It happened again. Although we enjoyed the many scenic views and historical sights in Germany during our thirty-one days there, the most memorable aspects of our trip were the people we met. These encounters ranged from a chat with a German who had become a POW shortly after the Normandy invasion and spent some time in Denver, to the weekend spent with the Curland family who are relatives on my mother's side of the family and whose existence we were not aware of until 1992. Other encounters ranged from a bus driver who volunteered helpful suggestions when he learned who we were and what we were trying to do, to the many folks who stopped us on the street and on the train to ask directions. Yet others ranged from the ultimate in courtesy and tact we encountered in dealing with folks there, to the vitriolic speech from a middle-aged man in the Munich train station directed seemingly without reason (toward me, I thought at first) toward a dark-skinned man walking directly behind me.

Below is a brief diary, recorded as the days passed.

Day 1:
First trauma of the trip: the large pictures and frames that we are planning to give the Curlands made our second suitcase too large for the plane from Chicago to Frankfurt and made it necessary to hand carry the picture frames on the planes from Chicago to Frankfurt to Munich - I was not about to check luggage containing glass. Trauma #2: We got caught in the rain as we walked thirty minutes from the train station to our apartment in Ismaning, since no one was at the station to meet us as promised. Trauma #3: Landlord was not home when we arrived. We waited outside almost two hours until a permanent tenant of the building returned home, learned of the situation, let us into our apartment and took me to a nearby grocery store. The landlord arrived about 11 p.m. He had thought we were arriving the next day.

Day 2, Wednesday, June 16, 1993
We bought fresh-baked breakfast rolls at a bakery we passed on the way to the Ismaning train station. Visited Marienplatz in Munich to hear the Glockenspiel, bought fresh strawberries from a street vendor, shopped at a Woolworth store (among others) between Marienplatz and Karlsplatz. Our landlord took us out this evening to a Greek beer garden as part of an evening stroll through Ismaning. The Mezzomix tasted great.

Day 3, Thursday, June 17, 1993
While Celia stayed in the apartment, I dodged rain drops to take a mathematics research paper that Ed Andalafte and I had just completed to an editor of the Journal of Geometry at the Technische Universität München. With a little bad luck (there was some confusion with directions since there is more than one university in Munich) and a lot of good luck (offices were closed in the part of the university I was directed to, but I found a faculty member who knew in what part of Munich the department I was seeking was located and gave good directions). Mission accomplished. Celia and I spent the afternoon at the Schatzkammer at the Residenz north of Marienplatz-never saw so many jewels in one afternoon. Were stopped by a passerby on a street in Ismaning and asked for directions to the Bahnhof (train station). We must have looked as if we knew where we were going.

Day 4, Friday, June 18, 1993
Travelled to Füßen and saw Neuschwanstein (the"Disney" castle built by King Ludwig II). A first for us: got on a train at the Munich main train station that was scheduled to leave, but didn't; were told by train personnel of another train on another track going to the same place, but some minutes later. It reminded me of some similar airline experiences.

Encountered a family of noisy Americans who compensated for their lack of German vocabulary when talking to railway personnel by talking louder in English.

Day 5, Saturday, June 19, 1993
The trip to Regenburg was on a spacious IR (InterRegio) train - our first time this trip traveling in a First Class compartment. Saw old Roman wall segments dating from the second century, saw bridge across the Danube that is the oldest vehicular stone bridge still in use (circa 1150) and bought fruit at a street market along the Danube. Found a book store with goodies: map of location of all railway stations in Germany, and a harmonica book with many songs with words in German and English. (Celia was singly softly, "How many miles must a man walk on, ...." in the virtually empty train car on the way back to Munich. She remarked that she could now sing, "Are you sleeping, Brother John?" in four languages.

Learned that our grocery store closes at 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays and is closed all day Sundays.

Day 6, Sunday, June 20, 1993
Visited Glyptothek and Propyläen in Munich, copies of Greek architecture in central Munich. Visited a huge art museum, Alte Pinakothek and spent some time at the English Garden - heard a German band playing at the Chinese Pagoda in the English Garden.

