Munich, Hohenzollern Castle - June 22

Xenia’s new shoes dried out from the Salzburg downpour and she was able to wear them again today. We are very impressed with German "quality" engineering of those shoes. So now we are on our way to the Hohenzolleran Castle which is a four hour drive, first we go north to Stuttgart on the Autobahn, then South again on smaller roads to the Castledown. This is not the route a crow would fly, in fact on the map it appears we are going way, way out of our way to get there. But the rugged terrain, up and down mountainsides where these castles are located means "no cross-country", as the crow flies travel.

On the way up to the castle, the drive is supposedly long and probably boring. However, we find the scenery to be quite intriguing and we opted to make our own entertainment for the day. Steve got us started with some family history and his connection to most of the people on the trip. 


Chuck shared his experience in pursuing the Martin Baer discovery and confirmation of his origin in Betzendorf, together with identifying his parents, baptism, etc.  One could conclude that career opportunities were limited and Martin needed to find a place with bounteous opportunity so he took the America immigration route. We will definitely look forward to more details of his life experience as we expect Chuck will discover a lot of this as he continues to communicate with the pastor of the Church near Betzendorf. 


The church was obviously a very important institution in those days and now still is the center of all genealogy record keeping in this country. The cemeteries certainly do not reveal anything in most cases, because the families cannot keep paying the exorbitant cost of using the burial plot for decades and generations and even centuries. The church charged a very high fee after a period of 40-50 years at which time another family may be granted use of the burial plot, then dumping the bones or dust of the interned soul in the base of the burial plot.

For the bus ride as we continued down the road, Xenia kindly allowed us to use the bus microphone, and Ditmar tolerated our noisy conversations. 

Steve began the conversation talking about his father's Sherman Tank experience and the Battle of the Bulge which he fought in. The colorful history of the commanding officer of the Allied troops that were trapped in a small town surrounded by German soldiers was very compelling.  He shared the example of the "white flag" negotiations where the Germans expected the Americans to just lay down their arms and give up.   The response that went back was "Nuts to You" or something like that. A lot of men died in the ensuing battle, but the ALLIED Soldiers obviously prevailed.  


The account about the executions of about 100 captured soldiers at Malady was gripping as well. The Germans thought it would demoralize the Americans and keep them from pursuing the war in the huge surge that Hitler was staging. Instead it rallied the troops to vindicate their fallen buddies and perhaps ended the war for Hitler a little quicker and more decisively. We shall never forget these brave men and women for their service, their bravory and for the sacrifices they made, sometimes with the loss of their own lives.

Joan Steele Moyer came forward and shared a goodly amount of the family history that included growing up with Chuck Steele.   Chuck added to Joan's comments indicating that when he was deployed in the military to Germany in early 1950's, Joan was back in Freeborn County and had temporary privileges to use Chuck's car.   When he came home, he found that his car had "seen" a few fences but could not figure out how that happened since the brakes were still working!   We learned that Joan had been very successful in running her own business out of her home to sew and install drapery throughout the community. That meant she measured accurately, acquired the materials, sewed the curtains and then put up the curtains for a lot of  very satisfied customers.  We applaud her for a very productive and perhaps satisfying business career. She and husband, Ross seem to being enjoying their retirement in a manner that we should all strive for.

Karen Katzung talked about her own work career having been in a county or state government Treasures office  wherein she had worked diligently for many years and then she got into an election with her boss who had been a “fill in” replacement  as an incompetent political appointee. With a great deal of courage and moxy, she ran for the office of Treasurer at the next election and nearly won (she should have won cuz she desired it and could have done the job better than the political guy).     We all cheered for her courage and stamina to hang in there even with repercussions that followed.

The stories of pleasant and sometimes harsh existence back in the good old days were indeed scintillating. We need that information documented just like Chuck and Roger the genealogy specialists need that information about our ancestors. Yes we know that our German heritage has modesty and hesitancy in public speaking foremost in their list of least favorite activities, but we are family and we want to know more about each other.

