Freidberg Germany

 

Sorry, another long  post from January 2021

We flew home from Wyoming on Monday January 3 and then turned around and flew to Germany on January 6. We didn’t get much time to relax but it was great to see Alex and Lisa and our little grandson James. He was already six months old and a rather big boy but he was still a baby.

We had a bit of a scare at the German immigration. They flagged us and pulled us into the little side room where we waited for a very long time. Probably more than half an hour. The guy finally comes out and tells us that my passport would expire in February and you can’t come into Germany unless your passport is valid for more than three months from your expected departure date.

After a rather severe lecture where they mentioned that the people in Chicago (where we laid over) were in trouble because they should never have let us board the plane, they finally tell us that because we are here to see our new Grandchild they will let us enter but we had better be gone before my passport expires or I am in for some serious trouble. The only way were able to get in the country in the first place is because we have a grandchild here. No one else was allowed into the country.

Poor Alex and Lisa were quite worried about us and very relieved to see us finally come out. Germany was rather chilly but we weren’t there to be tourists, we were there to see James.

We were still quarantined for five days until we had a negative Covid test so the first few days we stuck around the house or went on short drives in the car.

The first few days we checked out the local area. There is the cool castle just a block or two from their house. I love that it is used for city administration offices and a high school. I would love to be able to say I went to school in a Castle. It would feel a bit like Hogwarts.

A mile or so from Alex’s house in a town called Bad Nauheim there is a giant wall standing in the middle of a park. We finally figured out that they pump salt water out of a well to the top of this wall and let it flow down the faces of the wall. This allows most of the water to evaporate and concentrates the salt. The concentrated salt water is then pumped into evaporation ponds.

It was pretty cool.

We also learned that when Elvis was in the Army he was stationed in Friedberg for a while. The town is definitely capitalizing on this. Even a few of their walk/wait signs have Elvis playing his guitar.

Alex also took us into the former mansion that is now where his office is. It is a beautiful place that is highly wooded and full of walking trails. Mom tried to take a picture of the mansion but then a guy comes walking out on the balcony and started yelling at her. We couldn’t understand him but it was pretty clear that we weren’t allowed to take pictures of the place.

It was funny watching Alex who was cowering down in his seat because he did not want to be recognized.

On Tuesday, January 12, our five days was up so we headed back to the Airport to get our Covid tests done. Mom and I were both negative so we then started being tourists as best we could when we aren’t allowed to go into any buildings.

Every single day we were there Alex and I went on a walk and Ollie usually came with us. Sometimes Mom and Lisa would come as well.

One time Mom, Alex and I were on a walk and we saw a bunch of people coming out of a farm yard. When one guy came out with some milk bottles Mom figured it was a dairy selling directly to the people. We went in to the farm yard and checked it out and sure enough there was a vending machine that would dispense milk. I figured it would be pasteurized since it came from a machine but when Lisa came and translated the directions for us we learned it was raw milk. It was delicious and much cheaper than anywhere else. Europe is not known for good milk. Most of it is quite disgusting.

On the Tuesday the twelth we headed into Frankfurt to get our Covid test and since we were out we took the long way home. 

We checked out Bad Homburg and our first stop was the ruins of an old Roman Salburg Fort. The fort protected the border between Rome and Germania. 

We couldn’t go inside but we saw the walls of the fort and the foundations and cellars from houses in the village that grew up next to the fort. The fort was abandoned in 260 AD. It was very fascinating.

Homburg also has a huge palace with a tower in the center of it. If you look at the top of the building there is a fascinating sun dial.

There is a huge estate in Bad Homburg that is now a heritage site. It is beautiful and while we couldn’t go inside any of the buildings the grounds were gorgeous. Even in the winter.

Schloss Homburg, doesn’t look much like a castle but it is a very cool mansion. Inside the courtyard was a sundial on the wall. I’ve seen many sundials on pedastles but never one on the wall. 

When we were in Bad Homburg it dawned on us that the Frankfurt temple is actually in Bad Homburg.

We also learned that the Keslers also come from Bad Homburg. 

It was a long day but very fascinating.

