Tour Leader’s Blog

This is the last blog entry for our amazing and immensely enjoyable European Heritage tour. Where does one begin to recount all the sights and insights that we have experienced on our trek through five fascinating and historic countries in Europe? We who have lived our entire lives in North America cannot possibly understand the rich heritage that is embodied in ancient cultures that have spanned thousands of years. It is in these 5 countries that we who have been privileged to enjoy, have discovered a rich perspective based on the historical stories told to us by John Ruth.

On our last full tour day we all seem to be reflective not wanting our adventure to end, but knowing that our lives in the days to come will never quite the same. We have greatly enjoyed all our visits to places where our Anabaptist ancestors lived and unfortunately were heavily persecuted. This though often strengthened our spiritual forefathers to live their lives more fully dedicated to God.

We have also seen many great natural wonders on our tours. A cog rail train ride to the 7500 foot Rothorn in the Swiss Alps. A “grand canyon” like chasm worn away by snow melt over eons of time. We have come to love the sight of German and Swiss architecture as well as the majestic peaks and valleys of the Alps.

Our tour will be complete and we will return to our respective homes tomorrow with a new viewpoint of our spiritual heritage and the fascinating cultures of our European contemporaries.

~ Jerry Schwartz

It’s hard to describe a day like yesterday, when our TourMagination 2009 group toured through the former Mennonite settlement of Molotschna. Along the way every single person who had come to see a particular village or site had their deepest desires satisfied. Sometimes(as with Herb Epp) it happened when a Ukrainian who lives now on the site of Herb’s grandfather’s estate told us that he recalled hearing stories from his own grandfather of the former Mennonite estate that once occupied those lands. Other times it was when Vic Huebner was able to wander the now-barren lands of his own grandparents; yet its proximity to the village school meant that it was certainly the site. Along the way we were able to speak with local
villagers (through Olga, through me, and occasionally through bits of German), and even enjoyed a brief snack of perishki and a homemade drink of a Frau Warkentin, who has somehow survived this long in these villages.

But the highlight happened in the former village of Sparrau, the birthplace of Mary Dick of our group in 1926. Mary had fled from this village with her mother - her father already executed by the Stalinist years - in 1943, and was now returning with her daughter Esther. Now both were “returning” to Sparrau. And against all odds, Mary was able to find and visit with a
childhood acquaintance, who had been the daughter of the Russian sheep herder in their village. It was a touching moment, full of joy.

Even later in the day my daughter Laura and I were able to travel to the long-disappeared village of Margenau. The bus could not go any further than the surviving village of Gnadenthal, so it waited there while Laura and I drove in a rather old Lada with one of the villagers to the former site of my mother’s birthplace. We drove through this former village site, now
covered with a great swath of almost 2 meter high thorns. But at the end we could still see the setting of the cemetery. It was moving for Laura and me to visit a place which we almost reached with my mother on another tour way back in 1989.

So it went yesterday. But the true perspective was given at the start of our day there, in the reclaimed Mennonite church of Petershagen which is now the place of worship for local villagers. We were able to join them for part of their worship service. At one point their minister said that we Canadians had maybe come to look for our former sites and villages, but
that we should rest secure in knowing that it was an eternally living God whom we all worshipped. It spoke well to that moment, and the spirit of thankfulness that has carried us so far.

We have our farewell dinner this evening on Zaporozhye Island; then leave tomorrow morning for our final two nights in beautiful Odessa.

~ Len Friesen

The first week has gone very well. Everyone is well, a wonderful group: Beachys, Elliots, Martins, Geiglys, Friesens and Lederachs. We got to see the Great One - Mt. Denali (recently renamed from Mt. McKinley) but only from a distance. Many moose, Dall Sheep, eagles, etc. This group is an adventuresome one!

This is our first real day on the Diamond Princess, starting with sailing into College Fjord, a clear day with breathtaking scenery. We saw seals on little iceburgs, and although cold, many were up on the deck early to take in the views. We had a fine worship service together in the Santa Fe dining room, all to ourselves. We’re enjoying scenery, and perhaps just as important - we’re enjoying each other. Plans for port stops and tours are excitedly talked about and anticipated. Greetings to all our families - all we remembered in our service together. It’s a great journey…and we sang Guide My Feet to affirm that.

~ John and Naomi Lederach

It’s hard to describe the contrasts of the last several days. Just yesterday we left beautiful St. Petersburg, an Imperial city of vast canals and rivers that interconnect a series of islands on the Gulf of Finland. Highlights there included the hovercraft ride we took to the palace of Peterhof with its cascading fountains, or the opportunity to visit the Orthodox church service in the Kazan Cathedral. This was all the more significant as “Kazan” was the sight of a rather tasteless Museum of Atheism during the Soviet period. There was so much more, including visits to the famed Hermitage with its priceless art collection, and the Peter Paul Fortress where we visited the burial place of the Tsars. Indeed, the splendor of this city helps explain why Mennonites took such pride in being part of the Russian empire.

But as of yesterday we’ve been based in the Ukrainian city of Zaporozhye in the Mennonite heartland. We spent this day exploring the settlement of Khortitsa (Chortitsa in German). We spent time at some of the large Mennonite-built churches and schools that have survived, and even visited the famed “oak tree”. While there several from our group actually met a Ukrainian grandmother who had had a Mennonite mother. And although her mom had died when she was only 4, she still remembered “Gott ist die Liebe”. It was moving to see her embrace Mary Dick from our group, who is returning to this land after having fled it in the 1940s, just as it was moving to see the Riediger siblings walk down the street of Nikolaifeld last evening - the home village of their father and grandfather.

So it goes! We head for Molotschna tomorrow as our visit to Russia and Ukraine continues.

~ Len Friesen

Leaving the Rammersweierhof Hotel in Germany, we crossed the Rhine to France and Strasbourg, where we glimpsed the single rose-colored tower of the Cathedral. We were reminded that the famous Christian landmark in the “city of hope,” built on the site of a temple to Mars, the Roman god of war, narrowly survived the French Revolution.

Our first destination recalled the same war, but this was a sign of peace. The ancient oak at Salm, remote in the Vosges Mountain chain, is reputed to have been planted around 1789 by Mennonites in celebration of their exemption from military duty in those violent days. We were pleased to find the tree well cared for and with surprisingly plentiful foliage. Some
exploring by Phil Benner and John Bender led us to a nearby Augsburger cemetery back in the woods.

Next, and in the same neighborhood, came another war scene - the hideous hillside Struthof Concentration Camp, abandoned by Nazi soldiers after 22,000 of their 52,000 prisoners had died.

By now we were ready for more peaceful scenes and found some in the famous wine route leading south at the foot of the Vosges. Storks could be seen perched in the housetop nests as we approached the vineyard and wall surrounding Riquewihr, where we had lunch.

Entering Switzerland, we cruised southward under and past the Jura Mountain range until we crossed the dark green Aare River on our way to Thun, our home for the next three days.

The next day, Thursday, being driver Jean-Paul Weber’s legally required day off, we visited the handsome four-pinnacled Thun Castle in the forenoon, and on our free afternoon explored the city divided by the rushing Aare River.

~ John Ruth