900-1941 Church Record Transcriptions. 
  • Lookups Guide: Henry Fischer - Törrökkopany, Somogy Co. (Roman Catholic) 1738-1778 (Also includes: Döröschke, Karád, Bonnya) Church Record Transcriptions 
  • FROM TOLERATION TO EXPULSION: 
    Volume II – Dornberg: In the Shadow of the Josefsburg: The families of Somogydöröcske, Somogy County, Hungary 1730-1948 Including affiliated congregations in Bonnya, Gadacs & Somogyszil. by Henry A. Fischer, 2019



Last updated: 09/10/2026



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