European Focus likes to end our Germany trips in the medieval hamlet of Bacharach. Jenean Derheim says, “If Pinocchio had been German, then Bacharach would be his hometown.” This charming village is full of half-timbered houses, a grand church and quaint corners just waiting for the photographer. The best and in our opinion only place […]
Category Archives: Germany Tours
Germany Tours
Grenzmuseum Schifflersgrund, Allendorf, Germany
Twenty one years after East and West Germany became one and the museum on the former border near Allendorf has never been busier, according to the man who took our money for the entry and who grew up here, on the Eastern side of the border. ‘People want to come and see what they could […]
Regensburg Cathedral and the Judensau
Some who visit Germany for the first time assume that the persecution of the Jews in Europe began with Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. Not so. The Jews have been chased out of Europe, murdered and punished with huge taxation rates for more than 1,000 years in Europe. In Regensburg there is a visible […]
Grote Ancestral Farm in Mackenbruch, Lippe Detmold, Germany
An unforgettable visit to the Grote ancestral farmstead on September 7th resulted in new connections with cousins in Germany and a wealth of new information for family historian Jane Williamson of Waco, Texas. Jane and her daughter Rachel Hernandez visited Mackenbruch after a long planning process begun in July, 2010 when Jane discovered European Focus […]
From Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Heidelberg
We traveled today by a combination of the back roads through farmland, hamlets and along the Neckar River to Heidelberg where we’re spending the night. Along the way, we made a stop in Bad Wimpfen for special roasted chicken in a tiny Gasthaus near the “Blue Tower,” a remnant of the medieval fortifications of Bad […]
Welcome New Arrivals
Jane Williamson and her daughter Rachel Hernandez arrived on September 2 in Frankfurt to start their two-week journey around Germany. This has been a dream of Jane’s for a long time. She is on her first ever European trip, and just had her first ever trans-Atlantic flight. There will be many more “firsts” for Jane […]
The World’s Highest Church Spire
Ulm Minster (German: Ulmer Münster, literally: minster) is a Lutheran church located in Ulm, Germany. Although sometimes referred to as Ulm Cathedral because of its great size, the church is not a cathedral as it has never been the seat of a bishop. (Cathedral = chair = bishop’s seat) Ulm Minster is a famous example […]
Weissenburg im Bayern, Germany
A charming fortified town definitely not on the usual tourist agenda was our stopover for a leg stretch today between Munich and Dinkelsbuehl. This is a town that I had photographed for a family historian nearly a decade ago. Weissenburg im Bayern features grand sections of wall built in the 1300s and 1400s and a […]