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Join one of our five 2012 tours to the Holy Land
Our clients want to walk in the places where the Bible was written to gain new understanding of their faith and the contemporary situation. We work with local tour guides to offer a safe, faith-enriching experience. Which tour will be best for you?

and the Oberammergau Passion Play

June 19 - July 2, 2010

John Ruth, Tour Leader and Storyteller

With tour leader John Ruth and Wilmer Martin

This tour is planned for persons from Pennsylvania to visit sites in Western Europe where their ancestors migrated from to Pennsylvania for religious freedom and/or new opportunities in the New World. It will be led by John L. Ruth, TourMagination’s premier Anabaptist/Mennonite storyteller who lives in Harleysville, Pennsylvania, and who is well-known for his knowledge of Pennsylvania family histories, and Wilmer Martin, owner of TourMagination, who grew up in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. This European Heritage tour will feature 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, the Aalsmeer Flower Auction, a cog rail mountain experience, climbing into the foothills of the Swiss Alps to the Cave of the Anabaptists, and much more. A highlight will be the world-famous Oberammergau Passion Play which is performed every ten years by the villagers of Oberammergau because of a vow made in 1634.

Click here to read what tour participants have said about the Oberammergau experience.

Click here to read past blogs about Oberammergau.
Click here to read past blogs about our European Heritage Tours.


Saturday & Sunday, June 19 & 20

The tour departs from Liberty International Airport, Newark, New Jersey, on an overnight flight to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. It will be Sunday morning when we arrive in Amsterdam and are 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 Volendam, time permitting.

Monday & Tuesday, June 21 & 22

Painted Monastery of Moldova
Witmarsum Mennonite Church built by PAX boys
In Amsterdam this morning, we will visit the Singel Mennonite Church which dates back to 1608, and take a canal boat ride on Amsterdam’s canal system. We will cross the 22-mile Afluitsdijk that has linked North Holland and Friesland since 1932, and make 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. After saying goodbye to our new friends on Tuesday morning, we will travel on to Münster, Germany, to learn about a darker side of the Anabaptist story. From there, we will travel to Köln for the night.

Wednesday & Thursday, June 23 & 24

This is the day for a cruise on the scenic stretch of the Rhine River with many castles and vineyards on the hillsides. First we will go to 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. We will visit the town of Bad Kreuznach and then go to our hotel for the night. Thursday we will spend time in the Palatinate area to visit the Weierhof, a semi-communal Mennonite village, and then 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.

Friday & Saturday, June 25 & 26

Today we will visit Strasbourg, France, with its magnificent cathedral. We will learn about the Anabaptist story that took place in this area. In France’s wine region, we will visit the quaint town of Riquewihr and then travel through the Jura Mountains to visit the Lehman homestead at Sonnenburg. Lodging in Bern, Switzerland for three nights. On Saturday, our coach driver needs a break so we will stay in Bern for the day. In the morning, we will have an Anabaptist walking tour and you will have a free afternoon to explore, visit a museum, shop, rest, etc.

Sunday & Monday, June 27 & 28
Two CAPA clients
Entrance of church in Erlenbach
where Jacob Amman was baptized

In the Emmental (Emme Valley), we will visit Langnau and worship at the oldest continuous Mennonite church and then visit other important sites related to Anabaptist/Mennonite history. Then we will go to Erlenbach, where Jacob Amman was born. On Monday, we will have a mountain-top experience! If the weather cooperates, you 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 cross the Sustenpass on our way to Brunnen where we will stay at a hotel along the picturesque Vierwaldstättersee for two nights.

Tuesday & Wednesday, June 29 & 30

Tuesday morning we will take a walking tour in Zürich to see sites of importance in our Anabaptist history and hear the stories that took place here. In the afternoon, we will hike to the Cave of the Anabaptists and have a worship service there. We will then travel to the cathedral in Einsiedeln where, hopefully, we will hear the monks sing. On Wednesday, we will visit Appenzell and St. Gallen, two more beautiful Swiss towns, before we travel on to Oberammergau in Germany where we will stay for two nights.

Thursday, July 1

This morning you will have free time to explore the village of Oberammergau, home to the world-famous passion play. Over half the citizens of Oberammergau will be involved in the play that you will see this afternoon and evening, with a break for dinner. This will be a day to be long remembered in years to come as you think about the Good Friday and Easter stories.

Friday, July 2

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.


For further information regarding the complete tour fare, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We would be happy to be of assistance.
 
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