In the afternoon, we experienced a giant street market with booths for food, curios, crafts, entertainment extending out several blocks out of Marienplatz in all directions.

Day 7, Monday, June 21, 1993
A day at home. Trip to the grocery store in the morning with four bags of groceries to carry home; trip to the Post Office to call Salzburg to make reservations for the Sound of Music tour there on Wednesday; read books on the history of Munich and of Bavaria; Celia was reading a book by Bettelheim, "The Children of the Dream", a book about communal child rearing and education in a Jewish kibbutz.

Day 8, Tuesday, June 22, 1993
Got breakfast rolls again at bakery on way to railway station - getting to be a habit. Travelled to Ulm: tallest steeple in the world, Ulm museum, 14th century town hall with elegant clock and painting on outside wall, leaning tower(a former prison)that leans 6 feet out of vertical, Fischkasten fountain build in 1482. We followed a bunch of school children out on a field trip to Ulm, seeing some of the same things we were.

Travelled back toward Munich to Augsberg. Saw the Fugger House, home of one of the world's wealthiest families in the early sixteenth century. Visited a Roman museum with an impressive collection of human-made artifacts. Visited the Fuggerei, the world's oldest public housing development, begun in 1519 through the efforts and money of the Fugger family.

Looking toward our trip to Westerkappeln Friday - learned some trains take six hours, ten minutes to make the trip from Munich to Osnabrück while other take close to nine hours.

Day 9, Wednesday, June 23, 1993
Rainy morning - caught ride with Herr Hübner to train station. He asked for my help tomorrow in composing a letter in English concerning an American who owed him some money. Made trip to Salzburg, Austria and took the four-hour Sound of Music tour in the afternoon from 2 - 6 p.m. Commentary was given in English. Returned home after 9 p.m. It was neat to recall scenes of the movie and see places it was filmed. Took more pictures than any other day.

Day 10, Thursday, June 24, 1993
Leisurely start for the day - to the main Munich railway station by 10 a.m. to reserve two seats on the ICE train to Hannover tomorrow, on the way to Osnabrück. Visited the toy museum near Marienplatz and shopped in nearby stores. We watched a soap box orator standing on a statue at Marienplatz - his speech was terminated by the arrival of police and his arrest. Ate our brown-bag lunch at a vest-pocket park (Rindermarkt) a short distance from Marienplatz. Walked to see Feldherrnhalle, statues in a "Hall" honoring German field marshals of the nineteenth century, then another hour of shopping.

Upon arrival at Ismaning train station, decided to use city bus to try to get closer to our apartment. Successful - walking time cut by more than one-half.

Day 11, Friday, June 25, 1993
Arose early to catch ICE train at Munich by 8 a.m. Found Städteverbindungen book (railway timetables) in a bookstore in Hannover; had looked in a number of places so far without success. Met at Osnabrück railway station by Günter and Friedhelm. Went to supper at Fritz and Wilmas with Günter and Friedhelm- ate out on their patio. Got back to Günter and Friedhelms about 11 p.m. after lots of discussion, including politics in Germany and the United States.

Day 12, Saturday, June 26, 1993
Went for a ride with Günter after a leisurely breakfast, doing some shopping and sight-seeing in Techlenburg. Then a visit to Günters "ice-cream friend" in Mettigen for a huge snack. Back to Günter and Friedhelms where we helped Günter translate English terminology in a U. S. atlas given them by Alice Molitor. After supper at Günter and Friedhelms we were invited to the Thies home for "coffee". After we had cake, drinks and coffee, Fritz and Else Redeker joined the group (more "coffee"). Lots of reminiscing of the visits made by Americans in Westerkappeln and the visit of some of the Westerkappelners to the U. S. to visit us. More discussion of German politics and economics, with the evening ending after 11 p.m.

