Our new favorite treat

 

It's a Lippischer Pickert!

This hearty German pancake was considered a "poor man's food" but is now a favorite for a lot of people. We saw a sign at a bakery recently advertising pickert two days a week so we went to try them last week. We are delighted! (These are big enough to share :)

We finally met "Hermann the German"

 On Saturday a few weeks ago when the weather was sunny but cold and windy, we decided it was time to go meet "Hermann".

We have heard about and read about this famous warrior who defeated the Romans by uniting the Germanic tribes for the very first time. The monument inspired by him is here in Detmold and apparently we should be prepared for many folks who will come and visit him during the summer months. He is not far from our apartment and we see him up on the hill everyday.

We found our way up the hill/mountain driving through the bare Teutoburg Forest and found the parking lot quite empty probably due to the cold. Ed stayed in the car while I braved the cold and wind to get as close as I could just for my first experience with the big guy knowing we would come again and go through the museum and get up close and personal with him later on.

The view from the mountain to the little town where we live and work was a little foggy but still charming. 

I had to scoot around some barriers to get this photo, but it is an impressive monument and holds a great deal of significance to the German people. 

Hermann ("Arminius" in German) was a chieftain of the Cherusci people and an auxilliary cavalry commander, who turned against his Roman allies and led an alliance of Germanic tribes against three legions. The legions were destroyed in 9AD and it seems to be a vital turning point in Middle-European history by stopping the Roman advance. 

(There is much more to the story of the building of this monument, but no time to share it here.)

The building of this statue was begun in 1838 and was not completed until 1875. (Statue is about 175 feet tall)

This photo is from the Hermannsdenkmal website. 

In 1897 another monument was built to unite the thousands of German immigrants who had come to the United States in the 1840's but were being subjected to anti-immigration resentment. A man by the name of Julius Berndt spearheaded the construction of this smaller version of Arminius/Hermann in New Ulm, Minnesota. (This statue is about 102 feet tall.) 

This monument is a little different than the one in Detmold, but is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been recognized by Congress as a national symbol of the contributions of Americans with German Heritage. 

This photo is from the New Ulm, Minn. website.

I have never spent much time in Minnesota, but it looks like this may be a place to visit!

Spring is here!

 Springtime so far is still a little chilly, but sunny and beautiful. We will possibly be getting some rain this week but it is needed. Now that winter has ended, so many people are out and about walking, biking, and pushing their babies. We love seeing the many older couples out walking together and everyone is holding hands! 

I really enjoy seeing the little children learning how to use those little bikes that don't have pedals. They are called balance bikes or learner bikes or other names. Family members are really engaged in helping them learn how to bike very early on. It is so fun. 

This was a quick shot I took as the mom and small biker passed us by. Not a great shot but maybe you can see the balance bike with no pedals. It is very helpful to teach children to learn how to balance on two wheels. I have seen many just in the last week. 

Today while driving to church I realized that it has only been about four days of warm weather and there are beautiful colors already bursting about. I couldn't stop to take photos but when I arrived at our building I was happy to see some color there. 

Not long before the warmer weather will welcome these beauties. 

I also have a precious photo of a new lamb. I went walking not long ago on a Saturday and was surprised to see an addition to what I call "my sheep". We drive by every day and I say :"Hello Sheep!" (Ed just rolls his eyes) so I sort of feel part of their family, but I didn't know to expect this! How wonderful! Way to go mom!

Then there are the waterfowl along the pedestrian pathway around the castle.

I think these two are courting...but I am not very educated about ducks.

However, I can tell these two pigeons are fond of each other! I walked by them on the sidewalk one day and they didn't even move. I stood there and watched them go through this little dance and then the beak thing for a few minutes but they were not distracted by me at all!

It is so exciting for us to see what spring is like in this part of the world. When we arrived in October the fall colors were a real treat. Winter was beautiful and not so cold we couldn't bundle up and get were we needed to go. Now we look forward to adding one more season to our experience here in Detmold, Germany. 

