GERMAN GREAT GRANDPARENTS

Our Saturday activity was a seven-hour long road trip through four ancestral villages. My (Debbie) second great-grandfather, John W Hess was born in Pennsylvania but with a name like Hess, he obviously had German roots. I imagined all day what it would have been like to live in these villages in the 1600’s.

Winningen

My eighth-great grandparents were born in Palatinate, Holy Roman Empire. They lived their whole lives in this village with their nine children. Johann Peter Mueller and Sophia Kroeber were married in 1651 in this church. Although it has been remodeled through the centuries, the three brass-gilt chandeliers date from the 1600’s.

This wine-growing village lies in a bend of the Moselle River and dates to Roman times. The Romanesque alleys and picturesque half-timbered houses are decorated with grape vines. The horn gate is the only surviving of the former six town gates. Witches are found around town as a reminder of the witch hunts that occurred here during the 17th century.

Piesport

Another set of eighth-great grandparents were born an hour downriver in Wittlich, Rhineland, Prussia. Jost Georg Riegel and Maria Elisabetha Hoenen lived out their lives with their nine children in this village. We entered this town from the top of a hill, winding our way on switchbacks until we came to the Moselle River. We enjoyed a riverside lunch.

Pfeffelbach

My sixth-great grandfather, Andreas Aulenbacker, was born in this village. He married Anna Elisabetha Riegel in Bavaria, and they immigrated to British Colonial America in 1733. They had 12 children and spent the remainder of their lives in Pennsylvania. We found evidence of Hess relatives still in and around Pfeffelbach.

Medard

Another set of eighth-great grandparents lived their lives in Medard. Johannes Schad married Anna Catharina Hinschiedt in 1673. More Hess relations around town!

We spent all week in the office entering data into the computer for the evaluation visits we did in Rome last week. Our work was interspersed with two pickleball sessions (couples on Tuesday evenings and ladies-play at 6:30 a.m. Wednesdays) and six meals with wonderful people: Nelson’s accompanied us home after pickleball on Tuesday for a simple dinner; we celebrated Sister Petersons birthday on Thursday, walked down the street for lunch with couples from the office on Friday and took Elder Muehlman to dinner that night. He came into Frankfurt for a Giving Machine meeting. We celebrated our 46^th wedding anniversary at a ward pot-luck lunch after church and at Sunday dinner with the fearsome foursome. Mullecks hosted. We are enjoying springtime in Germany! We are savoring local strawberries we buy nearby at a barn in the middle of a farmer’s field. We rode our bikes to work twice this week.