The Meier's German Adventure

This is the view from the top of St. Stephan's tower. It is an impressive sight overlooking aldstadt Heidelberg (old town) and the Schloss. It was a sehr gut Volksmarch!

This was our last stop of the Volksmarch. This is the observation tower built from the ruins of St. Stephan's monastery, which dates back to the 11th century. The view from this tower offers stunning views of one of Germany's most famous castles - the Schloss Heidelberg. It was a really great Volksmarch. It took us about 2 hours to complete the walk of the Holy Mountain. Again - look closely - the kids are at the top!

After St. Michael's - we walked. And walked. And just for a little change of pace, we walked some more. The scenery was beautiful that day. There were some views from the trails of Heidelberg that were just so pretty, they looked like a postcard.

This picture was taken from the top of the tower in the last picture. The monks that lived here had a beautiful view.

The next stop along our Volksmarch was St. Michael's Monastery. Hiking up the theater's center steps brings visitors directly to the ruins of the St. Michael monastery, which dates back 1,000 years. Before monks lived atop the summit, the land was occupied by the Romans, and earlier by the Celts. Remnants of walls built by the Celts run through the nearby forest. If you look closely, you can see Scott, Kaitlyn, Jake and Grandpa looking down from the top of the tower.

Here is a picture of the same stadium during its opening ceremony - June 1935.

This is the view from the top of the stadium. It is truly a unique feeling to actually be walking in the same places that the Nazis once walked..

Another day - another adventure! Our Catholic community here in Mannheim organized a Volksmarch (hike) today in nearby Heidelberg. The walk took place on the Heligenberg - Holy Mountain - which is across the Neckar River from the city of Heidelberg. The first stop along our Volksmarch was at an original Nazi Stadium. This was built in 1935 using forced labor which has created a stigma that has left the stadium rarely used for decades. The Nazis called this stadium a "Thingstätte." In early Nazi quasi-religious Völkisch ceremony and Blut und Boden (Blood and Soil) ideology, a "Thing" was an open-air gathering of the people, harking back to old Germanic pagan gatherings. Some 1200 "Thing" sites were planned, but only about 40 were built, as the Nazi hierarchy lost interest in the "Thing" movement in 1936. Another such site that remains today is the Dietrich-Eckart-Bühne adjacent to the Berlin Olympic Stadium.

# posted by Lisa, Scott, Kaitlyn & Jake @ 1:26 AM 0 comments

The view from the tower overlooking the Weinstrasse Pfaltz - the beautiful vineyards, was really pretty. After we finished discovering the castle, we all climbed into the truck and drove along the Weinstrasse. We stopped in the town of Weisenheim at a great restaurant and Weinprobierstube (a store to try/buy wine)! The lunch, of course, was delicious. After we finished, mom and I went into the wine studio to sample some of their finest selections! Again - delicious! It was really fun trying different varieties of wine and chatting with some of the Germans at the bar. It was a wonderful day and it was great to be able to share some German culture with Mom and Dad!

This is the view of the castle from the main entrance.

We have visitors! And there was no rest for the weary. Mom and Dad arrived in Germany yesterday and today we were of to explore some more of the Deutsche Weinstrasse - which explains why we did the PDSS last week! We started the day off with another castle - the castle of Neuleiningen ( Burgdorf Neuleiningen). This castle was built between the years 1238 and 1241 a.d. by count Friedrich III. It served as a checkpoint into the valley. Unfortunately, this castle was also destroyed and burned by the French in 1690. What remains is still very impressive with the massive round towers that rest at the corners of the castle.

November 6, 2004

November 6, 2004

Today we went to do a "predeployment sight survey" of the Deutsche Weinstrasse (German Wine Road) with our neighbors - the Hicks'. The Weinstrasse is about 30 minutes away. The Wine Road is about 100 kilometers long passes through about 20 towns and encompasses some of Germany's best wine country and prettiest scenery. It cuts through the foothills of the Palatinate Forest off the west bank of the Rhine river with nearly every town offering something unique about it - a castle there, a canal there, and old monastery around the corner. But what makes this road so special - besides the wine - is the scenery the vineyards embracing all the small hills makes for a truly pretty drive. On this day, we stopped a few times along the road to sample some local "flavor". We even stumbled upon an old castle that sits above the town of Wachenheim. The castle is called Wachtenburg and was really fun to find and climb! It is about 800 years old and has an amazing view.

Inside view of the windows.

Part of the old medieval wall.

We had some of our Ft. Leavenworth friends that are now stationed in Stuttgart, Germany come visit us for a weekend! We decided to visit nearby Worms with the Andersons for the day. Worms is another ancient city that traces its beginnings to the earliest civilizations. Before the Romans settled here, Germanic peoples had made Worms their capital. This is where Siegfried began his legendary adventures slaying the dragons. The town's most famous visitor, Martin Luther, arrived under less desirable circumstances. With his grievances known against the Church of Rome, he was declared an outlaw. Now with Worms being mainly Protestant, they have a huge monument to Luther. The pictures I included are of the majestic Dom St. Peter which towers both physically and historically above the city. The oldest section dates back to 1132 ad. The interior has a quiet elegance and beautiful stained glass windows. The allstadt, old city, also has a part of the original medieval wall still standing in the town. It was a really fun day and great to spend it with some friends!