My Trip to Germany
A Spiritual/Ancestral Journal
It's is finally here, the day of my departure. Once I am at the airport, things go very smoothly and before I know it, I am on this Lufthansa Jet with my seatbelt fastened, the plane is moving into position for take off and soft, sort of silent, tears are rolling down my cheek. I manage to dry my eyes while we wait for clearance for take off but once that jet accelerates down the runway and I feel the plane lift off, those soft, silent, salty droplets roll down my cheeks again. No one can ever tell me that I was travelling alone. I felt as if some very special people in my life were riding with me in spirit.
Well, after take off I settled back into my seat and enjoyed the refreshments and meals but could not sleep. I decided I should start preparing myself for the time change so I set my watch ahead 7 hours. Normally there is a 6 hour time difference but in Germany they go on Daylight Savings Time one week earlier than we do in the US. Therefore, for the first week of my stay there was a 7 hour time difference since they had turned there clocks ahead Sunday, March 29.
The flight was wonderful, and those soft, silent, salty droplets ran down my cheeks again as I landed in Frankfurt. My layover in Frankfurt went smoothly and before I knew it I was on the plane for Stuttgart. I guess I must have gotten all my emotions out because when I landed in Stuttgart, I was only looking forward to meeting my cousins Anna, Karin & Klaus. Sure enough there they were and I could see them through the window as I retrieved my baggage and departed the airport through the door marked "Nothing to Declare". I will never forget the warm and wonderful greetings from Anna, Karin and Klaus (Anna's Children) as I walked through that door and the beautiful bouquet of flowers they gave me.
As we drove through the countryside on the way to Berglen, Öschelbronn, I was in awe at the beauty of it all. The vineyards on the side hills, the fruit trees in bloom, the orange tiled roofs on the homes in the closely knit villages scattered across the landscape, and flowers everywhere.
Upon arrival in Berglen, I received warm greetings from Karl (Anna's Husband) and I took pictures of their home, their beautiful gardens and the view from their balcony of the Schwabian Alps above. Anna & Karl and Karin & Rainer and Karin's children Isabel and Verena live in the same house together in Berglen and Klaus and his Wife Claudia and their children live nearby in Birkenweissbuch. After showing me to my room in their home we all sat and talked about what we would be doing during my 2 week stay in Berglen. Klaus' wife Claudia and their children joined us for an evening meal and celebration of Rainer's birthday.
Before I retired for the evening Karin showed me the old family portraits on her living room wall. When I questioned who the people were, I was thrilled to find out that there on their living room wall hung portraits of my Great Grandparents Christian Wilhelm & Marie Katherine (born Layer) Büchele. (Karin & Klaus saw to it that I received copies of these pictures and you can view them at My Great Grandparents Page.)
Although I had made contact with Anna, Karl, Klaus and Karin in October 1994 and we had been corresponding since and they had visited me in New York in 1997, I was unaware that they had portraits of my great grandparents, Anna's Grandparents. Anna's Father Gottlob Büchele and my grandfather Wilhelm Büchele were brothers. Karin and Klaus also told me that the house my grandfather grew up in was just a short walking distance away. Needless to say I could tell this was going to be a very fulfilling trip since I was already overwhelmed by the family history I had found. I wondered how I would sleep as I was so excited by what I had discovered in my few short hours in Germany and the hospitality I was being extended by these wonderful people.
I speak very little German. Anna & Karl spoke very little English. However, Karin, Klaus & Claudia spoke fluent English and were kept very busy translating. They were a gift to me. Without their translation abilities I would have been at a loss.
I retired early as it had been over 40 hours since I had slept. I drifted off to sleep truly amazed that I was going to sleep in my grandfather's home town, in the house my grandparents had often slept in when they returned to Germany for visits and listening to the clock on the Village Hall chime each quarter hour. I slept very well, who wouldn't nestled beneath those wonderful down feather comforters. Like sleeping in a cloud.
Well, I slept the clock around and am well rested on this day. I go downstairs for breakfast at about 10AM and feel like a Princess after a good nights rest with my down comforter and Karin has breakfast on the table for me coffee, juice, toast and eggs. Anna, Karin and I look at old pictures for awhile. Many of the pictures were ones that my grandmother had sent to Anna years ago. We have "lunch" at 12. In Germany most families have their main meal at what we call "lunch time" and in the early evening a lighter meal with wurst, cheese, bread, salad etc. and of course some wine or beer.
