Germany 2023 (Part 4 - Kehrig History Pilgrimage)

Previous Germany 2023 Posts

Part 1 - Cologne / Koln

Part 2 - Trier

Part 3 - Koblenz

A big impetus of joining Chrissy on her work trip was to show Sophia and Josie some of their family history. My grandparents on my Fathers side emigrated to Canada from the Eifel area of Germany in 1926. In 1993 I was fortunate to join my parents and two older brothers to see first hand some of our family history and in many ways I planned to re-trace my previous trip with my kids to Mayen, Luxen, Weiler and the town of Kehrig. 

Mayen

As the largest town within the area Grandpa would often refer to Mayen as a beautiful town that his family would sometime visit. Through my youth we had a commemorative metal plate of Mayen that was displayed in the house showing the Rathaus and I have vivid memories of a postcard of a church with a twisted steeple. Seeing the steeple in 1993 has always stayed with me so I was excited to once again visit the town. 

We arrived around the town square and just started walking eventually finding a cool recreated medieval wall to walk on. 

Herz Jesu Kirche

With no real destination in mind we wandered until one of the girls complained that they needed to pee.  This is a pretty common occurrence for us so our spidey senses instinctively knew where to find facilities. However, we didn't expect the facilities we found to lead us to a museum and mine that could be toured: Genovevaburg & Eifel Museum. Each floor of the museum presented a different aspect of the area 

Sixteen metres below the museum is a 340-metre-long labyrinth of tunnels providing vivid information about the work and everyday life of the slate miners. Super cool!

After the museum and mine tour we were off to find lunch. We wandered into the main square admiring the beautifully reconstructed Altes Rathaus.

You may have noticed I have already used the term recreated and reconstructed. That is because during World War II approximately 90% of Mayen was destroyed. After the war and following a special referendum the people voted to rebuild the town.

Special shout out to Emils Bistro where we stopped for lunch. The staff were wonderful and seemingly smitten with our girls. They brought them both complimentary desserts and even a shot of amaretto for myself and Chrissy. They also didn't bat an eyelid when Josie locked herself in a bathroom and I had to go into the damentoilette to rescue her.

Full from lunch we did some toy shopping and then arrived at St. Clemens Church and its famous twisted steeple. Legend says that the devil himself twisted the steeple like a corkscrew into its current shape. The theory for why it really happened is that the wood used was not properly cured and the carpenters did the installation with it anyways. With the amount of reconstruction in Germany after the war that seems to make sense but I kind of like the legend and am choosing to believe that. 

Luxem 

Grandpa and his brothers served in World War I for the German army. Although Grandpa sustained injuries he and his brothers survived the war. In thanksgiving for surviving the war the family erected a large stone cross at the entry to the town of Luxem where they lived. Affectionately known as the Kehrig Cross our family stopped to visit the shrine. 

Weiler

In 1920 my Grandparents were married, the first wedding celebration in the town after World War I, in St. Kastor Church in Weiler. Considering how small the town is the church is surprisingly large and well maintained. 

While in the church we had our Josephine stand where her Great Grandmother Josephine would have stood over 100 years ago on that fateful wedding day. 

Before leaving we snooped through the guestbook (spotted Cousin Edna's signature) added our own and lit a candle for my Father and Grandparents. 

Town of Kehrig

While the girls were excited to visit a town with their own last name I was probably more excited to once again visit. I mean it has been my own last name for more than 40 years! It was fun following the road signs and counting down the kilometres on the signs as we got closer...and finally we arrived. 

I wouldn't qualify 'our town' as a tourist mecca with many sights to take in but it was cool to see. The town and the houses within are well kept. While posing for pictures with the town sign we even had a big tractor come racing by. Well kept and farm equipment is pretty much how I envision every visit to my uncles and aunts so I feel that the name Kehrig is mutually well suited. 

We walked the streets looking tough to shake down some residents to pay their toll to the returning princesses. Lucky for them we didn't find any other pedestrians. 

After walking by the library and school we found ourselves at the Church of St. Kastor and Katharina. Once again a well maintained and picturesque church. I especially liked seeing the old banners with our name on them. 

Finally it was time to leave and as Chrissy would caption it - The town wasn't big enough to hold all us Kehrigs. 

