| Exploring Swiss-German Family Roots in Europe |
|
a European Heritage
tour
August 25 - September 7, 2008 
with Tour Leaders John Ruth and Wilmer Martin John Ruth, TourMagination’s primary historian and storyteller, will be leading this tour which is designed to take you to places where your ancestors originated in Europe. John has done extensive study into family histories and is well acquainted with the names of many families who lived in the areas the tour will visit. Listed below in the itinerary are names of families from the various places the tour will visit. Can you find your heritage here? Wilmer Martin, President of TourMagination, will co-lead with John and look after administrative details. Monday & Tuesday, August 25 & 26 The tour departs from Liberty International Airport, Newark, New Jersey, and Pearson International Airport, Toronto, Ontario, on overnight flights to Frankfurt, Germany. It will be Tuesday morning when we arrive and meet in Frankfurt and are met by our coach driver. We will travel on to Köln, our destination for the night, where we will see the famous twin-spire cathedral and ancient Roman ruins discovered in this city. Wednesday, August 27 On our way to Boppard to catch the ship for a Rhine River cruise, we will stop at the Deutsches Eck in Koblentz to view the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel Rivers. Then it’s time to sit back and enjoy the scenery as we travel the scenic stretch of the Rhine from Boppard to Bacharach, a medieval walled town, only meters from the river’s banks. We will make a stop in Bad Kreuznach and also in Wolfsheim to hear the Kulp family story.  Gary Waltner in the Weierhof On Thursday, we will explore the Palatinate area of Germany. We will visit the Weierhof, a semi-communal Mennonite village, where we will meet Gary Waltner who will lead us through the Weierhof. In Worms, the Reformers’ Monument will be important to see as well as other stops related to the Martin Luther story. Family Names: Cassel, Clemens, Hendricks, Kaegi, Kulp, Kraybill, Shoemaker Friday, August 29 The Kraichgau area on the east side of the Rhine River is important to many families with Swiss-German roots. We will visit Sinsheim, Steinsfurt, Steinsberg Tower and the Immelhäuserhof. Family names originating from this area are: Alderfer, Baer, Derstine, Funk, Herr, Kreider, Landis, Musselman, Oberholtzer, Ruth. Saturday, August 30 This is the day to learn about our Amish heritage in the Alsace. We will see the Oak Tree at Salm and then go to Ste. Marie-aux-Mines where Jacob Amman lived, and then travel on to Montbeliard, and Bern, Switzerland where we will stay for four nights. Family Names: Augsburger, Hershberger, Hostetter, Yoder, Miller. Sunday, August 31 In the Emmental (Emme Valley), we will worship with the Langnau congregation, the oldest continuous Mennonite church and visit important sites related to Anabaptist history and family names such as: Baumgartner, Beachy, Bender, Bieri, Birky, Blank, Blosser, Bowman, Breckbill, Brenneman, Buckwalter, Burkholder, Derstine, Ebersole, Eby, Engel, Gerber, Gehman, Halteman, Hershey, Hunsberger, King, Kinsey, Kraybill/Graybill, Lauver, Lehman, Lesher, Longenecker, Martin, Moseman, Moser/Musser, Neuenschwander/Newswager, Nissley, Reist, Risser, Roth/Ruth/Rhodes, Shenk, Stauffer, Steffy, Steiner, Stucki, Swartzentruber, Witmer, Yoder, Zimmerman and Zook. We will make stops at the Dürsrütti, Sumiswald, Haslibach and Trachselwald Castle. Monday, September 1 Today our coach driver needs a break so we will stay in the city of Bern for the day. In the morning, we will have an Anabaptist walking tour to sites of importance in our history. You will have a free afternoon to explore, visit a museum, shop, rest, etc. Family names: Breckbill, Gerber, Wenger.  Children also learn about their family roots We will spend another day in the Emmental to visit Erlenbach where Jacob Amman was born. Another stop will be near Steffisburg to see the Hershey home under the cliff. In Oberdesbach, John will tell us the Rutt/Ruth story and we will visit the Joder Cave where early Anabaptists worshipped. Wednesday, September 3 Today we will have a mountain-top experience! In Brienz, we will board a cog rail mountain train up the Brienzer-Rothorn. After lunch in Meringen, we will walk through the scenic Aareschullt Gorge. It will be a day of scenic beauty. Thursday, September 4 In the city of Zürich, we will take a walking tour to visit Anabaptist sites and hear the stories that took place here. Following this, we will climb through the cow pastures to the hidden Anabaptist Cave where we will have a worship service. In Einsiedeln, we will visit the cathedral and hopefully hear the monks sing. Family names: Bachman, Brubacher, Groff, Hagey, Hess, Landis, Oberholtzer, Rosenberger, Sauder, Weber. Friday, September 5 On Friday, we will visit the beautiful towns of Appenzell and St. Gallen to learn about their importance before we travel to the beautiful Ammer Valley where we will stay for the night in Oberammergau, Germany. This is the town that performs the passion play every ten years. You will enjoy exploring the town with its beautifully painted buildings. Saturday, September 6 Our first stop today will be at Dachau, one of Hitler’s notorious concentration camps. The memorials, film and visual displays will remind us of what happened in these camps. Then This evening we will have our Farewell Dinner. Sunday, September 7 We will depart this morning from Frankfurt International Airport for North America, and travel on to our homes. We will have discovered new insights and visited many places related to our family histories and made new friends. Your Tour Leaders John Ruth from Harleysville, Pennsylvania, is a minister, author and filmmaker and enjoys sharing Anabaptist/Mennonite history through storytelling. He has led many TourMagination tours to Europe, including several tours with Glen Landes of West Milton, Ohio. Wilmer Martin, Waterloo, Ontario, is the president and managing partner of TourMagination and has led many tours all over the world. He will help to make the search for your roots a memorable experience. For further information regarding the complete tour fare, please This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . We would be happy to be of assistance. |
