German Town

Quick! What country do you think this town is in?

It looks German, doesn't it?  Take a closer look:

The town is Colmar.  It is in the Alsace--a region which used to be part of Germany, but is now (once again) in France.





Oldenburg

School started last month, and back to school means a lot of talking about your summer vacation!  When I told one of my German colleagues about my summer, including my trip to Craponne, France and then to Oldenburg, Germany, she offered to give me a list of "hick towns" that were closer to Frankfurt so that I wouldn't have to travel so far. 

I wouldn't call Oldenburg a tourist destination,  but I definitely thought it was beautiful. 



Maybe I do have a soft spot for "hick" towns, but I wasn't going to Oldenburg to be a tourist anyway--I was going as a descendant. My great-great-grandmother, Elise Mehrens, was from a nearby small town, Rastede (pronounced RAS-tay-duh by the locals). Elise's ancestors had lived in the Rastede area since at least the late 1500's.  I can imagine that back in Elise's day, Rastede was a little isolated.  On the way out there, I passed:

a tree farm, 

the occasional truck or tractor, some traditional homes,

 

and a few other things that reminded me of home.

I am not usually one to spend time in museums, but if I go back to Rastede, I'd like to visit the Bauernmuseum that I passed by once on some road, never to find again.  I may even be related to the people who run it. Seriously.  I did some family research in Oldenburg, and one of my family names is the same as the owners of the Bauernmuseum, and if there is one thing I know from growing up in a small town, nearly everyone is related one way or another.   

    

     Generations of my ancestors attended this church before Elise, her parents, and siblings left Rastede for Texas in 1846.