Walking up an alleyway in Meersburg
We spent a little time in that beautiful old town of Meersburg, visiting several stores, then headed out for the long drive north. We found the home of the Zepp family and visited with Mathias and his brother, then with his parents. We spoke German at first, and then, after his parents came, we spoke English. His mother lived in America for a while and he worked for the American Army on the base there until it closed. It was nice seeing him again.

Our Elder Zepp in Mannheim
After that, we headed on the road to Siegen and arrived there when it was getting dark.

Siegen in the misty evening (from our hotel window)
We got up and had breakfast there and left to find some cities of my ancestors. We went through Freudenberg and took some pictures,

Here is a picture looking through some homes of Freudenberg looking into the hills. Notice the city coat of arms on the garbage bins in the foreground.
In Freudenberg
then on to Oberfischbach. The navigator (Siri) on the phone had a fun time pronouncing the German names in American fashion, especially "Oberfischbacher Strasse". We picked up some postcards at one of the places where we stopped.

Oberfischbach - see the distinctive shale shingles

The Oberfischbach church
Our Buchanan ancestor, Anne Margrethe Bach was born here and probably christened and married in this church, or it predecessor. One date on the church shows the tower as being built in 1793 and our Bach ancestors left the area in 1737. Anne Margrethe's maiden name was Hansmann. There is some question whether it is Hausmann or Hansmann. All my former records show Hausmann, but recent research seems to indicate that it should be Hansmann. He parents were married here also, and the original record says that he, Hermann Hansmann (or Hausmann) was from Rossel/Dattenfeld in a region about 30 miles west of here.
From there, we headed out to try to find Dattenfeld and Rossel. [Note: We have quite a few pictures from Rossel and Dattenfeld, so I may later make a separate blog just for them. A few are included here to illustrate the story here.] We found Dattenfeld OK and spent some time taking pictures in and around the old Catholic Church there where my Hansmann ancestors attended and were christened.


Inside the Dattenfeld Catholic Church
From there, we tried to find a way to Rossel, but the construction was such that we went up and down several roads (including a road that was closed - a truck driver stopped us and made us turn back). After trying another road that was wrong, a man on a motorcycle came towards us and asked what we were looking for. He was amazed that we asked about the village of Rossell. He was from there and offered to show us the way and visit with us there.

Following Karl on his Motorcycle towards Rossel
We followed him for about 30 minutes and after a very long diversion around the construction, through some beautiful countryside, we entered Rossel. He took us to his home and offered us something to drink and we had a nice visit with him. His name is Karl Roos and he was once the head of the historical organization there and had collected quite a bit about the history of the town. He said that he was delivered as a baby by a man named Hansmann. He showed us numerous records and books. none of them showed Hausmann as a name, but rather Hansmann, so I am pretty sure that is how out family name is spelled. He asked me to help him with the translation of a document he had. He also offered to have a friend of his, named Hansmann, who has been doing research in the family, to contact us.

Karl and his antique tractor
Karl took us on a walking tour of the old part of the village and showed us where some of the old buildings stood. He had hoped to show us a house that had belonged to a Hansmann, but was not able to do that. He was truly a blessing for us. We traded contact information and after showing us an overlook area, we parted company.

Karl taking us on a walking tour of old Rossel


We headed out and went on our way to Hamm. We stopped in Waldbröl to fill up the gas tank and contacted sister Upmeier, then went on and met the Upmeiers at their place in Hamm. They served us some afternoon tea and after a nice visit, (and helping us get our laundry done) we had a tour of their yard and the served some Abendbrot, then we turned in for the night.

The Upmeiers and I in front of the Hamm chapel
We had breakfast with the Upmeiers and then we went with them to the Hamm church building and looked around. It was a nice building, much better than the rented hall where we met as a branch 46 years ago when I first met the Upmeiers.
We then left, heading out to Oldenburg to see Tobias Schipper and family. They live in Westerschede. He set up and paid for a hotel room for us.

The hotel where we stayed in Westerstede
After giving a us a tour of their house and our visit with the family, we went back to the hotel. We walked about a bit, meeting up with the family there and looking at a store for some lace curtains. We walked around a bit more, then went to Bad Zwischenahn and visited with Tobias' mother and had some tea with her and had a nice visit.

The Schipper Family (Cecilie was running around at the time)
After that, Tobias took us on a walk around the city and to the lake. After going back, we went on to the school in Westerschede where Johanna and her Kindergarten class put on a presentation. The children played the parts of hedgehogs who lived in a garbage dump, some of whom found old guitars and became rock stars until they were injured in a car crash. (I am not making this up.) Their daughter is the one in the back between the green and blue guitars.

Hedgehogs as rock stars
We watched that and then went back into town to walk around some, spending time at the lake at Bad Zwischenahn.

We met up with Simone and Cecilie and Johanna at a restaurant and has a nice Serbian dinner with them.

After our dinner and visit, we went back to our hotel and said our goodbyes to Tobias.
The next morning, we headed out towards Hamburg and on to Denmark. We had originally planned on driving up the Danish peninsula and then over the bridge to the Sjælland island, but the traffic information on the said it would be faster to take the ferry across from Fehmarn over to the island. It would be more expensive, but we were planning on coming back that way anyway, so we did it. We needed to be at the hotel by 4 PM.. We got there OK and paid about $180 for a round trip ticket to Denmark on the Ferry.


Yes, we do believe in Ferries! (an old family joke)
This report is continued in the next blog entry - on into Denmark!
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