One of Marie’s ancestral villages is right out of a storybook which could be entitled, “Most Perfectly-Preserved German Farm Hamlets.” Rinthe consists of a dozen farms and absolutely nothing else. The scene is right out of the 1700s and most of the farm houses and barns were built in this period and still retain their […]
Author Archives: James Derheim
Weidenhausen Three Times as Old as America
The hamlet of Weidenhausen celebrates its first mention in an official document (1309) with summerlong events all this year. Last night’s party at the festival tent was probably attended by all 495 residents plus many who came from around Germany for class reunions and at least two Americans. It was a night full of great […]
Meeting the Muesse Family
A highlight of Marie’s third trip to Germany was meeting more Muesse cousins in Weidenhausen, which is celebrating its 700th birthday all during the year. Today’s events started with a special church service followed by a visit to the home of Heinrich Muesse and his family. We met up with the Muesse family later at […]
Hotel Raumland a Great Home Away from Home
We’ve stayed two wonderful nights at the peaceful Hotel Raumland just outside of Bad Berleburg, in the Siegen-Wittgenstein area of central Germany. The hospitality here has been fantastic. We’ve eaten all of our meals here and each has been more special than the last. Starting with fresh asparagus with a schnitzel on our day of […]
Raumland
We arrived at Bad Berleburg shortly before 1 this afternoon and after a stop at the local bookstore to pick up items of historical interest related to Marie’s ancestral villages near here, we drove the few minutes out of town to the hamlet of Raumland and to the Hotel Raumland, or homebase for the next […]
Heidelberg at Night
The massive ruin of Heidelberg’s castle seems to hover over the old town, an effect that is enhanced by nightfall when the castle is illuminated.
Eschelbronn
Current guest Marie photographs her ancestral town of Eschelbronn, in the area of Sinsheim, Baden-Wuerttemberg.
Karlsruhe thanks me for the 165 Euro donation to their street maintenance fund
Today was quite a day. Productive, fun, informative and expensive. We had a meeting with an historian and family history expert in Karlsruhe, about an hour south of Heidelberg. We arrived in the leafy neighborhood and I parked the van in a well-marked zone near his house. About 90 minutes later, we emerged from a […]