Wiesbaden

Saturday, May 18th we drove to the town of Wiesbaden about 40 minutes from our apartment.  We just wanted to get acquainted with the town.  Gary learned they had thermal hot pools and Susan discovered that some of her ancestors were from Wiesbaden.

They had a very nice thermal pools which we may return to at a later date.  After visiting the thermal pools we put "cemeteries" into the GPS and drove to one that was close by.  This cemetery was quite different from the ones at home.  There were lots of trees and each of the grave plots was sectioned off from the others.  No grass - lots of different headstones and family plots that were well tended. It was a beautiful and a very quaint cemetery.  We are not sure which Wiesbaden cemetery to look for Susan's ancestors, but this was a nice one to visit.

The black thing with red is a bee.  A very big bee.

Church in downtown Wiesbaden

"Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfilment.  We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganised matter into our hands and told it into something of beauty."  Dieter F. Uchtdof

Nuremberg - Documentation Center Nazi Party Rally Grounds

On Saturday, May 11th, we drove to Nuremberg with Elder and Sister Davis.  It was a rainy day so it was a good day to visit a museum.  The museum explained the rise of the Nazi Party and Adolph Hitler.  This is a huge venue.  It is where the Nazi Party held their spring rallies.  The size is impressive, but the story is incredible.

Nuremberg is about a 2 hour drive from Frankfurt.  We arrived at the museum, parked at this massive building and went inside.  When we arrived it was lunch time so we had a snack at the museum, purchased our audio guide and tickets and began our tour.  All the exhibits were numbered and when you keyed that number into the audio guide, the exhibit was explained.  The tour of German history from about 1923 to the end of WWII was fascinating but also very sobering.  It was interesting that many people didn't understand or couldn't see what was happening to their country until it was too late.

After about 3 hours we finished our tour.  We all agreed that we would need to come some day and visit the court room where the Nuremberg trials occurred and see the rest of the town.

"In a world with so many competing voices, our Heavenly Father has made it possible for us to hear and follow His. David P. Homer

Mainz and the Gutenberg Museum

Saturday we drove to the town of Mainz.  It is about an hour and a half drive from Frankfurt.  It was raining, but we figured it was okay because we were going to be in a museum.

Our GPS gave us a run for our money, back and forth across the bridge.  But Elder Loftus pulled out his cell phone and asked Siri how to get to the museum.  When we arrived you could tell the city was preparing for a marathon.

The museum has two original Gutenberg Bibles from the mid 15th century.  We also learned how Gutenberg did printing in his day.  There were many displays of the history of printing, writing and book making.  The lady at the desk talked us out of the audio tour and we regretted that.  The museum was quite dark to preserve the ancient books and no pictures were allowed.  We did enjoy all the displays.

After the museum we walked across the way to the cathedral (St Martins).  When we went in we were told there were no tours due an organ concert, so we went in and sat down.  The concert was half over,  we stayed and listened to the rest.

After the concert we looked around and got some interesting pictures,  There was a room you could go down a few stairs to a crypt with the remains of the Bischof (Bishop was).  We mention this because Susan's mother;s maiden name was Bischoff and the family came from Germany.

After the cathedral we went outside to find something to eat.  Quite often on Saturdays they have markets in the walking plaza (the center of the town)   Everyone got some nourishment and we headed back home to Frankfurt.

Sparkle (white asparagus) and Strawberries are in season right now.

"I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man.  All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through the Book."   Abraham Lincoln

A Visit from Friends, John and Susan Leonard

When we served our first mission in Bosnia, we had some fantastic Area Welfare Specialists.  They were John and Susan Leonard.  They helped us so much when we were "newbies".  Whenever we had a problem (and we had plenty) all we had to do was call Frankfurt and they would offer suggestions on how to solve the problem.

I received a phone call at work one day from Susan Leonard, she told me they were in Germany and we set up a time to get together.  We chose May 1st (Labour Day).  They arrived at 10:00 and it was so exciting to see them.  They were the first couple to live in the apartment where we are now living.  We went for a walk down the street to see some things we had never seen.  We walked down the street to the home where Anne Frank lived as a young child.  There is a sign in front, we took a picture and then John who speaks excellent German translated the sign for us.

On the way Susan pointed out different markers on the sidewalk.  They were the same size as the sidewalk stones, but these markers were brass.  They had the name and date of the (Jewish) person who had lived in that home.  Later we googled these markers and learned that they are called stumble stones.  We also learned that walking over the stones, helps "shine the brass" which makes them brighter to honor the memory of those who died. Since 1992 there have been over 70,000 of these stones placed throughout Europe by a man named Gunther Demnig.  

The sign says that "She was born the 12th of June 1929 and lived with her parents and an older sister, Margot.

After we returned to our apartment we got into our car and drove to Friedridishof,  Scholsshotel Kronberg.  This castle was built by Victoria, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of England.  She was the wife of Frederick III and the mother of William II, known to the world as the Kaiser.  The castle has now been made into a hotel.  Following WWII it served as the headquarters for General Eisenhower.  We learned that they give tours and plan to return and learn more about this amazing place.  We wandered around and then walked the grounds which include a golf course and driving range.

Victoria's chair

We had a wonderful day with the Leonards.  Shortly after the Leonards left to go to another appointment we received a call from the sister missionaries.  They wanted us to go see if we could find a person they had been asked to contact.  We were not able to find the person, but we tried.

  

"One day after this terrible war will be over.  The time will come when we will people again, and not just Jews!  We can never be just Dutch, or just English, or whatever, we will always be Jews as well.  But then we will want to be."  11 April 1944 Anne Frank