Pictures from Alken:
Pictures from Udenhausen:
So by early afternoon, we had driven to the "Moselle side" (Udenhausen sits at the top of the hills between Rhine on east and the Moselle River on the west), and we took a small hike around an old castle on the hill overlooking the river and had a nice picnic lunch. Then we drove into the town of Alken where we met Walter (pronounced VALter) and Pia, who are - roughly speaking - my third cousins. Here is a very simple explanation of our relationship:
Johannes Schafer and Margareta Gipp:
Paul Schaefer - remained in Germany
Peter Schaefer - our relation who went to America
I am the gg-grandaughter of Peter, and Walter and Pia are the gg-grandchildren of Paul. Both are a bit younger (born 1960s), and both speak good English whereas nobody else we were to meet could, so I'm sure the younger Schaefer's were sent ahead as the ambassadors! Walter has just been re-elected as the mayor of Alken and is a bit of a history buff so he gave us a great walking tour of the village explaining its history all along the way. Then we went to visit St. Michael's, built some time before 1015, which was opened just for our visit. To our great surprise, as we came in, there were Rosa and Leo Escher - Rosa being the one who was born a Schaefer, and who had written to America after the War to inquire after Schaefer relations there only to get no reply. Rosa can speak not a word of English, but she was clearly happy to meet me/us. We finished touring the old church and then continued our walking tour into one of the old towers of the wall that had once surrounded the village. Rosa and Leo came along the whole way - it was great. Finally we ended up at Rosa's house where she served apricot cake with sour cream frosting, a strudel, and strawberries - all of which were wonderfully good.
So next Walter and Pia took us to tour the Castle Thurant which found Walter, Clara, and me climbing to the top of the tower for the best view down to the River Moselle - fantastic. Then we all parted ways with plans to meet again later for a "family dinner" that would include even more Schaefer relations.
Thus we made our way back to Udenhausen for a little time to recharge, and then headed for the Udenhausen Museum which was founded by Trudel's sister Barbara. As we arrived, there was a lovely sign in front welcoming the visitors from America. And right on time, here came the other Schaefer relations: Klaus who is a working farmer in the area and who brought his young son Johannes, and Franz who came from a place called Rhens, both being first cousins to Rosa. A big dining table had been set up in the museum, and Barbara had prepared a feast. I sat next to Walter in hopes of getting the occasional translation of all the conversation going on - and certainly there were some stories being told that I don't think I half understood. But Franz and Klaus and Rosa had all brought some old pictures of their families, so that was exciting to see and share.
After dinner, we took a great tour of the museum and had more fun conversations looking at all the old things that once were part of everyday life in Udenhausen. Then as the evening wore down, we posed for our new family photo outside the museum. Rosa had found an old chalkboard and wrote in big letters the Schafer name in the old German script that she had learned to write as a girl, and her daughter Pia is holding that sign in our German Schaefer family photo.
All in all, this was a very special day for me personally and for our family's history. Before this day, Rosa had lost touch with her cousins, and certainly everybody in Germany had lost track of those who came to America. Not only did I never dream there was such a place as Udenhausen, I never imagined there would be people who still belong to this place to offer us such a fantastic welcome. Walter and Pia have been invited to Boulder, and they both seem excited to accept the offer. I think in 2015, we might be hosting a reunion in America!
This is wonderful! What a great time!
ReplyDelete