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June 6 - 19, 2013
With tour leaders John Ruth and Wilmer Martin
Join TourMagination’s premier Anabaptist/Mennonite storyteller, John Ruth, for this classic European Heritage tour. Our tour will feature important sites of Anabaptist/Mennonite heritage in Friesland, The Netherlands, the Palatinate in Germany, and the Emmental region of Switzerland. There will be many other highlights including an afternoon cruise on the Rhine River, beautiful mountain views, climbing into the foothills of the Swiss Alps to the cave of the Anabaptists, and much more. Wilmer Martin, president of TourMagination, will look after the tour logistics for this unforgettable tour experience.
Click here to read past blogs about this tour.
 Windmills at Zaanse Schans
Our tour departs from Liberty International Airport, Newark, New Jersey on an overnight flight to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. On Friday morning, we will arrive in Amsterdam and will be met by our coach driver. Our first stop will be at Zaanse Schans, an unspoiled village with typical Zaan Region houses, where we will see a working windmill and a craftsman making wooden shoes. Before going to our hotel, we will make a stop at the Volendam dike.
After a good night’s sleep, we will enjoy exploring Amsterdam this morning, including a visit to the Rijksmuseum. Our introduction to this city will then include a canal boat ride on Amsterdam’s famous canal system. This afternoon, we will cross the 22-mile Afluitsdijk, which has linked North Holland and Friesland since 1932, making stops in Pingjum and Witmarsum to learn about the Menno Simons’ story in Friesland. Tonight we will be hosted by families in their homes in Berlikum.
This morning we will join the Berlikum Mennonite Church for worship. Afterwards, we will bid farewell to our new friends and will travel to Münster, Germany, where we will take a walking tour of the city and hear a darker side of the Anabaptist story, before traveling on to Köln, where we will see the famous cathedral before settling for the night.
Today we can look forward to lovely views as we relax on our cruise on the scenic stretch of the Rhine River, with its many castles and vineyards on the hillsides. First we will travel to Remagen, the site of the Ludendorff Bridge, which was destroyed in World War II. We will also stop at the Deutsches Eck at Koblentz to view the confluence of the Mosel and Rhine rivers before going to Boppard, where we will board the ship for Bacharach. Once we disembark in Bacharach, we will enjoy some free time to explore the town before going to our hotel.
 The Reformers' Monument at Worms
This morning, we will visit the Weierhof, a semi-communal Mennonite village in the Palatinate. Afterwards, we will visit Worms to see the Reformers’ Monument and hear the Martin Luther story. We will travel through the Black Forest to Offenburg, where we will stay tonight.
We will depart for France, where we will hear the Amish story. We will visit the U.S. World War II cemetery in Bergheim, and then drive along the wine route to the quaint town of Riquewihr. We will cross into Switzerland at Basel, and traveling on to Zurich, we will participate in an Anabaptist walking tour of this city that is rich in Anabaptist history. We will reflect as we hear the stories of the events that took place here. We will spend the next two nights in Singen, Germany.
 Hiking to an Anabaptist cave
This morning we will visit the monument at Schleitheim to remember the Anabaptist execution. Then we will visit the Rhine waterfalls at Neuhausen. This afternoon, we will hike to and worship at the Anabaptist cave at Baretswil, where we will have a worship service that is certain to be very meaningful.
Today we will explore our roots in various places. In the Emmental, we will visit Langnau to see the oldest continuous Mennonite church. We will visit Sumiswald, Trachselwald Castle, Eggiwil and Steffisburg before we go to Bern and take an Anabaptist walking tour.
Today is our day to enjoy the Swiss Alps. In Meringen, we will walk through the scenic Aareschlucht Gorge and then travel over the Sustenpass. In St. Gallen, we will remember the Vadian story.
Have your camera ready to capture the fantastic scenery of Austria. We will cross the beautiful Silvretta Pass on our way to Innsbruck. In Innsbruck, we will hear the Jacob Hutter story, and you may want to enjoy apple strudel on the famous Maria Theresa Strasse.
This morning we travel to Rattenburg, where we will learn about the Pilgram Marpeck story and enjoy an early lunch. In the afternoon, we will travel to the famous Bavarian town of Oberammergau. You will have time to enjoy the lovely wood carving shops – perhaps this is where you will find a souvenir from this tour.
This morning will be a sobering experience as we visit the Dachau Concentration Camp before traveling to Kraichgau on the east side of the Rhine River. Some of us may wish to climb the Steinsberg Tower for an overview of the Kraichgau. This evening we will join together for our farewell dinner.
All too soon it is time to return home, so we will drive to Frankfurt 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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