DISTRICT. Born and raised in America, but today a proud Unterrabnitzerin. Mary-Ann Lang’s family lived in the Güssing district and emigrated to Canada during the war. After a while, they moved to New York to make better money there.
The nervousness brought her to victory
At the young age of 21, Mary-Ann, who at that time still had Monschein as her surname, became “Miss Burgenland New York”. It is an incredible memory and she only won the competition because of her nervousness, explains Mary-Ann in an interview. Because the other two girls, who were much younger than her, appeared self-confident, but she trembled all over and was told countless times after the competition how cute she was. Since the decision was still made by the audience at that time, she became the favorite and thus the winner.
Love drew her back to Austria
Since her family already had an economy in America and had thus earned a foothold, there was no longer any question of moving back to Austria. But a small visit was of course not ruled out, and since the victory of the pageant granted her home leave, they accepted this offer without hesitation and spent four weeks in their parents’ former home.
During this time she also met her husband Emil Lang, a landlord from Unterrabnitz. But after a month’s stay in the Güssing district, she had to return to America, where they kept in touch by writing many letters, said the then newly in love in an interview. When she traveled to Austria to see her “lover” for Christmas, she and the young landlord decided that they would get married in order to permanently satisfy the longing for one another. They were sure that even if they had only known each other for a short time, it was true love.
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