Sept 2019  The Schulenburg Excursion.      Started at Hannover airport hotel, Bargfeld, Bremen and Bremerhaven, Oldenburg    2 people,  3 days, 2 hotel nights.

Charlene Schulenburg and Garry Passon from Hawaii attended the Oldenburg Filmfest. As a tribute to actor Seymour Cassel (+ 2019) who over the years was a close friend of the Filmfest Charlene presented her production "Reach for Me". A three days excursion helped to unveil the story of the Schulenburg family. Research in the church archives at Hannover pointed us to Bargfeld and to nearby hamlets where friendly hosts and distant cousins invited us to their homes. Local experts shared their knowledge and luckily we found the home of Carsten Christopher Schulenburg from 1778 inmidst of extended potatoe fields an the Lüneburg Heathland. The old beam, saved by the todays owners, gave proof we were at the right place. The evening of day 3 saw us in time for Charlenes movie presentation with the Filmfest crew in Oldenburg.         

Sept 2019   Cheryl Hempe and family from Buer, Hamburg St Pauli and Saxony-Anhalts Coal Mines     4 days,  2 people,  2 hotel nights

A tour that had portions in which Cherly and Brad Hempe from California traveled on their own and days with joint activities. We met at Hamburg airport for one day to trace the Jänicke chapter of Cheryls family, met again three days later in Buer and Melle near Osnabrück for the Hempe chapter and finally traveled together again in Lutherstadt Wittenberg to complete the Jänicke excursions in Saxony Anhalt. Whereas the Hempes were traditional farmers, Gottfried Jänicke's course of live was much more turbulent. He came from a miner's district around Möhlau, worked as nailsmith and junkdealer on rags and old iron in Hamburg's redlight district St. Pauli, later relocated to a better neighborhood in Hamburg Blankenese and finally made his way to America where the Hempes and Jänickes came together. A tour through unusual historic and todays social habitats, blended with famous sites at Lutherstadt Wittenberg, the Wörlitz gardens and parks, industrial sites or the Bauhaus traditions at Dessau.

July 2019   Blum, Manheim and Loeb.    Jewish Heritage in Franconia, Württemberg, Alsace Lorraine.    Roundtrip from Frankfurt, 6 days, 3 people  4 hotel nights

Judith Blum from California had collected extensive information on her ancestral families that were part of the Jewish emigration mid of the 19th century and I had prepared our itinerary with activities and meetings along the way. She was accompagnied by her son Scott Ragsdale as we met at Frankfurt. A tour full of discoveries followed and later in Straßburg her son Marc joined the party for the Alsace places on our itinerary. Highlights were receptions by major Tanja Riedel and the friedship society at the former synagoge and todays cultural center at Ottensoos, Franconia, where Judith left family artefacts at Isaac Manheims former home, and many local excursion. Elisabeth Böhrer and Sandra Höfling helped in Ottensoos and Wilmars, Karin Beh in Ichenhausen, Württemberg and in and around Straßburg we were again welcomed by great people. A wonderful experience with Gerard Salomon's apartment in Straßburg as a final highlight after remarkable days of which Scott's diary created meanigful memories and reflexions.

May 2019   Betty Drum Griffin from SC, George Drum from Edenkoben and the Palatinate.   5 days, 3 people  4 hotel nights

Betty Griffin from North Carolina is a descendant of a pioneer settler in Catawaba County - Johann Drum, born 1725 in the Palatinate, supposingly in the Glan river valley near the town of Ulmet. I had the pleasure to travel with Betty and her husband Joe as early as 2009 when she brought  a group and again with another group in 2018. Now they came as small family with Deb Drum Davidson and Bob Howard Drum. Of course the Drums ancestral church and visits to Drum farms in Ulmet and in Zweibrücken in the Saarland were on our itinerary. And two famous Drums: George Drum form Erdesbach, one of the 19th century Palatine traveling musicians who as an immigrant band leader who became famous as composer of the ceremonial march "Hail to the Chief", and Johann Drum, sculpture and artist from Ulmet. The tour started in Frankfurt where Bob was stationed at the Frankfurt US troops headquarter - once Art Deco office complex of IG Farben chemical industries, today part of the University of Frankfurt - and ended at Munich.

May 2019    Missouri visits Germany.                  Roundtrip from Amsterdam.  2.600 Km,  6 days,  4  people, 7 hotel nights                   

Inspired by a visit of other family and friends two years ago Donna and Paul Lütkemeyer and Carol and Dennis Dickneite from Missouri set sail for Germany. KLM / DELTA brought them to Amsterdam where we had made a reservation for the first night. We also provided railroad tickets and seat reservations for a next day direct Intercity Express Train to Cologne main station. Our tour started from the platform with a second night directly at the Rhine river in the wonderful palace Engers. Following were the Black Forest and an excursion to Colmar France to visit the former home and museum of Auguste Bartoldy, sculpture and creator of  Miss Liberty. Munich and it's culinary and heritage attractions but also the Dachau concentration camp site was on the wishlist and via Würzburg the tour ended back in Amsterdam. A great blend of attractions and excursions in a relaxed pace.

April 2019   The Hartzells and the Schambers. Excursion with Brian and Terry Harzell from Passau into France.  5 days, 2 people  4 hotel nights

I met Brian and Terry in October 2018 at a workshop and lecture for the Ohio chapter of the Palatines to America in Bowling Green OH. They had plans for a Danube cruise next year and wanted to add time for a private tour to trace the life of their pioneer ancestors from Reihen (near Sinsheim) and Kirrberg (Alsace). One year later and after pre-trip research that was based on Brian's material we met at Passau where their cruise ended. After a wonderful stopover at Nuremberg and Sommerhausen and with great help of Wiltrud Flothow, Georg Grittmann and the super helpful Sinsheim municipal archive (Dinah Rottschäfer) we found evidence of the still standing Hartzells - then Hirtzel -  house in Reihen from 1692. Later in Kirrberg at the end of our tour a welcome committee was awaiting us with infos on the Schambers and wine and Alsace hospitality.

Brian has shared his research and memories to this excursion in a newsletter for the Ohio Chapter Palatines to America. With kind permission a reprinted version for the Pennsylvania Chapter  is available here: Penn Pal Newsletter Nr 2, Vol 40, April 2020 see page 6.