Thursday 13 May to Saturday 15 May 2004

13 May 2004 Prague/Frankfurt After posting yesterday's story from Prague I went to McDonalds. Towards the end of my meal a woman asked to sit across from me at the window table. I soon found out that she spoke English, and we had a grand conversation about Czech politics. She told me about life under communism. As you can imagine, she was still thrilled by the liberation of 1989. I then returned back to Helena's house to start packing for an early train departure this morning. Helena and I settled up financially, then we talk until well after 11:30PM about her experience under Nazism and communism. The conversation was exactly what I had hoped for. The stories are well-known by many, but to know someone who went through it all personalizes it in a dramatic way.

After that exciting conversation I was too excited to sleep. But after about two hours of sleep the alarm went off to make my way to the train station. Helena came with me to work the incoming international trains. We parted ways, and she hurriedly went to work on the next unsuspecting foreigner.

The train ride from Prague to Dresden was fine, a little slow through some beautiful landscape. Soon we were in the eastern part of Germany, and I changed trains for Frankfurt. The German landscape is quite lovely. We arrived in Frankfurt right on time, and I caught the next train to Bad Homburg, where I am staying.

Now, remember my last name, all right? Germany is lovely, but I am less than impressed by Germans!

I already found Wehrheim on the map and will make my way to the Leiker's hometown tomorrow. I hope to find the church where Johann George Leiker was baptized in the late 1600's!

14 May 2004 Bad Homburg/Wehrheim This was an exciting day for me. One of my primary purposes for coming to Germany was to find the church where one of my ancestors was baptized. In fact, this particular ancestor, Johann Georg Leiker, is the earliest known in the family. I had only a very old picture that had no captions and certainly no directions and no name. I was somewhat skeptical this morning that I would be able to find. I studied the photo I had on the computer, made a couple of sketches, and set of for the train station. Wehrheim is not that far from where I am staying, only for or five train stops up the line. Getting to Werheim was no problem.

As we approached the town I could not see the steeple has I knew it from the
photo and was prepared for a disappointing day. As I walked the streets of
this somewhat small town I noticed other churches, but not this one. The
town is a beauty, though. It is extremely clean, almost obsessively neat.
There are a lot of pubs that have specialty beers it seems. One place
advertized about ten specialty beers. But I had a mission. As I crossed one
of the main streets I caught site of the unmistakeable steeple. It was the
same as the one in the photo. This had to be it; this was the day I had been
waiting for.

After losing sight of the steeple I tried to figure out how to get to the
church; finally I found a street that led to it. My heart skipped a beat as
the church came into focus. This was the place where a great (x9 or 10) was
baptized. I walked up to church, circled  it several times, studying it
carefully. Until today I did not know the name; now I do, St. Michael. A
young mother and her daughter were walking in the street behind the church,
I asked if I could see the inside. She directed me to someone, who directed
me to another, who said it the church was closed, and she slammed the door.
I was disappointed, ready to give up and walked a few blocks. I decided to
give it another try. As I circled the church again I noticed a woman
approching what had to be the scristy door. I introduced myself, using the
very little German that I know. She was the church secretary and welcomed me
warmly. She led me into the church and let me have a good look. After I took
photos, she offered to take my picture in the church. Later she gave me a
brochure about the church and some photos. She was really kind and gracious.

Beaming, I left the church and intended to ask someone to take my picture in
front of the church. I located an older woman and man. They were eager to
help. The woman understood some English, asked who the relative was. She immediately knew the family name, but indicated that the last Leiker
(Leicker) in Wehrheim died several years ago. That led me to ask where the
cemetery was, and she gave me directions in German that I didn't understand
in detail but enough to point me in the right direction. I thnaked both of
them for their help and made my way to the cemetery.

The cemetery is well kept, each family landscaping their relatives grave,
quite unique. After some walking and searching I did indeed find the Leicker
gravestone. I didn't expect this. My research told me that there had been no
Leikers in Wehrheim for more than a hundred years. This is a bonanza day for me!

The countryside is lovely, low hills and broad fields, and a moderate
mountain in the distance. Everything is very green, many trees and flowers
everwhere. As I walked back into town I could hear a cow moo-ing and
chickens cackling. Yes, right in town. After some more walking I discovered
that this was not unusual. Don't get the wrong picture here. This is a
lovely town with well-manicured, albeit small, lawns and flower gardens.
They have very nice restaurants and other business establishments.

Rain appeared to be threatening so I reluctantly returned to the train
station. I fully intend to return to Wehrheim tomorrow.

