September 10, 2012 Like a stone sentinal guarding the rolling hills of the Odenwald Forest, Auerbach Castle high above Bensheim-Auerbach has stood tall for more than 800 years. We visited this ruin on a warm September day while exploring ancestral Bensheim and Mannheim nearby. Auerbach Castle was built by Charlamagne and then rebuilt and enlarged […]
Category Archives: Family History Tours
Discover your Family History and research your genealogy with an ancestral home tour.
Mannheim, Germany
September 9, 2012 What do the world’s first automobile, the first bicycle and the first tractor have in common? Mannheim! All three were invented in this industrial town on the banks of the rivers Rhein and Neckar in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. Known as “Grid City” the bustling large town was built on the […]
Jewish History in Pittigliano, Tuscany
May 10 There was once a flourishing Jewish community in this fortified Tuscan village. Kicked out of the Papal States (those areas immediately surrounding Rome) by Popes in the 16th century, a large settlement developed in Pittigliano where they were given protection by the local ruling family. In ‘Little Jerusalem’ there can be seen many […]
How to Have a Successful Family History Trip to Europe
European Focus Private Tours provides the expertise, experience and guidance on the “Ultimate Experience,” visiting your ancestral villages or towns in Europe. Many family historians just don’t know where to start, and are not yet ready for that ultimate experience. Here are some tips from on how to get started on your quest. Begin with […]
The time to explore family history
Two-time traveler Jim Cooke of Virginia photographs a traditional Irish pub/store/hardware store in the town of Kingscourt, County Cavan, Ireland on October 11. Jim and his wife Betsy are combining a business trip with a pleasure excursion to see some of the areas where Jim’s ancestors lived before emigrating to New Orleans in 1850.
Sommerhausen, Germany and Francis Daniel Pastorius
The charming hamlet of Sommerhausen, Germany has a wall, towers, a castle and many very old houses nestled between steep slopes covered with vineyards and the Main River. The town is also home to the man who established Germantown, Pennsylvania. In 1683, a group of Mennonites, Pietists, and Quakers – like Abraham Isacks op den […]
Leifeste Family History in Broistedt, Germany
The preparations for this part of Jane and Rachel’s ancestral tour in Germany started in July, 2010 with a visit to Broistedt by James and Jenean Derheim during an extensive scouting trip they undertook between tours with other clients. A chance stop at the local newspaper stand and a helpful clerk led James to local […]
The Unique Lippische Farmhouse
We had some time to kill before our meeting on September 7th with the Grote cousins who live on the old farmstead, so we drove up to the hamlet of Evenhausen to see if we could locate the former farm Number One. All farm numbers have been changed with the advent of the modern postal […]