We are so happy to be here!

I Touched History

Monday, January 27th was Remembrance Day, the day that the Auschwitz Concentration Camp was liberated by the Red Army in 1945; a humbling day in remembrance.

It is also the day we began working on the birth registers (1874-1899) for a new city, Castrop, Germany, about an hour and a half southwest of where we live in Detmold. It was a small city (now it is part of the larger Dortmund metroplex) but it had oil and coal so during WWII the city endured 35 bombing raids during which 24% of the city was destroyed.  

Originally these birth/death/marriage registers were kept in the court houses, but these places could be destroyed easily. During the war, the Third Reich moved government records of importance to places of safety where possible.  A castle/fortress with the formidable walls that surrounded them or a mine or cave were good places to protect the genealogical records for the Third Reich.

Birth records were particularly important to the Third Reich for citizens to prove their blood line, as defined by the Nuremburg Laws of 1935.  The Reich was building a "family tree" of pure German blood and "honor" which did not include anyone who had Jewish ancestry back even 3-4 generations. Even if they had become Christians or had not embraced Jewish traditions or culture in any way for their lifetimes, they could no longer call themselves rightful citizens of Germany.

Beginning in 1939, anyone with Jewish descent and whose first name was not on an approved list of names for Jews, had to have an added middle name of "Israel" for males and "Sara" for females on any government documents.

As we began working on the books for Castrop, the second book we looked at had holes in the front cover. 

These are large, thick books measuring 16" tall, 12" wide and some are 3-4 inches thick.  They weigh an average of about 7 lbs. They have between 400-600 birth records each. Hundreds of books were held in the Courthouses or other places of safety. Some were totally destroyed but at some point during the war, wherever these books were placed, there must have been some artillery fire.

 As we began, we found many more books were damaged in some way from gun fire piercing or grazing the books randomly. We don't know exactly where these Castrop books were kept, nor do we have concrete evidence of how these books were damaged, but we feel this was from some kind of gunfire. It could be shrapnel or machine guns; could be that allies, finding the hiding places, fired indiscriminately to make sure no enemy was hiding. Whatever the reason, some of these books were damaged. 

You may make your own judgement as you look at the few photos I can share: 

No metal of any kind was found inside the books. 

I thought about all of the damage that was done here in Germany and particularly in this area of the country where we now live. Hiddesen is the community we live in and we work just a few miles away from the "old town"  of Detmold and not far from the air strip that the Germans built here as a refueling station. Detmold was spared from the horrific bombing that occurred in so many other cities like Castrop and Bielefeld.  (Hamburg, our mission headquarters suffered destruction of 24% of the city and 37,000 people killed) 

The Americans came to Detmold from the direction of Hiddesen with its rolling hills and winding roads through fields and forests. I can't even begin to imagine the frightening way of life these farmers and small city folk endured. So many stories have been left untold I'm sure.

But the most amazing thing to me as we began digitizing these registers is this: 

In all the books we have digitized this week, about half of them had bullet holes and other clear damage but not one birth record was damaged to the point that vital information was lost. Most pages had damage around the data but not one we saw was lost. 

One more thing....

Look at the following photo:

Can you see how the paper of these pages is all crushed together with the force of whatever it was that hit to book? 

As I opened this book and began to turn the pages, I felt the tug from the compression of the paper. I realized I had to be very careful as I pulled the pages apart to then flatten them under the glass of our equipment to let the camera get the best possible photo. Over 200 times I carefully turned the pages of this book realizing that these books had not been opened since the damage had been inflicted on these precious records during the war.

I was touching history. 

Every once in a while, we come across a page with a note from after the war that gives instruction to remove the added Jewish middle name to the record.

From our first Family History mission in 2010 we were given a wonderful motto which I share whenever I can:

"Heavenly Father is planning a family reunion and I'm helping"

We are so grateful to be here working for our Family!

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. 

Beautiful Snow! Or so we thought. . .

