Bad Arolsen, Rhoden, Eisenach, Erfurt - June 17


The sun was shining today.  And the drive through the rolling hills of rural Germany were one of a kind.  

We started our last morning in Bad Arolsen with another great Fruehstueck (breakfast) at the Residenzschloss Bad Arolsen. Many then filled up with Heilwasser (healing water) before leaving.

We then drove to Dehausen to see the Schmidt house. We were warmly greeted after a few anxious glances out the windows. After much conversation, all but Wes and John took the bus to Rhoden. They rode with Gilda in SPACIOUS comfort!

Schmidt house in Dehausen

In Rhoden we were greeted by the pastor outside the church and then treated to a special choir day celebrating 40 years of the choir’s existence. I counted 31 in the choir, about 125 attending the service, of which 25 were us Americans. We were welcomed by the very friendly lady pastor. The choir sang very nicely. The sermon stressed singing – Hildy can provide more specific details beyond that! It was preached from an elevated pulpit behind the altar. 

The pastor invited Pastor Dean to lead the Lord’s Prayer in English after she had led the German version of it. After she gave the Benediction, Dean was also asked to give it in English. At the end of the service, the choir sang a spiritual in English and then we were asked to come forward and receive a postcard of the church. After the service, we enjoyed brats, prepared by the pastor’s husband, and a beverage, even bier. I will discuss this last option with our pastor back home! The pastor’s son also was seen enjoying a brat that was almost as big as he. It took 2 hands to hold, so no bier.

Pastor's son eating a brat

Now we are on the way to Eisenach. We needed to take a rest stop along the way at a place that we are not allowed to name, per Xenia. Let’s just say it had arches of a dark yellow color.

The walk up to the Wartburg Castle was very invigorating (that’s another word for killer walk). We had a guided tour through the castle which was built by Prince Georg and Princess Elizabeth. The Festival Hall on the third floor, which had been added after the castle was completed, is used for concerts and graduations. It is very large and attractive. It was seen by King Ludwig II, who had it duplicated at Neuschwanstein Castle. A highlight of the tour was at the end, where we saw the building Martin Luther lived in during his time of exile at the Wartburg. It was here that he translated the New Testament into German. It was this German that became the language of Germany as a result of this version of the New Testament. It was also here in the study where the story of his throwing ink at the devil was started, though refuted later.

Wartburg Castle near Eisenach

We quickly went into Eisenach then for another tour where we were shown the Bach Museum and the Lutherhaus, as well as many more sites and markets in this town that had been a part of 2 active trades routes in the past. Of most interest was the smallest house in the area, 1.6 meters wide at the top, and 2.5 meters wide at the bottom. John thinks it might be as tight a squeeze to get into as a VW Golf!

We now are ready for MORE food as we travel to Erfurt and our hotel where we enjoyed a fine pork dinner, MUCH to John’s delight.

Guten Nacht und schlaft gut!

The story of John’s “spacious” travel in the little VW with Gilda is too special to pass by quickly. John and I (Wes) were without ride as the tour bus seemed to have left us behind.  The conversation between John and the farmer whom Chuck introduced us to as a descendant of the Christian Schmidt who had emigrated to USA was too compelling. He and I were both trying to get his picture taken with the family. John was impressed that this dairy farmer had 200 cows to milk every morning and night, but Mr. Schmidt was still very impressed with John’s production of 50.000 hogs fed out per year.

So back to the car ride, There was no bus  to be seen but Gilda rolled up in her little VW. Remember Steve, Chuck, Ann, Emily, Gilda and I had ridden in it to Vasbeck  three nights ago on our advance scouting trip. So I climbed into the back seat which required that the back of the seat must be folded forward and along with it the whole seat slides forward to give the back seat person lots of room to get it.  We were in a hurry to catch up to the bus on its way to the church so John was dutifully compliant about the urgency and he started to then climb into the front seat. You have to understand that John stands about 6’3” and weighs in at over 300 pounds.

We were in such a hurry that none of us remembered that we could have adjusted the seat from full forward to slide it back giving John more room. John backed in to the seat just fine, then he found a way to fold his left leg in front of him, which brought his knee very close to his chin but then  the restof his leg seemed to protrude up and over the dash. Then John still had to find a place for his right leg. There was absolutely no room for his right leg. Of course, then Gilda and I remembered the adjustment lever, but there was no way that John could reach it from his sardine-packed position, still missing one leg in the car. Somehow the lever got pulled and Gilda’s seat released sending John flying back for the necessary room he needed to “fold the right leg” into the car as well. 

John Perschbacher trying to squeeze into a VW compact car with Wes taking the shot from the back seat.

In retrospect, from the back seat I now greatly appreciate German engineering in the fact that it appeared that John was going to end up in my lap had there not been a very solid "stop" on the seat slide which prevented John from falling like an elevator down a shaft into my lap which I was certainly not prepared for. We all had a great deal of enjoyment hearing John describe his unfortunate experience. John told me later in the trip that he certainly never intended to follow me into a small German car once again.  I understand.  

Observation:  

• Although we have not met a huge number of people operating private businesses, it seems that in the more rural areas, a large percent of the proprietors we met have been family businesses with the sons or daughters taking over after their father retires:  Examples: Pestorious window and door mfg, Wittmer physical therapy office and Bruhmann's farm.
• The autobahn roads are extremely smooth--no noticeable pot holes or uneven surfaces.  One in our group had learned that the concrete on the autobahn is 14 inches thick whereas only 8 inches on the US interstate highway system.
• Germany is a world leader in alternate energy sources.  Wind turbines and both residential and commercial solar panels can be seen regularly.