April 22 and 23 Dennis Jenkins from Grand Junction, Colorado wanted to find out more about his ancestral ties to the hamlet of Hasselbach near Weilburg, Hessen, Germany. Dennis takes the record for waiting the longest between first learning about European Focus Private Tours (1998) to actually stepping off the plane to begin his personal […]
Tag Archives: history
St. Gallus Church in Willmandingen, Germany
From a visit on September 16, 2012 The church of St. Gallus in Willmandingen dates back to at least 1220. That’s when scientists determined the paintings in the tiny chapel on the ground floor of the tower were created. Those paintings, depicting scenes from the life of Jesus, were whitewashed over in the 1500s soon […]
Visiting Relatives in Willmandingen
Events occurred on September 16, 2012 A trip revolving around family history depends on connections made. One of those connections was made with the pastor of the church in tiny Willmandingen, Germany. A letter sent to the pastor’s office by Beth Renney from Fresno, California reached across the miles and the years, resulting in a […]
Willmandingen, Germany and the Roots of the Heinz Family
September 16 Today Suzanne Pellegrino and Beth Renney spent time with another side of the family, the Heinz side, which stems from the village of Willmandingen, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. Our visit started with church service at the Protestant St. Gallus, dating from 1903 but built onto the remains of a much older tower from at least […]
Visiting German Relatives in Hoinkhausen
(From a visit made to Hoinkhausen on September 12 and 13) When German relatives know you’re coming, the red carpet not only gets rolled out, it gets wrapped around you. Suzanne Pellegrino and her sister Beth Renney not only gave their relatives in tiny Hoinkhausen, Germany advance notice, they gave them nearly a year to […]
The Odenwald’s Silent Sentinal
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 […]
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 […]
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.