Romedius Mungenast was the second of eleven children in a Yenish family in Tyrol, Austria. His family spoke a form of Yenish language at home and lived in a wooden cabin in the flood zone of the Inn River. He was one of the first Austrians who publicly recognized his Yenish heritage and strove to foster and educate others about the Yenish culture. While working as a railwayman, he collected an extensive archive of materials related to Yenish history and culture, which is now open to the public at the museum at Schloss Landeck in Tyrol. He regularly gave presentations at schools, universities and cultural events. He wrote poems and was the editor of the collection of stories and poems Jenische Reminiszenzen (see also the poem with the same title). He was the founder of the first Yenish organisation in Austria (Jenischer Kulturverband) but soon left it due to disagreements. Among other things, he has received the Medal of Merit of the State of Tyrol, an honorary professorship at the University of Innsbruck and honorary membership of the Swiss organisation ‘Radgenossenschaft der Landstrasse’ [Country Road Cooperative on Wheels]. He died in Innsbruck in February 2006 after a long illness.

Bibliography

Mungenast, Romedius. 1990. Der Gschutzlbåcher! / Der Irre. In: Gerald Nitsche (Hg.), Österreichische Lyrik und kein Wort Deutsch. Zeitgenössische Dichtung der Minoritäten. Innsbruck: Haymon Verlag, pp. 30–31.

Mungenast, Romedius. 1990. Es schuberlet / Es geistert. In: Gerald Nitsche (Hg.), Österreichische Lyrik und kein Wort Deutsch. Zeitgenössische Dichtung der Minoritäten. Innsbruck: Haymon Verlag, pp. 32–33.

Mungenast, Romedius. 1990. Jenische Reminiszenzen. In: Gerald Nitsche (Hg.), Österreichische Lyrik und kein Wort Deutsch. Zeitgenössische Dichtung der Minoritäten. Innsbruck: Haymon Verlag, pp. 27–29.

Mungenast, Romedius. 1990. Jenisches Liebesgedicht. In: Gerald Nitsche (Hg.), Österreichische Lyrik und kein Wort Deutsch. Zeitgenössische Dichtung der Minoritäten. Innsbruck: Haymon Verlag, p. 34.

Mungenast, Romedius, ed. 2001. Jenische Reminiszenzen. Geschichte(n), Gedichte, ein Lesebuch. Landeck/Tirol: EYE Verlag.

Kolosz, Martin, ed. 2007. Romed Mungenast: Eisenbahner, Dichter, Forscher und Aktivist. Mit Beiträgen von Erich Hackl, Thomas Huonker, Romed Mungenast, Gerald Kurdoglu Nitsche, Christine Riccabona, Sieglinde Schauer-Glatz und Helmuth Schönauer. (= Tiroler Identitäten Bd. 2). Innsbruck: Kyrene.