Day 13, Sunday, June 27, 1993
Nice late snooze on a Sunday morning, up in time for breakfast and to church with Günter and Friedhelm by 11 a.m. (the four of us increased the attendance by 40%). A very meaningful worship service. Then to Fritz and Wilmas for the noon meal, including a long chatty visit afterwards, which included an interruption by a questionable-looking motorcyclist with alleged vehicle problems. The six of us went to Günter and Friedhelms for a walk in the neighborhood at 3:30 p.m. Back to Günter and Friedhelms for "coffee" by 5 p.m. Back to Fritz and Wilmas by 7 p.m. Then a visit to nearby towns to see the sights (back roads, scenery, spas with huge structures designed to move salt water vapor into the atmosphere). One fun time occurred about 9 p.m. when for about twenty minutes, after walking for a while in a town, none of us were sure of the direction to go to find our parked car. Back home to Günter and Friedhelms about midnight for an ice cream snack.

Day 14, Monday, June 28, 1993
Günter and Friedhelm took us to the train station by way of Fritz and Wilmas to say our goodbyes. A bag of fruit from Günter and Friedhelm served as part of our lunch on the train back to Munich. Goodbyes at the train were warm and cordial, as among good friends, not as emotional in 1991 when we thought it might be the last visit, nor as frigidly cold weatherwise as in January of this year. Fast trip across practically all of Germany from the north-west to the south-east, arriving in Munich in time to go to the grocery store. A visit from the landlord, rescheduling time tomorrow to discuss composing letter regarding a bad check from a former tenant.

Day 15, Tuesday, June 29, 1993
On the way to the train station, we picked up our pictures at a drug store along the way, where we had left some film for developing-we were very happy with them. On to Oberammergau for the day. Beautiful scenery in the foothills of the Alps, including a ride on a "local" train. The rail line ended at Oberammergau. Ate our take-along lunch at a mini-park in town-had leisurely self-guided tour of the Passion Play theater where performances are given every ten years. Did some successful shopping before returning to Ismaning. Brief meeting with Herr Hübner about the dunning letter.

Day 16, Wednesday, June 30, 1993
Visited the Deutsches Museum from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Covered only a small part (ships, power machinery, railways, autos, and aeronautics) since this museum of science has thirteen acres of floor space. Visited the Frauenkirche, shopped, watched street performers at Marienplatz, including an oriental quintet in "native" attire. (one of their selections - Santa Lucia).

Day 17, Thursday, July 1, 1993
Landlord dropped us off this morning at Englschalking, a neighboring commuter train stop. Left Munich for Garmisch-Partenkirchen at 9 a.m. The platform was jammed with senior citizen and school groups, as well as run-of-the-mill folks like us, all leaving on the same train. Celia and I were lucky to be able to sit together. At Garmisch-Partenkirchen we were able to get a ride on a train going up to the Zugspitze after a thirty minute wait. The cog-rail train was also jammed with people wanting to ascend Germany's highest peak- a one and a half hour ride from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to the cold, snowy summit. The return to Munich, then the commuter train to Ismaning, bus ride from the Ismaning train station, and a brief visit to the grocery store were almost routine.

Day 18, Friday, July 2, 1993
Today we visited Oberammergau a second time, this time to take a local bus from that town and visit another of Kind Ludwig II's castles, Linderhof. Trains were less crowded than the last time. We seem to get asked for directions every day, sometimes in German, sometimes in English- today in English at the Munich main train station(Hauptbahnhof) by a young man from Ireland who needed to know which S-Bahn (commuter train) to take to get to the airport. An interesting incident: on the way from Munich to Ismaning, two policemen got on at one stop, eyeballed everyone as they walked the length of that car, got off at the next stop, and boarded the next rail car ahead, presumably to continue their work.

Herr Hübner came down with his portable phone about 9 p.m., with a long distance phone call for us from the Curlands, who we had planned to visit next week. We need to visit them this weekend, instead, so we will leave early tomorrow morning for Dettum.

