We got off the highway at dusk and immediately hit country. Small winding roads with tiny towns every few kilometers. It was getting dark and we needed a place to stay for the night. We stopped at the first pub with lights on, hoping they would have a room or know where we could find one. In our perfect broken German, Haben Sie ein zimmer frei bitte?, we quickly arranged a lovely room and before we knew it we were enjoying a pint at the bar with the proprietor. Julia and her husband run a restaurant/pub/pensione in Nusthall, a small village northeast of Fulda. The pub/restaurant was closed Tuesday evenings and it felt more like being in their home. Julia was preparing to leave with her five year old son, who was playing with a large colored paper lantern.
A few days prior, Lesley had read about a festival called St. Marten's that involved kids and lanterns. The connection with Julia's son's lantern was quickly made and with hand gestures and smiles, we somehow arranged to go with Julia and her son to the nearby village in our car for the festival. And what a festival it was...children parading around a small village with lanterns, led by a man in a red cape on a horse (St. Marten) and the middle school band. Afterwards, the story of St. Marten was perfromed by Julia's son's kindergarten teachers in the school auditorium. He was a poor shoemaker who gave generously to others, inspired by the life of Christ. Plays are ideal when you don't speak the language, especially when they are geared toward kindergarteners. Afterwards, the parents gathered outside, kids ran around with their friends, and everyone enjoyed country German refreshments: two types of boiled wursts, eight inches long, forked out of giant steaming pots and placed in a crusty 4 inch bun. Next table down: hot, sweet gluhwein in little paper cups. For dessert and filler, pretzels--traditional salty and a special sweet one for St. Marten's that was lightly glazed like a donut. Julia introduced us to her friend that spoke English to make sure we understood what the festival was all about. Afterwards, we sat at Julia's bar, and got to know each other over the local wine, doodles, maps, little phrasebook and our family photo album. We learned that Julia and her husband were from Croatia, that her husband was a fabulous cook, and that they bought the inn seven years ago. When asked if they liked being innkeepers, she answered "absolut", with her big, beautiful smile. We don't have pictures, but the next morning's breakfast was a gourmet feast covering an entire table for 6.
The parade.
Video of the parade, turn your volume up for the children's singing and marching band.
The Rhonhof inn.
On the road again. We planned to spend our Hessen journey on small roads to get a feel for the countryside. Joe's great great great great grandfather Robert Ganz was from Hessen. Joe's second cousin, Rob Ganz, a farmer in Nebraska, is the family historian on the Ganz line. Before we left on our trip, he shared that Robert Ganz was a farmer/soldier. This was common in the region for able-bodied men, you may have heard of the famed Hessen mercenaries. In the late 1850's Robert came to the States to try and secure a better future for his two sons who would likely be forced to fight for part of their livelihood as well. Ironically, upon arriving in the States, Robert was paid to take the place of a wealthy Chicago businessman to fight in the Civil War. At the time, people could buy their way out of the draft. With the money and additional support from the businessman, Robert brought his wife and two sons to Chicago after the war. They lived and worked throughout the Midwest, the Ganz's eventually settling in Nebraska. Joe's grandmother Bobbie Ganz was born there, and Toni spent part of her childhood on the Ganz family farm. We're not sure where Robert Ganz was from in Hessen, so we decided to drive all over it. We've included a lot of photos here so that you can experience it too.
Joe loves these farmhouses with attached barns.
Video of the countryside
We would love a courtyard like this.
A beautiful day. Note solar panels on 200 year old barn.
Clever
Picnic in the woods at Alheimer.
Our second night we spent at a dairy farm! It was a stroke of luck to stumble upon this place as it was getting dark. Before arriving in Hessen we had talked about how cool it would be to stay on a farm in honor of Robert Ganz.
Had dinner that night in town (Hofgeismar, in northern Hessen). Another pretty little town, ped only street et al.
What do they serve for breakfast on a dairy farm? Yep. Note: knit egg cozies.
The farmhouse where we stayed. There were four guest rooms on the second floor, rooms for breakfasting on the first. The dairy is in the center building and the cows live in the barn on the left.
They had Deutsch jersey cows.
The sign that showed us the way.
Headed southwest
Video: one of the many lovely little towns we drove through, timber frame, slate, quaint.
Stopped for a snack at a farmer's market. Joe found the real deal in country liverwurst.
Video: This song became the anthem of our road trip.
After two days of touring Hessen in a counterclockwise loop we're going to spend our last night in the southwest along the Rhein River. More to come....
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