Joan Moyer shared her unique history in the business world having single handedly run a drapery operation for 40 years. She found a niche in the market place wherein she was very good at providing a service that was not available anywhere else for her satisfied customers. That is, she was a specialized interior decorator of sorts who went into customer’s homes to help them measure the framework and to pick out the material which she then purchased and transformed into suitable drapes. We understood that she did all the sewing and hanging of the drapes herself and made a very good business out of it. We applaud such ingenuity and persistence in finding a livelihood that she enjoyed (we presume).  She and Ross have also found peace and happiness in their retirement, as they know how to relax and smell the roses (as some of us could learn from that as well).

Larry Katzung (with Hildy's help) provided more details about the Katsung connections and the life experience they have shared over the years. 

Again..........Please fill in these details in much the same way that you saw Steve Lindeman's life history come out on paper..........

Larry.........

Vernell came forward and talked about his military experience which was equivalent  to the Special Ops or Delta Force or comparable to Navy Seals. His sniper skills and his colorful experiences in parachute jumping and so on were very interesting to all of us.

I volunteered some information having worked with Vietnam Vets who were in highly dangerous, clandestine operations and the devastating impact of their return to civilian life.......Chilling experiences to hear about how PTSD can impact soldiers.  Of course the military experience that Vernon Baer and Don Sprenger had in WWII was equally as penetrating and they were both lucky and perhaps very tough so as not to have succumbed to "shell shock" which was the in vogue term in that era for PTSD.

We got Janice to come forward and talk about her experience as a child, being related to Steve Spenger and the connection through Clifford Dale who also fought in the European campaign and survived unscathed.   Janice was related to the Songstads. My ears perked up as I knew the Songstads very well and enjoyed some wonderful times at their farm being around Camilla, Dale and Burt.

More details Janis/...........Does she want to contribute more????

Alice Ryba finally stepped forward with some encouragement from the crowd and talked about her connection to the Sprengers in addition to details about her Marie Sprenger Heine family.


Roger stepped up to remind others about his uncle Alvin Baer.  Alvin is the brother of Milon Baer (Janan and Roger's Dad) and Adelaine Baer Sime's (Wes, Andrea and Melodee's mother).  Alvin left a legacy with his quiet, kindness. Alvin and Milon were both working to take over operations of their mother Agnes' farm after their father, Erick passed away prematurely in 1946.  But by the early 1950's, Alvin's health deteriorated because of kidney disease and he was advised to move to a more mild climate.  So Agnes, Alvin and VeeAnn moved to Oxnard, California.  Alvin never married and passed away in February 1960.    He was a significant influence to Roger even though Roger was only 4 years old when he last spent time with Alvin.

Alvin and Erick Baer picking corn in fall of '41 or '42.  Alvin was around 14 or 15 years old  

About this time, we arrived at Hohenzollern. It was a fabulous experience as we took the guided tour with a wonderful young woman who knew the history of both the Prussian faction and the Southern Swabian's of the Hohenzollern. The castle itself was wonderful to the eye. So many phenomenal historical pieces of history with the castle view and the fortress it represented.

Hohenzollern Castle in the Swabian region of south Germany

Ruth Heine and niece Emily Ryba at the gate of Hohenzollen Castle

Steve Lindeman and Roger Baer under the Hohenzollern Coat of Arms  Steve's dad Franklin Lindeman and Roger 's grandmother Agnes Lindeman are siblings

As the tour wound to a close, we initiated inquiry as to whether there was reason to believe that our ancestor Heinrick Hohenzollern who changed his family name to Klukow was related to either of  the nobility factions. Nearest we can gather is that it is likely a cousin of the Kaiser, but exactly where and what lineage is not yet known.  Fortunately we found a museum staff person with good genealogy skills (Monica Eppler, info@bug-hohenzollern.com) who may be able to help us with further research after we have left.  The Hohenzollern family was a dominant ruling family of Germany and Prussia for over 400 years.  


Earlier we asked the tour guide if others inquire about family connections to Hohenzollerns and the response was "almost every day" which shows how extensive the family branches are but we assured her that we were not seeking a portion of the family fortune--just trying to find the place in which we were linked. 

The long walk for some of the brave and able up the steep incline and for the shuttle riders as well, was very well worth it we believe.  As an aside, there was a singing group in the plaza area of the castle that wore all black long gowns and sang like a choir of angels. Wes found out they are the Phoenix Girls Choir that has been in existance for at least 40-50 years, now on tour in Germany. We followed them in Saltzburg where they performed the huge Catholic church. 