Day 19, Saturday, July 3, 1993
Celia and I both awoke at 3:30 a.m., bright eyed and bushy-tailed, left to walk to the Ismaning Bahnhof before 4:30 and took the 6 a.m. train out of Munich, after calling Dettum to let the relatives know when to expect us, and after calling Pastor Jones in the U.S. to let him know of the plans, since we had arranged to have a phone conversation between the "Familie Paul" descendants in Germany with those in America on the Sunday evening of our visit in Dettum. Arrived in Braunschweig by noon and were met at the station by Erich Curland and his daughter, Catharina. We were taken to their farm home in the town of Dettum and then given a tour of the various farm buildings. I lost track of just how many tractors, grain bins, dryers, and machine sheds we saw. As we went from building to building he showed us the "projects" he was in the middle of: a new grain drying facility involving concrete work and steel I-beams he was doing "on his own, drying facilities for a multi-thousand bushel facility, a "new" cargo wagon he had bought and was refurbishing for hauling grain out of the field; a 6-bottom and a 5-bottom plow he now seldom used, four 1500 gallon tanks he had just purchased from a brewery and was planning to use in spraying of his crops.

By this time, Erich's 74 year old mother Hildegard had ridden over from her house by bicycle so we went in the house and chatted, presented our gifts, engaged in more talk about family relationships. Then time for "coffee". After we had finished all the cake and the drinks, Hildegard left for her house for a nap while Erich took Celia and me for a tour of his fields outside of town - primarily in sugar beets and small grains. One field he showed us contained an experimental crop, 2000 plants for which he had paid two marks each, and which were supposed to, when mature, be saleable as fuel for heating. He talked about government regulation, such as needing to leave 15% in conserving (unharvested) acres (hectares). He described the need for soil tests - each field in beets is tested each year. His farm office is comlete with computer and fax machine. He received soil tests results by fax while we were there.

More visiting before supper, then an after supper visit to a nearby town, Wolfenbüttel. We walked around in down town Wolfenbüttel, seeing many half-timbered buildings, so typical of this area of Germany. After returning to their home about 11 p.m., collapsed into bed for a sound nights sleep.

Day 20, Sunday, July 4, 1993
Erich and his dog, Olga, had already left for a scheduled dog training school session. After breakfast, Dorla and Nina took us for a drive across the former border between East Germany and West Germany(a few miles outside Dettum) to explore the town of Osterwieck. It showed signs of the renovation taking place throughout all of the former East Germany now and of the amount of renovation still needing to be done. We had a chance to walk the cobblestone streets and get a close look at the houses and businesses. Dorla described how the store windows used to be empty and how the roads connecting the small towns across the border had not been solid asphalt but rather three strips of paving just wide enough for the tires. It was pleasant to see how carefully some of the older, venerable buildings were being renovated, despite the cost. Upon returning to Dettum, had lunch, along with Erich, who had returned.

Arrangements had been made to visit Hildegard's cousin Irmgard (Paul) Voss and her husband in Pattensen for "coffee". After traveling through numerous small villages perhaps 3 miles apart, we arrived in Pattensen and were warmly greeted by Irmgard and her husband Gustav. Were immediately seated and served the coffee and several varieties of cake, some with whipped cream, some without, some with fresh strawberries, some without. There was lots of discussion about family, sports, farming, the volunteer fireman award received by Gustav. There was lots of other small talk in a very gemütlich atmosphere. Soon Gustav and Irmgard's daughter joined the group and later their grandson and his wife with their daughter Jasmin, Irmgard's great-granddaughter.

Irmgard showed us documents verifying that her Great-grandfather Johann Friedrich Ludwig Paul (born 2 Nov 1821) was the son of Heinrich Jacob Paul and Anne Sophie Friederichs. Since we have documents verifying that this same couple were the parents of my great-grandfather Johann Heinrich Christian Paul (born 4 Mar 1804), the official tie between the Paul descendants in Germany and those in America was in that moment confirmed. A toast was offered in honor of the event. More gemütlichkeit followed, but with the need to leave Pattensen drawing near because of pre-arrangements with Devin & Marilyn Jones and Kenneth & Sidonia Paul to have a transatlantic call in the evening involving the Paul family descendants in America (living in the home-place of the first Paul of our branch who emigrated to America) and the Paul family descendants in Germany. We said our goodbyes, took some pictures in honor of the occasion and left to return to Dettum.