Thursday, January 9th at about 2:30am I looked out the bedroom window and saw the beautiful snow falling just as had been predicted. 

We had discussed the weather conditions before heading to bed and decided if the snow was as bad as they predicted we would not drive the car but would take the bus to and from work today. 

We were up and going early enough to pack our lunch (we stopped to get a sandwich after the bus dropped us off) and be out the door to wait for the 7:01am bus number 704 to downtown. We were surprised to see about 10 students waiting at the bus stop too. More suprising was the crowded bus that came to a stop in front of us and all the students crowded in front of us to get on. Two seats were available in the "seniors" section but the facing seats were taken by two young boys who had earpods and were playing games. Their huge backpacks were on the floor in front of them blocking the way to get to the seats. They were totally oblivious to out plight, but we crowded our way into the seats anyway. 

Note to self: never take the 7:01am "school bus" again. Wait for the 7:31 bus! 

We were happy to arrive at the archive after picking up a sandwich and got to work. At lunch time, we saw from the lunchroom window that snow had continued to fall and it was beautiful outside. 

(Photo taken from inside the archive building)

I decided to take a few minutes and grab a couple of photos because we didn't know how long the snow would last.

Kids were rolling balls of snow, probably to build a snowman. Very clever to use the top of the wall.

Ed and I determined that we would work until 6pm and then walk down the street to a little Italian restaurant we had wanted to try that opens at 6pm. We walked in and enjoyed a wonderful meal. 

The 704 bus we needed to get home runs every half hour until 9:00pm so we had plenty of time to enjoy our meal, bundle back up and head out the door to walk the little way to the bus stop for the 7:34pm bus. 

As we walked out the door onto the street at about 7:15pm we saw a 704 bus driving down the street. There were no people on the bus and this was in between times for the bus to be on the street so it was a little odd, but we didn't worry too much. Another bus would soon come so we quickly made our way to the bus stop. 

This stop has an electronic board that shows how long before the next bus will arrive. Our bus, the 704 to Hiddesen was not on the board. In fact no buses were on the board!  We waited for about 30 minutes and realized that in fact no buses would be coming our way.  We also realized we had no idea how to call a taxi or even if a taxi was out tonight. (Taxi's are not seen very often in Detmold) 

We looked at each other realizing that we would have to walk home!

Our apartment is about 4 km from the archive depending on the streets you take. It is uphill to get home and we have never walked it before. We don't know which roads have sidewalks and with the snow continuing to fall I had a quick vision of stepping in snow thinking I'd step on a solid part of a walkway and fall because of a missed step. The snowplows in this little city had not yet been very effective. 

Oh...This was not good. 

I turned around and saw the Lippischer Hof (hotel) on the corner and realized they would know how to get a taxi if there was one to be had. Ed agreed and then said, "If we can't get a taxi we will get a room and spend the night." (hahahaha)

The gracious young woman at the desk who spoke English helped us get  taxi with no problem. The driver did not speak any English, but we could give him directions to our address. We made it home and decided we would never take the bus because of snow again. 

The next morning, we came out to drive to work and realized that the snow had built up enough that some shoveling would be needed. The snow here is really wet and heavy so this was not a small task. 

Our neighbor had already shoveled a way out of her parking spot so it was a big job for 

Ed to do our spot which is on the end by the front door.  

 I am very happy he is a healthy man. 

He started right off with his very warm jacket on but it was long before the 

jacket came off with all the work.

My hero! 

While Ed was working, I walked up to the neighbor on the corner and took a quick photo of the wonderful winter fort they had made. 

The next Sunday we saw remains of the snowman the ward children had made. 

And that is our "first big snow of the year in Germany" story! 

Three Kings Day

 January 6th is Three Kings Day (or Epiphany to some), celebrated as the day the Magi visited the baby Jesus. 

In Germany, on January 5th, families celebrate by turning the lights on their Christmas tree for the last time this season and enjoy festivities which may include one more gift which may had been held under tree for the children, great food and singing. 

