Erfurt, Nuremberg, Betzdorf & Ingolstadt - June 19


Today was one of uncertainty, joy and soberness.  The plan was to travel from Erfurt to Nuremberg and be introduced to the market square and sights near the market.  A small contingent of "Baers" planned a 2 hour excursion to Betzdorf between Nuremberg and Ansbach to find family history connections where Martin Baer was reportedly born.  Finally we would travel to our next overnight stay in Ingolstadt.


The trip between Erfurt and Nuremberg was around 3 hours with a stop at a convenient stopping point at another of the undisclosed restaurant which does not meet our tour company's standards but does have a good sized parking areas.  The driver is not allowed to drive for more than 2 hours without a stop for a break.


Again the country side had a diverse topography between the locations.  The economy in Germany appears healthy, infrastructure is well maintained and people are engaged with employment.  A variety of grains and some corn and hay have a healthy stand in the fields at this time in June.


Throughout Germany's rural areas, in the middle of a farm field, we would occasionally see a deer blind where hunters (probably the owner of the land only) could hunt for the four-legged creatures.  It is not easy to get a license for hunting here and it is reported to be very costly by comparison to the USA.


We drove through several tunnels on the autobahn and then over many massive bridges on the way.  One tunnel was 8 km long (approx 5 miles).  Although we traveled through an area with tall rolling hills, the bridges and tunnels efficiently "leveled" the path to Nuremberg (shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line--you know that one).


Upon arrival in Nuremberg (in the west German state of Bayern or Baveria), we went immediately to the market square just in time to watch the noon "performance" of the glockenspiel on the St Lorenz Church.  


         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_zcrvbm9Lk


Xenia gave us a 30 minute walking tour around the market.  In the center of the square was what US people would call a "farmers market" which included an abundance of produce and breads.  One specialty of some vendors there is gingerbread.  Can't say I have ever had anything like their gingerbread.  St. Lorenz Church stands on one side of the square and shops and restaurants of all types surround the square on the other three sides.  Lots of visitors to the square especially during the noon hour.

Glockenspiel on the St Lorenz Church in Nuremberg

Ancient bridge near the Market Square in Nuremberg

While most of the group stayed to shop at Market Square, a few Baer family members took off to explore another country side village to see if we could find records or any information about Martin Baer's origin.  Through efforts by the late Adelaine Baer Sime, we were led to believe that Martin was born in Betzendorf, Germany on 27 May 1858. But we did not have a source.  Chuck asked a few of us before we left, "Are you ready for disappointment or excitement?"  How true it was that we could come up with a dead end easily.

Not much is known about him before coming to the US in 1883 or 1885. He has not been found on any ship’s record. He is first found on the May 1885 census of Pickerel Lake Township with the Foster family. This side trip’s mission was to verify those rumors and to gather his birth records and the records of his family.

Martin Baer married Elise Sprenger in 26 May 1890. They had five children. John, George, Frieda, Erick. Nettie, and Martin. This is the connection that brought Steve Sprenger into direct lineage connection with Andrea, Wes, Roger and others in the Baer family from Mansfield, MN.

Betzendorf is located 20 KM west of Nuremburg on route AN24. It’s a small farming village of about 100 people. We drove there in quiet anticipation.

The group en route to Betzendorf included Wes and Andrea Sime, John Perschbacher, Dean and Bev Baer, Chuck and Karen Steele, Roger Baer, Joan and Ross Moyer, and Steve Sprenger.

As we got closer to Betzendorf, the roads became very narrow, only about a single lane, but Bus Driver, Ditmar, the Master of Disaster he calls himself,  maneuvered the lanes just fine. We arrived in Betzendorf and within seconds were through the town and almost in the open road once again. Then we spotted a farmer on a tractor up a short farm lane.

One "farm" site within the village of Betzendorf 

The driver, Ditmar, slowly backed up preparing to turn around and we spotted a tractor once again. Wes, Andrea and Chuck jumped off the bus quickly and proceeded to find the farmer, but he disappeared behind the buildings. Wes was the bold one in the group and encouraged us to just knock on doors of the house until we find someone knowing that this would not be an easy search mission. Soon a woman came out. 


Then Xenia joined us and we proceeded to determine whether there were any Baer's or Bahr’s in the village. She did not know any. She called her husband over and he was not aware of any Bahr’s either. Chuck then asked where the people of Betzendorf would go to church. The woman indicated Burglein which was 2 km away. Walking back to the bus, Chuck talked to the son of the farmer and he indicated that there was a Baer in the school in Grosshabersdorf. So we had connections in three different towns supposedly linked to Martin Baer. But it was a toss up as to which trail to follow as we had precious little time before the bus would have to leave on schedule to return on the plotted trip schedule. 