While in town we checked out downtown Frankfurt and the Market place. The market place was pretty deserted but it was still a beautiful place.

The next day we made a trip to Weisbaden which is on the Rheine river.

Our first stop in Weisbaden was this fancy cathedral. We were actually allowed inside this cathedral but we weren’t allowed to take any pictures.  

There is another fancy estate in Weisbaden that we had to check out. It was right on the Rheine river so we ate lunch on a park bench right on the river bank after which we wandered through the grounds of the estate.

It was pretty darned cold but still fascinating.

In addition to the estate there were the ruins of an old castle or something in the middle of the grounds. You could tell that at one point there had been a moat around this thing but when we were there it was all dry. 

The same estate

A different building on the same estate

Travel between different states in Germany was restricted by the number of new Covid cases each state was seeing. Our state was good but the State where Lisa’s parents and grandparents lived was on the restricted list. We were not allowed to visit anyone in those states.

As it turned out Lisa’s Kesler ancestors also come from Bad Homburg which is the same town as where the temple is and the same town where Alex’s work is. We made a trip to the graveyard to see if we could find any Keslers.

We found a guy in the graveyard who could speak English and we learned that when you buy a grave in Europe (at least in Germany) you only get it for 20 or 30 years. After that you either pay more money or they dig you up and sell the plot to someone else. That meant that we wouldn’t find any of Lisa’s ancestors there but apparently Kesler is a big name in town and we found a Kesler grave and some Kesler names on the war memorial. We’re pretty sure that they are related but we don’t know how.

Our new friend told us that the church recently published a big book of all the church records. We need to figure out how to get our hands on a copy of that book. We found the Pastors contact info on the church and will be contacting him.  

Even though we weren’t allowed to visit Lisa’s grandparents because their Covid numbers were too high we made a trip out there anyway because a small town close by them is where Lisa’s Neidig ancestors come from.

Altershausen is a quaint little town that can’t be more than a mile from one side to the other. The graveyard was tiny and had no old tombstones but again we found both Neidigs and Loeflers on the war memorials.

Nearby Altershausen is another small town called Konigsberg that has a castle. The Nazi’s held this castle during the second war and the Americans held the hill across the valley. Lisa (Marie) has an uncle who was a child at the time and has many cool stories to tell about that time.

The Konigsberg castle also had some war memorials with Lisa’s ancestors’ names. This memorial is actually at the cemetary in Altershausen. Do you see the Loeffler guy. Probably a relative of Lisas.

The castle was quite fascinating and we spend a couple of hours checking it out. I would love to have been able to go inside but we saw a lot of it from the outside. I suppose it isn’t much protection in a modern day war but I don’t know how any medieval army could take a place like that other than by starving them out.

It was cold

Konigsberg Castle

I never could figure out where all these little holes go to

War memorial at the castle. Do you see the Loffler guy? Probably a relative of Lisa's.

Lisa then took us on a tour of her home town and shared many of her childhood memories with us. It was fun to see some of the places where she hung out and played. Apparently she also gave her mother many gray hairs.

Even though it was technically against the law, we did stop in and say “hi” to Lisa’s grandparents. We saw them at the wedding but it was good to see them again.

Quite possibly the coolest thing we saw was Wilhelmshohe Palace. I’m not even sure how to describe this place. The park is only a couple of hundred yards wide but stretches about a mile up the side of a very large hill. The lower part of the hill is a large grassy area surrounded by tree’s a running brook and a few ponds. Very peaceful.

About a third of the way up you come to the palace, 

and just above the palace is a pond

Two ponds actually, one is a small lake off to one side and the other is a pool with fountains and what not in it that I guess has a water show in the summer time.

There is a dam somewhere up the hill and they let that fill up and then dump it all at once through fountains in this pool.

You then continue up the hill until you come to a Roman Aquaduct. The water normally bypasses the aquaduct but they can direct some of it over the aquaduct and then let it spill off one end where it makes a 100 foot waterfall.

You then continue to climb the hill following the stream through beautiful woods and eventually you come to the bottom of hundreds of stairs that leads up to a 25 foot tall statue of Hercules standing a top of an even taller tower.