A King Cake is also involved in the celebrating with the traditional penny or almond or small figurine that is celebrated when found inside a piece of the cake. (Remember, in Germany bread is substituted often for sweeter a fare and it is really good!)

January 5th this year was a Sunday and returing to Detmold from our meetings in Bielefeld we drive by a beautiful church and on that day saw a mom with three children trailing behind her each dressed in capes with crowns on their heads. One was holding a staff with a very large paper star on it. We did not see any other children along our roads and I am sad I couldn't get a photo, but I did find one on the internet. 

On Jan 5th or 6th, the children go around to homes doing what is called "Star Singing" and collecting money for charities. When finished they then "chalk the door". This tradition brings a blessing to the house.

I was surprised and pleased to see that the archive "house" had also received a blessing. 

The symbols from last year may stay for a time, I don't know, but I was pleased to see the new characters  too.

Here is what it means:

20 * C+M+B * 25 (although the archive symbols have only one asterik)

The year is split in two hence the 20 on the left and the 25 on the right. 

C+M+B is the Latin phrase: Christus mansionem benedicat ('May Christ bless this house'),

Some say the CMB is for the three wise men: Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar but apparently that is not the real meaning. (Perhaps it has become easier to remember these names than the Latin blessing...)

On January 6th all the decorations are removed from the tree and it is taken down. One other tradition I heard of is the placing of the magi into a nativity scene. 

I really appreciate this celebration even though we do not have many records to verify how many magi came, where they came from, and what their names are. The gifts they brought to this little family must have been important enough to bring them safely to Egypt for the protection of the Son of God. 

God watched over His Beloved Son. I believe He watches over each of us also. He wants all of His children to come back home to Him. He sent His Son to earth to give us all a way back. 

I am so grateful.

Guess We're Doing Okay

Returning to work on January 2nd we had to get the "wagons" back which are brought to us with the stacks of registry books for us to digitize.

Sylvia Selle is the wonderful woman who is responsible to keep us supplied by bringing us each a "wagon" of books which we return to her when we have finished the work. 

A "wagon" with two shelves filled with books.

NOTE: Sylvia is great fun and is having so much fun teasing Ed that he is her "Texas Cowboy". For some reason after he came back from getting his first haircut she decided he looked exactly like she imagines a Texas Cowboy looks except he does not have his hat on.

So early on Jan 2nd Sylvia began to bring in the books. We each got a wagon load and began work but then she came with another load to make sure we stay busy. 

I guess we are doing an okay job because she brought us each a larger cart....3 shelves of books for us to complete! 

We were both surprised, but it really does not matter because they all need to get done. We now have enough to do for the next week or so, finishing our two shelve wagons and moving on to the three shelve.

Each of the larger books on the blue wagon is 400-600 entries. It takes a little less than an hour to finish a book over 400 entries. We have been working on them this past week and had our best week yet, submitting 31,594 new images to Frankfurt for audit. 

Except for a small problem with one of the books that I sent to Frankfurt which came back to me for rework. Apparently I had included what they called an "artifact" in an image that needed to be removed.

Now, to me an artifact is a museum term, or and archeological term for very old things...

Apparently I am an artifact...or at least my finger is. (Bottom left on the image I shot below)

I should have caught this before sending it on, but it gave me a good laugh. Maybe I am getting too old to do this kind of work!!

My finger has been removed from this image, but the Lord's hand in this work will never be removed. 

In a conversation I was having with one of my sisters, she asked me if I could feel the hand of the Lord blessing me as I worked. I paused only briefly to respond that yes, I can feel Him bless me in several ways...I can work quickly with my hands, but my hands, which have been treated for arthritis for 20 years while my thumb joints slowly deteriorate, do not hurt any more than normal. I am able to do this work.

Additionally, Ed and I have decided that as long as we are in the rhythm of working the equipment, we don't feel the fatigue that sets in the minute we walk back into our apartment after a 9-11 hour day at the archive.

We are truly blessed in the work because it is His work.