Cousin Günter

Like many of my aunts, uncles and cousins before me I was welcomed warmly by my cousin Günter when visiting the area. It had been maybe 30 years since I had last seen Gunter and Martina but they amazingly have not seem to have aged. They were so gracious in inviting us to visit their home and treated us to an authentic Eifel area lunch. 

We were so wrapped up in visiting I regretfully forgot to take a picture of our two families together. Thankfully, Chrissy thought to grab a picture of myself and Günter while the kids played at an indoor play area. 

I hope that our families can visit once again soon whether it be back in Germany or here in Canada. 

Next Germany 2023 posts

Part 5 - Side Trips and Frankfurt

Germany 2023 (Part 3 Koblenz)

Previous Germany 2023 Posts

Part 1 - Cologne / Koln

Part 2 - Trier

After staying in hotels for a week plus it was nice to get into our Koblenz AirBnB that had our own kitchen and laundry. 

Our condo for the next few days became our home base for site seeing in the region and also a bit of a re-tracing of a family trip from 1993 with my parents and two eldest brothers.   But first off being a tourist in and around Koblenz.

The German Corner

Koblenz is named after the old latin word meaning confluence which is apt as the City lies at the confluence of the Mosel and Rhine river. The actual confluence is today known as the "German Corner", a symbol of the unification of Germany that features an equestrian statue of Emperor William I. The monument and statue is massive. The girls didn't quite know what to think of it - they laughed at the size of the horse's butt. Chrissy and myself both made the snide remark that we had seen bigger horses asses in our day. 

After a few weeks of rain both rivers were quite high and it was fun to watch the water actually come together. It was cool to think of how these rivers had been so influential to the development of the area and the life of millions through the years. I cannot even fathom how many people before had stood there and watched these rivers combine and carry on. Bodies of water can sometime get me a bit sentimental. 

Ehrenbreitstein Fortress

The Large Fortress of Koblenz, officially "Fortress Koblenz and Ehrenbreitstein", is a system of Prussian fortifications built between 1815 and 1834 to secure the then strategically important confluence of the Rhine and Moselle rivers.

After viewing the Fortress from the German Corner we took the car across the river to tour the property (the gondola was an option, but not one the kids were willing to take). It was actually the first day of the Christmas light up so the whole fortress was relatively empty as staff were setting up the lights and displays for the night time kickoff. In a way we got the best of both the usual fortress experience and the Christmas light up.

The German Corner from above

German wine colors

Stolzenfels Castle

Built originally to collect tolls on the Rhine the castle was destroyed during the War of the Palatinate Succession. After Napoleon's defeat, the castle became the property of the city of Koblenz and eventually it was donated to the Prussian Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm. 

Today Stolzenfels Castle is known as a peak example of Prussian romanticism. It is truly beautiful and was a highlight for the girls to see a fairy-tale like castle. 

The windy path leading up to the top of the river bank castle is its own highlight

 Other Highlights

• Basilica St. Castor

• This delicious and slightly hilarious charcuterie "board" 
  
  
  
• The generic daily activity of walking to the grocery store to grab supper and beer and then watching familiar TV and movies in German with the kids. 

Next Germany 2023 posts

Part 4 - Kehrig History Pilgrimage

Part 5 - Side Trips and Frankfurt

Germany 2023 (Part 2) - Trier

Part 1 - Cologne / Koln

With Cologne as the primary work destination we wanted to find another nearby stop that could offer the kids a cool experience. After some reviewing Rick Steeves and Lonely Planet books I selected Trier to get a taste of Roman and Germanic history. 

Considered the oldest City in Germany, a shrine of the Treveri, a Germanic tribe, existed at the site (c. 400 BCE) with inhabitation occurring potentially 1000 years prior. The Roman town was founded by the emperor Augustus aorund 15 BCE. due to its strategic position North of the Alps along the fertile Mosel River. For most of the fourth century, this city of 80,000 had a four-mile-long wall with four great gates to protect its inhabitants from invaders and Emperor Constantine used the town as the capital of his western Roman Empire before settling in the East. Over the years the City served as an important centre within the Holy Roman Empire, the French under Napolean and the Prussian Empire.  

We arrived in the evening, checking into Hotel Deutschherrenhof (outstanding service and great breakfast) and then venturing out to get a view of the main square and something to eat before being proper tourists the next day. We were immediately smitten with the lovely pedestrain area. 

