A 1,000 year-old baptismal font in the ancestral church

August 21 There are baptismal fonts and then there is the font in the little church at Kirchtimke, near Steinfeld, Niedersachsen, Germany. While the church is older than most in America, having been built in 1739, the font is truly spectacular. It is Romanesque and dates back at least 1,000 years. That means it was […]

Heartfelt Thank You For Care Package 67 Years Later

August 21 Dolores Petit is on the Trip of a Lifetime back to her roots in northern Germany. On the second day of her visit with relatives in the hamlet of Steinfeld, she suddenly came face to face with a woman whom she has never met. However, she gave that woman something so special, so […]

Lifelong dream comes true with trip to ancestral country of Germany

August 16 This morning a long-awaited journey finally started for Dolores (Braun) Petit, who has deep roots in Germany but who never had the chance to come due to hard feelings resulting from World War II. Her husband was a fighter in the French Resistance as a young teenager and his father was kept in […]

Visiting Cousins in Grafshaft Veldenz, Germany

August 11 Give us 11 months to prepare for a family history trip and you just never know what you are going to experience. How about stepping foot into the house where your great-grandmother lived as a little girl? What about wine tasting with cousins, who by the way, also make that wine? What about […]

Toast to Ancestors in Wine Country of the Mosel Valley, Germany

August 7 Thanks to exhaustive research carried out by our partner Roland Geiger (far left) our guests from Missouri were able to toast ancestors in a vineyard above Veldenz that was owned by them before they emigrated to America. Making it extra special was the fact that current-day cousins are also wine makers. Barbara is […]

Welcome to Germany, Carl and Barbara

August 5 Carl and his wife Barbara started planning their trip to Germany with European Focus back in late August of 2013. Now, just shy of a year later, they have landed and are ready to begin their eight-day adventure to see some of Carl’s ancestral towns and villages in Germany. Here they are, fresh […]

Welcome Back Third Time

July 16 Tim S. and his family along with new wife Mary just arrived from Arizona to begin their 12-day adventure in Germany. Mary has never been to Germany, and she has roots here, so this is an extra special trip. Tim and his family last traveled with European Focus in 2005 and 2006. We […]