We arrived a bit late, but the Paul descendants in America were still waiting. The Curlands have a speaker-phone so while Erich, Hildegard, Dorla, Nina and I took turns talking to Sidonia, Kenneth, Nelson, Marilyn and Pastor Jones, we in Dettum were able to hear both sides of all conversations. We declared it a fantastic success, although we learned that the Brunswick Platt is not the same as the Westerkappeln Platt dialect.

We felt that we had been successful in building a bridge - a bridge of communication among relatives who had had no communication for the past forty-five years, and perhaps little in the previous century.

Erich asked us to stay until Monday afternoon rather than leaving the first thing in the morning as we had planned. We agreed, since our schedule was flexible.

Day 21, Monday, July 5, 1993
After our breakfast, Celia and I visited with Hildegard in her home, chatted about family, ate cherries from her trees that she had picked for us to eat, and looked at some of her collection of family pictures. We looked at pictures of her trip to Canada twenty years ago ("..als ich noch jung und schön war...") and pictures of the trip Erich and Dorla and family made to Canada in 1992. We also got names and dates of birth of family members in the Paul clan that no one in the younger generation knew.

Then lunch at the Erich Curlands, (potato pancakes with applesauce), then goodbyes to the children Nina and Albrecht, then to the station where we said our heartfelt goodbyes to Erich and Dorla. Dorla had said it was amazing that people who had not known each other at all could have had such a great weekend. We couldn't have said it better!

The trip to Munich lasted seven hours instead of six hours because (for the first time in all our rail travel in Europe) at Göttigen the train was delayed fifty minutes while repairs/adjustments were made to the train. We arrived in our apartment in Ismaning later in the evening than ever before, and to bed shortly before midnight, feeling very satisfied with the weekend.

Day 22, Tuesday, July 6, 1993
Off, via the S-Bahn and then the U-Bahn(subway) to see the Olympic grounds in northern Munich, including the Olympic tower, lake, Swimming "Halle" and other buildings.

Interesting incident: While eating lunch at Marianplatz we saw the man whom the police had arrested there twelve days ago and who was apparently still soliciting followers to his "cause".

Then on to the Theresianwiese, acres of space in the middle of the city where the annual Oktoberfest is held. Along the edge of these grounds is a Hall of Fame (Rumshalle) with statues of famous Germans while in front of the hall is a large statue of Therese, erected in her honor in 1810 when she became the bride of Crown Prince Ludwig.

Near Theresianwiese we came across two other memorials, one to victims of a bomb attack and one to honor the men of a particular tank battalion in the German army in World War I.

Day 23, Wednesday, July 7, 1993
After some good experiences with train and bus connections, and being able, in a fashion, to handle the German required, we decided to spend the day going to Herbstein. While not in our preliminary plans for our Germany trip, the idea appealed to us since this is where some of the Staubachs came from on Celia's Dad's side of our family, but an area in which the Staubach line had virtually if not completely died out. This meant three hours on a train from Munich to Fulda, thirty minutes on a "local" train from Fulda to Lauterbach, and then taking a bus six miles to Herbstein. The bus ride to Herbstein included a bus stop named "Herbsteinvogelberg" (Herbstein bird mountain), which was appropriately named. After getting off at the Hessian Street bus stop, we were able, in the next two and a half hours, to locate the names and addresses and phone numbers of some 60+ Staubachs living in the area. Taking the second last bus out of Herbstein and then the first available trains out of Lauterbach and Fulda, respectively, we arrived at the Munich Hbf. by 9 p.m. and home by a bit before 10 p.m., feeling successful in our day's excursion.

Day 24, Thursday, July 8, 1993
The morning was spent visiting the Nyphenburg Palace and surrounding park, including tours of both the palace and the hunting lodge. A leisurely afternoon was spent at Lake Starnberg (where King Ludwig II was found dead under mysterious circumstances). We strolled the seaside promenade, doing some shopping there as well as in the adjacent small town. On the way home on the S-Bahn, met and chatted with a high school student from Milwaukee who was one of a group of ten from his German class visiting Germany and staying with a host family. His host family also lived in Ismaning.