As a centre of history I arranged for a walking tour for the family on our first full day, but not just any walking tour, a Mosel wine appreciation historical wine tour. It served as a great way to orientate ourself within the core of the City, learn about the major sites, plan out the rest of our time and try some fantastic local wines. Highlights from our tour and wanderings include:

Porta Nigra

Porta Nigra or the ‘Black Gate’ dates back to ~170 AD. It is the best preserved Roman city gate north of the Alps, and the number one attraction when it comes to Roman structures in modern-day Germany.

The Roman fortification was built without mortar, only iron pegs which are visible in select locations, hold the sandstone blocks together. Porta Nigra survived the middle ages as it became a church. Saint Simeon, a renowned pilgrim and then weird hermit who was both villain and then saint to the locals, lived inside the gate for seven years. After his death in 1035, the Simeon monastery was established and the gate was made into a two-story church and monastary. As a holy place it surviced the metal and stone scavengers that the other gates did not. Eventually in the early 1800s Napoleon dissolved the church in the Porta Nigra and the monastery beside it, along with the vast majority of Trier's numerous churches and monasteries. Napoleon then ordered that the Porta Nigra be converted back to its Roman form.

All that to say - It is cool. The majority of time we were in Trier we viewed the structure in the rain which somehow actually punctuates its permanence. For more than 1800 years this structure has survived multiple invading forces, the rise and fall of multiple emplires, two world wars, the wind, snow, and the rain. 

Amphitheatre 

The Trier Amphitheater was dug into the side of a hill and erected around the 2nd century to accommodate approximately 20,000 spectators. It is still in remarkably great shape and truly cool to see.

The only disapointing moment was neither of my daughters understood my Airplane references. 

Electoral Palace

The site of the current Electoral Palace was used by Constantine the Great as early as the 4th century. Through the centuries their have been many buildings and additions to the nearby basilica and residences including rococo and baroque influences. During out wine tour we learned that before World War I the current front lawn was used for exercises for German troops. I think it highly likely that Grandpa would have probably paraded the area.

Spielzeugmuseum

Trier has a wonderful, and only a little bit bizarre, childrens toy museum. When we entered we were greeted by two very nice older ladies who had very little english language knowledge but plenty of smiles and excitement to show off the displays. The breadth of toys was impressive (and even a little shocking) with a truly outstanding mechanized teddy bear displays. 

Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Lady)

As impressive as the actual church was we were most enamored with the cloisters and courtyard.

Note, the giant leaf Josie found and made me wear to show off our Canadian status.

 Other Highlights

• One restaurant said that the traditional schnitzel for Trier had bacon on top. I did not see a reason to argue that and ordered it. Fantastic!

• The fountain in the main market square had lots of great visual aspects. Sophia and Josie loved the monkey who was too embarrased to look at the naked bum.

• I am a sucker for a model of a building in front of a building. 

• Karl Marx, known for his anti-capitalism writing including the Communist Manifesto, was born in Trier. In the picture below the are girls posing in front of the home where he was born and lived the first year of his life. It is now a museum. The next picture shows a living space above the Euroshop. This living space is where Karl Marx family moved to when he was around 1 year old. I find it funny how his birth place is idealized but where he spent more of his formative years is now the home of a touristy convenience store. J

• Tourism trams are the best

• What do you notice that is diferent about the building below? The building known as the House of the Magi was built in 1230 with byzantine flourishes simply to show off and also includes an elevated door with no stairs. This was intentional to fortify the building from invaders. A staircase would be brought up to the door and then removed when invaders were nearby.

• Sophia and Josie almost completely got over theor dog phobia at a chance encounter with a retired US airforce captain and his dog Charlie at a Pizza Hut. The girls and Charlie got along so well we may have had to stay and have another beer or two just to help them bond.

• Mosel wines really are great. My dad was not one to buy wine often but I do remember him buying white wine from the Mosel area when he did. The wine tour really was a great way to learn about the City and experience some new to me wines. I lament not buying a glass to take home as a keepsake.

Next Germany 2023 posts

Part 3 - Koblenz

Part 4 - Kehrig History Pilgrimage

Part 5 - Side Trips and Frankfurt