At 12:30 Anna, Karin, Klaus and I leave for Ludwigsburg and I experience my first Castle.
The picture above is taken in the evening when the castle is lit. I, of course, was there in the daytime and the picture below is of Anna & I in front of the castle and it's beautiful gardens. Flowers, Flowers Everywhere and the perfume of Hyacinths filled the air.
Ludwigsburg is one of the biggest German Baroque palaces. The "Residenzschloss" was built between 1704 - 1733 under Duke Eberhard Ludwig. It has 452 rooms and 18 buildings. Often called the "Swabian Versailles" it is surrounded by permanent gardens with unique garden art from different eras and regions covering 75 acres. The castle and the fairytale gardens were a magical experience.
On the way home from Ludwigsburg with my cousin and chauffeur Klaus at the wheel, we stopped in Winnenden so I could shop for a pair of "Birkies". They did not have the size and style I wanted but ordered them for me. 102 Deutschmarks (including tax) - about 58 American Dollars - Here they would cost close to $100 (including tax).
We then continued home for dinner, good conversation, and making plans for the next day. We decided that Karen and I will shop in the morning, then we will pick up Klaus at his house and Verena at School and head for Stuttgart.
I head up to my room for bed. I pause at my window on the 3rd floor and gaze out at the beautiful, peaceful, quiet countryside and stare at the starlit sky. I think of my father and wish he could be with me as I think about traveling to Stuttgart tomorrow and visiting the house he lived in when he was first born and the house he lived in Stuttgart before coming to America. I am especially thinking of him today because it was 4 years ago today that I lost my Dad, the "Wind Beneath My Wings", and my "Master Mechanic" but as I stare out at this beautiful starry sky - the same one I see from my bedroom in Poughkeepsie, I know he is with me in spirit.
Today I awoke at 7:30 AM. Karin & I went to the Post Office and the Bank & I mailed postcards in Opelsbohm. Then we went to Klaus & Claudia's and picked up Klaus and then we went to pick up Verena at school in Winnenden. After picking up Verena we went to the train station in Winnenden, parked the car and boarded the train for Stuttgart. Upon arriving in Stuttgart we boarded a train/trolley and travelled to the area of Stuttgart near Elizabethan Strasse. We went on foot to Elizabethan Strasse and found #44 rather quickly. This is the address in Stuttgart where my grandparents lived when my father was born. The building looks newer than the others on the street. We are unsure if it has been renovated or rebuilt due to destruction during the war. Here I was standing in front of the house my grandparents lived in when my father was born - a wonderful experience.
After visiting 44 Elizabethan Strasse we boarded the Train/Trolley and proceeded to search for 189 Forst Strasse which was another address my grandparents and my father lived at when they were in Stuttgart and I believe is where they were living when they left Germany for America. We found 189 Forst Strasse very easily and found that the building appeared to be in its original condition as pictured below.
After visiting 189 Forst Strasse we took the Train/Trolley back to the center of Stuttgart and visited KARSTADT Department Store where we ate lunch at the Restaurant at the Top with an outdoor dining area where I also took pictures of the City of Stuttgart. After lunch we paused at the Steiff Display where I "kissed the Cow". This Steiff cow goes for 14,500 DM - with an exchange rate of 1.56 this cow I kissed was valued at about 9,300 US Dollars. Below you can see me kissing the cow with Verena.
After departing KARSTADT department store, we toured many of the historical buildings in Stuttgart. Churches, the opera house, the ballet and the central plaza of the city before boarding the train back to Winnenden. This was a wonderful day in Stuttgart and one I will never forget. Thanks to my guides, Karin - Klaus & Verena, without whose help I would not have been able to visit all these wonderful place and retrace my grandparent's and father's footsteps in this Historical City. Today they walked with me in spirit down the streets of this wonderful city. Upon returning to Berglen, Oschelbronn we all sat around the table with Anna and Karl and Rainer and Isabel and I said to Anna that I felt bad that I was staying with them for 2 weeks and they stayed with me only one day when she and Karin and Isabel and Verena were in America. Anna's response was "No, No, No, it was good for them to be able to do this because "Rickele" (my grandmother) did so much for them during the war - without the packages she sent to them from America - it would have been very difficult for them to make it through that time." Tomorrow we are leaving at 7AM for "Neuschwanstein". Another Castle and I can't wait. I go to sleep thinking of what a wonderful day it has been travelling in my grandparent's and father's footsteps and dreaming of visiting Neuschwanstein and what it must have been like to be a princess.