This is my last weekend in Europe for a while. I am returning to the US on
Tuesday, but will return to Europe in mid to late June for three weeks or so.

More on Germany tomorrow.

15 May 2004 Bad Homburg/Wehrheim  By the way, Bad Homburg is not a dried out meat patty at McDonalds. Bad is German for 'bath', and there are some natural springs around here that Romans used for their bath houses 2,000 years ago.

I had a number of personal things to do this morning so I got off to an
early start so I could get to Wehrheim at a rasonably good time. Finished
with all of the domestic things I reached to the town around noon on this
weather perfect day. I was even more taken by the neurotic cleanliness of
Wehrheim, and actually much of Germany and Austria that I have seen. You
know those German types! I walked virtually every street of the city to get
a feel for it. I soon decided that this was a bedroom community, and folks
here went to work elsewhere. It also seems to be a town of many retired
folks. I walked into some country field, as well. It is very beautiful, with
great horizons and scenery. Of course, as I walked through town many people just stared at me, wandering what in the world this stranger is doing.
They'll get over it! I was in the city for about four hours, when I decided
to go back to Bad Homburg to begin for the move tomorrow. When I rturned I
stopped at the Pizza Hut, as I did yesterday, and ordered a Hawaiian Pan
Pizza. The bill that I received had it in Gerrman:  "Hawaiian Pfannen Pizza."
So now you know what part of my last name means.

I'm heading back to London tomorrow for a flight back to Baltimore on
Tuesday. I´ll take the train from Frankfurt to Brussels. Oh yes, I have to
be in Brussels for three hours. This isn't my idea of ending my visit to
continental Europe on a nice note. (If you recall, I did not enjoy Brussels
back in April. Thank goodness this is only for three hours!) Then I'll take
the train through the Chunnel into London's Waterloo Station. Hopefully I'll
be able to find a laundromat in London. I am in a desperate way to get some
clean clothes.

Arriving in London rather late, it is doubtful that I'll be able to post a story on Sunday evening. For sure on Monday from the United Kingdom once again. Tuesday means back to the USA, and not a minute too soon, although I have enjoyed this opportunity immensely.

 

Germany part 2

Saturday 19 June and Sunday 20 June 2004

19 June 2004 Cologne, Germany After eating breakfast at the Gatwick (London) Airport McDonalds, I boarded the German Wings airplane for the 55 minute flight to Cologne. These Germans are way too efficient, everything very orderly and modernistic. My taxi driver's last name was Froehlich, and we spoke for the duration of the trip about his pre-WWII experiences. Upon arrival at the hotel, the clerk observed my "typical German name." After a checking in and organizing myself, I took a quick tour of this neighborhood, which is on the east side of the Rhine river. (Tomorrow I will go downtown and beyond.) There are many Turks and other immigrants in this area. Every other shop is Turkish, it seems. And I am impressed with the friendliness of folks here, unlike my previous experience in Bad Homburg several weeks ago, peole here are quick to smile and say hello. I am looking forward to discovering more of this city and area.

If you are confused why I am in Cologne rather than Manderscheim, it is another change in plans. I spoke to several people about Manderscheim, and they indicated that transportation there is lengthy and infrequent. Rather than getting stranded in tourist-thick Trier I have decided to use Cologne as my base of travel for the next couple of days.

20 June 2004 Cologne, Germany An early start got me to the famous Cologne cathedral for the 8AM Mass. I understood little of the homily, but the preacher was very lively. His rather lengthy homily meant a late-running Mass with people for the next Mass impatiently waiting for ours to end. The city, like so many others, is beautiful from a distance but not so impressive on closer inspection. The photo to the right is taken on a bridge over the Rhine river looking back at the center of the city. I know that this city was reduced to rubble during WWII, and now they seem to be undertaking an extensive facelift. In the end, however, it is not a particularly handsome city. Even the two-spired cathedral is noteworthy only for its massive facade. The inside is skippable. On the other hand, Gross St. Martin's (the bulky tower in the photo background) is quite lovely in its simplicity. I stopped in for a Spanish Mass; the congregation was very young, unlike the other Mass this morning. During my walks I also stopped in at an Greek Orthodox Church. There, too, there were many children and young folks. Perhaps both are instances of immigrants holding fast to the traditions of there native countries. I imagine there are some young Germans who are church-going, but I didn't see them. It reaffirms my conviction that the churches in Europe are doing a woeful job of passing on the faith.