I know that we all left the Hohenzollern Castle envigorated and a little lighter in the pocket book as both Andrea and Wes (among others) loaded up on the history book and other postcards, mementos and the like for the rest of our family. A quick walk back to the bus, a trip to the water closet again and we are off for our return trip, another four hours back to Munich.

This time on the bus is one of our last opportunities to visit together as a group, so we started again with interviews and commentaries from the gallery of folks in the back of the bus.  Andrea came forward and shared a bit of her history and her immediate family, plus the transitions she has gone through because of dramatic health issues in the family.

With a great deal of encouragement, we got the sister pair of Ann and Emily to come up front and talk about their life experiences, not as extensive as the older folk, but equally as interesting and intriguing for the future.  Both very much horse lovers, Ann works in finance for IBM and Emily has an exciting career at Mayo Clinic in the DNA laboratory where she makes determinations of health risk on newborn babies among other testing.

Then we got John Perschbacher started and he talked about the farm that Joan's family grew up on. John is such a colorful guy. We all love him in his crazy inimitable way and it was so interesting to hear first hand about his history and that of his mother and father, Touching and responsive, we all were truly empathic with the plight his mother suffered with M.S. and the love that his father had for her till the end.  We know that John is on this trip partly for himself to explore his roots but also to be here vicariously for his father who could not make the trip. John is a very big teddybear at heart and we greatly appreciated his open, loving, caring expression of stuff from the past.

Tom Nass came up and shared some very interesting history of his family and his unique heritage. For example, he said that his parents, grandparents and great grand parents have all stayed in the same community that he grew up in. That is quite a remarkable phenomenon in this day and age,

Bev Baer shared other experiences of her learning how to play the harp and the healing effects it had on her and the people around her.  She explained that the vibration of the instrument while resting on her shoulder had a soothing impact on her.


Karen Steele's emotional reactions about her family were very powerful and she is to be congratulated for having the courage to take it on.  We talked extensively after the closing dinner on Saturday evening and she wanted me to share with all of you that one of the special things that she remembers about her father is that when she was rather little, he would have her hanging out or helping him in the dry cleaning business that he owned and operated. On one of the days that she was there with him, he found some pocket change in a pair of pants that he was cleaning.  She just couldn't believe it when he gave her the change from those pants.  What a huge shock for a young girl of that age?

Roger, Tom Nass and Dean Baer had some interesting ecumenical discussions about their respective religious beliefs. It was a difficult thing for some to understand but we are all more informed and hopefully have greater understanding and respective appreciation for each other's beliefs.

At the end of the bus ride back to Munich, from Hohenzolleran, Wes suggested we join in the hotel lounge for a “man-cave” experience  (a "take-off" from the man-cave, John Perschbacher has in the back half of his garage on the farm place near Albert Lea) watching the Germany –Greece soccer /football game as they battled for the quarter final match victory in the Euro Cup soccer title.  When Wes made this announcement on the bus that all the men should meet for a man-cave experience, Xenia took the microphone and announced, “Well ladies…it looks like WE are going to have to go out and do some shopping this evening—what do you think?”

Many did gather in the restaurant area (women as well as men, sorry no shopping tonight) and had a light meal and some drinks.  Germany seemed to dominate the game but won with a moderate margin of 4-2.  During the game, John talked about the Minnesota Vikings and “real football”.   We all joined in and got excited with each Germany goal.  Hey, we came to Germany cause of our German heritage; why would we not get excited for Germany?  “When in Rome, do as the Roman’s do.”

For those following the blog from afar, we are curious if you recognize anyone in the picture that you have not seen in a long, long time.  Send an Email to baerrc@msn.com or comment on the blog (I think you have to have a gmail account for the latter).

Observation:

In a side-discussion, we learned that Germany is complying with the Kyoto Treaty.  They have a goal of eliminating nuclear power by 2015 and increasing alternative sources of energy.  We are seeing fields of wind turbines and solar panels everywhere mounted on houses, barns and commercial buildings.  We even saw solar panels in a rural field (maybe where it was not so feasible to grow a crop).   The Germans are very energy conscious.  In many of the hotel rooms, our key card must be inserted into a small box by the door in order to turn on power to the room.  And of course, when you leave, you want to keep your room key with you so most of the power to the room is turned off.

Solar panels and wind turbine in and around the village of Kohlgrund, Hesson