Day 25, Friday, July 9, 1993
Travelled to Prien to visit another castle associated with King Ludwig II, Herrenchiemsee. This was his most costly building project, to be a "New Versailles", a tribute to the Sun King, Louis XIV of France. Visited a nearby island, Fraueninsel, on which a Benedictine nunnery was founded in 782. While waiting on the beach for the steam-powered train to take us back to the regular train station, we struck up a conversation with a neighboring couple. He had served in World War II in the German army, been taken as a POW shortly after the Normandy invasion and spent some time in the Denver, Colorado area until after the war.

Day 26, Saturday, July 10, 1993
It was a day of odds and ends. First to the Munich Hbf. to get cash, then to the photo store to pick up our prints, then to the Deutsches Museum for our main tourist event of the day, doing another floor and a half of that large museum of technology. Got caught in a shower at Marienplatz, so did a bit of shopping there. While waiting for the S-Bahn to return to Ismaning, we were asked for directions to a suburb of Munich by a woman whose semi-invalid husband had travelled with her from Cologne to take a set of experimental injections from a medical professor in that Munich suburb to slow down the fatal progression of his illness.

Day 27, Sunday, July 11, 1993
Lots of rain today so decided to wait it out and enjoy a leisurely day at home. Read books, resorted our trip materials, found a book we thought we had unintentionally left behind in Dettum, cleaned up leftover food in anticipation of cleaning out our refrigerator by Thursday morning. We re-looked at the four rolls of film we had developed and re-lived some of the moments those pictures recalled in our trip thus far.

Day 28, Monday, July 12, 1993
Visited Innsbruck, Austria. Saw the building with the roof with the 2657 gilded tiles built by Emperor Maximilian in the fifteenth century. Had lunch at an outdoor cafe in the plaza there. Saw an impressive museum, the Tiroler Volkunstmuseum, with its collection of items used by common folk from the Middle Ages through this century. Sporadic rain throughout the day.

Day 29, Tuesday, July 13, 1993
We saw the most dramatic, stark scenery of our trip as we took a train to Berchtesgaden, then a local bus to Obersalzburg, then a special bus a number of miles on a one-way narrow, paved road up the mountain side to Hitler's "Eagles Nest" retreat, which has been preserved as an exhibit. Ice was clinging to the grass and tables at the outdoor restaurant there.

Day 30, Wednesday, July 14, 1993
Today was a day of getting ready to leave. First to the bank, to get German money to be able to pay the month's rent, then to the post office for some stamps, then to Munich to Marienplatz and Karlsplatz for some last minute shopping. After lunch at our favorite park (Rindermarkt Platz) near Marienplatz, we took the S-Bahn to the Hauptbahnhof and walked to a spot of Goethe Street so I could get a picture of Celia at that street sign (Goethe wrote a poem about the Staubbach Falls in Switzerland). Then on the S-Bahn to the Johanneskirchen station for a picture (the name reminded us of our St. John's Church). With all our planned errands accomplished at an early hour, we decided to take advantage of our rail pass and visit the airport for a dress rehearsal of tomorrow morning. After that, an early supper finished the essential leftovers in the refrigerator, and after paying our rent, we were virtually packed and ready to go by 8 p.m.

Day 31, Thursday, July 15, 1993
Up by 5 a.m., had breakfast, finished packing with lots of time to spare before we were to catch a ride with Herr Hübner at 7 a.m. After saying our goodbyes at the Ismaning train station, the ride by S-Bahn to the airport, then to Frankfurt and then to Chicago proved uneventful.

While waiting for our plane to arrive in Chicago to take us to St. Louis, we chatted with a young American couple who spoke Polish to each other and whose lively young one and a half year old son was keeping them running. We talked about the wall, the current conditions in Poland, in Germany, the advantages of children speaking more than one language, and the prospects of our children in the future. They were returning home to the U. S. after visiting Poland so that the grandparents could see the grandson.

Tim was waiting for us at the gate when we arrived in St. Louis.

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