with tour leaders Paul Zehr and Wilmer Martin

TourMagination’s third European Heritage tour in 2010 will be led by Paul M. Zehr, a retired teacher from Eastern Mennonite Seminary and retired bishop from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He taught both Old and New Testament courses as well as theology and pastoral studies. Since 1987 he has chaired the Editorial Council for the Believers Church Bible Commentary and is presently writing the commentary on the Pastoral Epistles for this BCBC series. He invites you to join him on this tour to Germany and Switzerland to explore our Anabaptist/Mennonite heritage and also attend the performance of the Oberammergau Passion Play at the end of the tour, which is performed every ten years by the villagers of Oberammergau because of a vow made in 1634. Wilmer Martin, owner of TourMagination, will co-lead the group as tour director.

Sunday & Monday, September 5 & 6

The tour departs from Liberty International Airport, Newark, New Jersey, on an overnight flight to Frankfurt, Germany. It will be Monday morning when we arrive in Frankfurt and are met by our coach driver. Today 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.

Tuesday, September 7

On Tuesday, we will visit the Kraichgau area on the east side of the Rhine River. We will go to Sinsheim, Steinsfurt, the Steinsberg Tower and the Immelhäuserhof, which are important in our history and to many families with Swiss-German roots. Hans Herr has his roots in the Kraichgau.

Wednesday & Thursday, September 8 & 9

Our travels today take us through the beautiful Black Forest with a stop in Freudenstadt on our way to the Geisberg in France. Here we hope to have a conversation with Theo Hege, the moderator of the French Mennonite Church. On Thursday we will visit Strasbourg to see its magnificent cathedral. We will take the wine route through beautiful vineyards to Riquewihr, an old French farming town, and visit Amish heritage sites. In Kayserberg, we will hear the Albert Schweitzer story.

Friday & Saturday, September 10 & 11

We will drive through the Jura Mountains to visit the Lehman and Schlegel homesteads at Sonnenburg and also see the Mennonite church there. In the Tramelan area of Switzerland, we would like to visit the MenSims watch factory. On Saturday in the Emmental (Emme Valley), we will visit Langnau to see the oldest continuous Mennonite church and other important sites related to Anabaptist/Mennonite history such as the Dürsrütti, Sumiswald, Haslibach and Trachselwald Castle to learn more about the Anabaptist story here.

Sunday & Monday, September 12 & 13

Today our coach driver needs a break so we will stay in Bern for the day. In the morning we can gather for worship and then take an Anabaptist walking tour. You will have free time in the afternoon to explore, visit a museum, rest, etc. On our last day in the Emmental, we will visit Erlenbach to hear the Jacob Amman story in this area. We will see the Hershey home under the cliff near Steffisburg. We will also visit Oberdesbach and the Joder Cave where early Anabaptists worshipped. We will have a worship service and contemplate how they had to worship in secret and the efforts they made to do so. We will stay in Thun for the night.

Tuesday & Wednesday, September 14 & 15

Today we will have a mountain-top experience! If the weather cooperates, we will enjoy a beautiful ride up the Brienzer-Rothorn on a cog rail train. After lunch in Meringen, we will walk through the scenic Aareschult gorge for another kind of scenic beauty. We will stay at a hotel along the picturesque Vierwaldstättersee for two nights. On Wednesday, we will visit Lucerne where you can walk through the famous wooden chapel bridge and have some free time to shop. We will hear the Anabaptist story in Zürich as we take a walking story and contemplate our history at various sites along the way. To complete the day, we will visit the Benedictine Monastery cathedral at Einsiedeln and hopefully hear the monks sing.

Thursday, September 16

You will enjoy seeing the beautiful Swiss towns of Appenzell and St. Gallen as we visit there to learn their importance. Then we will travel on to Nördlingen where we will stay for the night. Make sure you take time to walk on the ring wall that surrounds the old city.

Friday, September 17

This morning we will travel to the beautiful village of Oberammergau. The world-famous passion play will be performed this afternoon and evening with a break for dinner. Nearly half of the citizens of the town are involved in staging the performance. This will be a day to be long-remembered in years to come as you think about the Good Friday and Easter stories.

Saturday, September 18

It’s time to return home so we will drive to Munich to get our flight back to North America. You will have many new memories and stories to take home with you, as well as new friendships made.


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