Alex and Lisa had the stroller so Mom and I took the dog and headed up the stairs. 

This is the view looking down. You can see the palace in the distance but the park extends well beyond that.

Of course every palace needs to be protected by a garrison of soldiers sequestered in a Castle and this palace was no different. This castle is out of sight of the palace but close enough to be there when needed. It is currently under renovation but it would be very cool to tour it someday.

Our next trip was to Köln or in English we call it Cologne. What a beautiful city. When we first arrived at the city the first thing I noticed were all the Roman artifacts that were being restored. I love how they left segments of walls and roads intact for tourists to check out. They had old sewers, roads and walls all right there where we could see them.

They also had a Roman museum and in addition to the artifacts inside the museum they had artifacts outside where we could check them out. I think that is cool especially when the museum is open because then people can get a taste of the finds without having to pay to enter the museum. It was very interesting.

Right next to the Roman museum was a large and very old cathedral. The city must have some extra funds available because the cathedral was also undergoing renovations. 

I don’t think they were set out for exhibition but many of the pieces from the cathedral were sitting right on the ground where we could check them out. They had all kinds of information about the restoration of the cathedral.

They also had pictures of this city right after WWII. This place got hit hard and it is amazing what they have done to restore the cities.

It was still pretty darned cold out but we checked out all the sites and then ate lunch under the arch from the original Roman gateway into the city.

On the way home we decided to stop at a big fancy palace with these beautiful grounds. It was dusk as we arrived and we only had a few minutes before they would kick us out of the gardens but I didn’t feel bad. As much as I would love to have checked out the palace gardens in more detail I was much more interested in the Roman ruins and the church restoration.

Our last trip was perhaps the prettiest city of all. We headed to the city of Marburg. I guess the Grimm brothers lived in this city for part of their lives so the city has taken full advantage of this. Spread throughout the city they have fifteen monuments representing different stories that the Grimm brothers have written.

We first checked out the local Castle and then went on a walking tour to see how many of the markers we could find.

I’m not sure which story this shoe represents.

This cute little corner made Lisa think of the secret garden. That is not a Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale.

I have no idea what Fairy Tale these words represent but it is one of them.

This is Little Red Riding Hood. You can turn each piece to make the Wolf, Red Riding Hood or the Grandmother.

I have no idea what these bugs represent but it is another one the fairy tales.

 

 

 

 Another fairly tale

 

 

 

 

The Frog King

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fisherman and his Wife

 

 

 

 

On our last full day in Germany we decided to go for a bike ride. Lisa’s (minor) sister and her husband live in the same building as Alex and Lisa and between the two families they have enough bikes that Alex, his brother in law Brandon, me and Lisa all went for a bike ride.

We rode our bikes over to Bad Nauheim which is known for their natural springs. When things aren’t all shutdown for Covid I guess you can go in these buildings and enjoy a nice spa. By the looks of this water though it looks rather gross. I’ll bet it’s chock full of healthy minerals though .

When rode through a couple of cool parks and then went and checked out this memorial to Elvis. If I understand it right he lived in the apartment building in the background. I suppose he had enough money he didn’t need to stay in the barracks with the other soldiers.

On one of our longer walks Alex and I came across a couple of tomb stones set back from the road a couple of hundred feet. We decided to check them out on our bike ride. There were two tombstones still standing but when we looked around there were several more that had been knocked over. They were obviously Jewish because the front of the stone was in German but the back was in Hebrew and someone had tried to chip away the words. It was really sad.

We had a wonderful time in Germany but alas, all good things eventually need to come to an end. It was great to see James and get to know this very happy child. What a good kid he is and what wonderful parents he has.

Lisa and Alex were also amazing. They did their best to make sure that most of our meals were traditional German and they were delicious. We had bratwurst, many kinds of breads and cheeses and cheese spreads, sauerkraut, all kinds of cool meats stuffed Olives, tons of chocolate and a bunch of other stuff that I can’t remember the names of. It was a great time. Thank you Alex and Lisa.