Each of these small villages are a consolidation of many farmers' houses and barns in one large building site.  Farmers drive their equipment from the village out to the fields nearby. There were no businesses or churches or schools in Betzendorf, our primary target location.

Upon Chuck's rather urgent insistence, the group proceeded to Burglein and ultimately found the church. A lady at the house next to the church directed him and a few others to the parsonage and there they rang the doorbell. Xenia determined that the pastor was there (apparently almost waiting to see us). Pastor Herm Geruiert greeted us and invited us in. Chuck and Roger explained, using Xenia as the interpreter, that Martin Baer was the Great Grandfather of a number of us in the group and that he was born in Betzendorf. Meanwhile Steve, Wes and a couple of others were following another lead that resulted in getting a local telephone book which features Baer's in surrounding towns, but no direct clues to Martin Baer. 

Lutheran Church in Burglein Germany where Martin Baer was baptized

The pastor went to his library and pulled out a church record book and he found the record for Johann Martin Baer. We were flabbergasted that Martin was born with the name “Baer” after using a number of other spellings Bahr, Bar, Bear in subsequent records of confirmation, marriage, etc. Also in the record were Johann Martin’s parents. Then the pastor went to get another church record book and found the Grandparents names of Johann Martin Baer.  The records verified that the Baer’s were from Betzendorf.  We all took pictures of the records.

Baptism Record of Martin Baer at the church in Burglein Germany

In the meantime, Wes, Steve and Andrea were scouting the town for other "living" Baer’s, as possible descendants of the Martin Baer. We felt good having the phone book for nearby towns around that had Bar’s and Baer’s in them. So unfortunately, they did not see the record books that Chuck and Roger found. Chuck exchanged address information with the pastor and asked if he would be interested in the family record when updated. The pastor indicated that he would be. We were all thankful for Xenia’s help with the interpretation.  With a sigh of relief we hustled back to the bus feeling very pleased that Chuck pursued this search as diligently as he had. 

For Chuck this was the needle in the haystack that he has been searching for, over the last 25 years.  After getting back on the main roads and eventually returning to Nuremburg, the bus driver, Ditmar, indicated that this was his first experience navigating such narrow farm roads. He did a tremendous job which we greatly appreciated.  

The Baer explorers once again met up with those in Nuremberg.  Some had been busy visiting the church at Market Square and a nearby castle one of many earlier and those to follow.
  
Our next destination was the Zeppelin Platz field in Nuremberg, the location of the Adolf Hitler's political rallies.  Part of the original structure is still standing including the pedestal upon which Hitler would address those attending.  This was the sobering moment for the day.  Although some in our group had their pictures taken at the platform, none felt comfortable to remain there for long. There was no desire to gratify the ambitions of the Nazi movement; even though we know it's promoter has gone back to dust, we must be on guard against any other such misguided leader. 


Xenia told us there is a law against making the Nazi salute in Germany and especially on these historic grounds, not the least upon this platform. The penalty for making the Nazi stiff armed salute could be 5000 Euros and potentially prison time.  The Germans are extremely sensitive to the Nazi history and make it known that such behavior will not be tolerated.  As an even more poignant example, Xenia pointed out that on one of her previous tours, a foolish member of her group made the Nazi solute.  A passerby on a bicycle saw the act, got off his bike, rush up the stairs to the platform where the stupid visitor had made this despicable gesture and took the matter into his own hands.  Xenia spent the next few hours in the hospital helping the foolish tourist get medical care.

Hilter speaking in 1933 at a rally at Zeppelin Platz in Nuremberg 

Xenia asked us, "Would it be possible in our generation for a Hitler type personality to bring about a similar movement."  This made us all ponder.  But we agreed and Xenia confirmed that it is possible to repeat history in such a devastating and distasteful manner.  But we all left there firmly committed to making sure that it would never happen again in our lifetime, if possible. Such atrocities to be seen soon at Dachow and other concentration camps simply reminds us of the sadness, destruction and turmoil of World War II.


On the bus again, we traveled to Ingolstandt for our next hotel stay. We got a text from Janan that she arrived at LAX right on schedule and that she was not suffering the jet lag problem so much so on her return trip.  We are all relieved to hear that good news. Annie had arrived back in Ingolstandt by train from Frankfurt about the same time we arrived by bus.