I will be there before you, in July! Seriously, I have been to 3 museums that I can highly recommend. 1. Hessen Park is a wonderful open-air depiction of life in the state of Hessen. 2. Vogtsbauernhof, in Wuerttemberg. 3. Can't remember the name of it, but a farm museum between Illertissen and Ulm, I think, which was also very interesting. Karen Celia Mitschelen wrote: > > For those interested in learning more about how their ancestors lived, and I > believe that was at least part of the purpose of starting this List, the > Freilicht (open-air) Museums should not be overlooked on your visits to > Germany. > > Most of these are agriculturally based as that was the way of life for the > majority of people. They will vary from area to area as did the culture of > the times. I find them all interesting. > > There is an industrial one at Hagen which we also enjoyed very much. It was > built along a stream which was used for power until eventually it was > changed to electricity and continued in use up into the 20th century, 1930s > I think. I have a sickle which I watched a man make starting with a short > round iron bar and moving from station to station for different operations. > We came in too late to see the demonstration and were just looking at the > machinery when he recognized a foreigner and offered to do a demonstration > for the 3 of us. Of course as soon as the machinery started making a noise > people flocked in but every time he moved he would motion me to the front to > a good viewing area. When finished he wrapped it in newspaper and presented > it to me. It was not sharpened only shaped with one end of the original bar > for the handle and the curved sickle blade the other. Sharpening was > apparently done some place else or perhaps left out for a safety precaution. > > Up the hill farther where it leveled out there was a bakery. The bread is no > longer made there but brought out to be baked in the ovens. We bought a loaf > of hot raisin bread and sat and tore it apart in chunks and devoured it with > nothing on it. I never tasted anything better. We tried to buy another loaf > but by then it was all gone. We waited a short while until another kind came > out of the ovens but we'll never forget that hot raisin bread. > > One of my favorite spots in Wuerttemberg is Blautopf at Blaubeuren. It is a > geological oddity, a small flowing spring fed by an underground river. The > caves the river runs through have been explored mainly by one man, Jochen > Hasenmayer who has been a leading cave explorer in Europe. The water is > clear and is chemically colored by copper compounds leached out of the > limestone. The beauty and intensity of the color is unbelievable. Do a > search for Blaubeuren there is a site with the story and pictures. There is > a famous Kloster there as well. I have a neat picture of Blautopf with the > spire of the Cloister reflected in the water. I found a site with some > pictures but they do not do just to the magnificent color of Blautopf. The > ones I took are much better color-wise. > > One last thing, check out your "home town" to see if they have a > Heimatmuseum. Many do and the artifacts displayed there will be those of > your ancestors and their neighbors. You may even find them mentioned or > pictured. > > Celia, who won't get there until September > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Jerry & Chris Thiessen <jthiesen@ipa.net> > To: <GERMAN-LIFE-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Sunday, June 10, 2001 11:34 AM > Subject: RE: Re: [GERMAN-LIFE] NO MAIL > > > > > Ralf, > > > > Thank you for sharing your trip. I long for the cool air of the > > Schwartzwald and the beautiful villages. Sigmaringen is a lovely spot. I > am > > familiar with most of the places you mentioned. We lived just south of > > Stuttgart in the small village of Mussberg for three years in the 90s. We > > were back a couple of years ago for a visit. I am homesick just reading > > your post! > > Chris in MO > > > > > > > > > > > > ==== GERMAN-LIFE Mailing List ==== > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from this mail list send a message to: > > GERMAN-LIFE-L-request@rootsweb.com and in the message add the word > UNSUBSCRIBE and send. > > > > ============================== > > Visit Ancestry's Library - The best collection of family history > > learning and how-to articles on the Internet. > > http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library > > > > ==== GERMAN-LIFE Mailing List ==== > GERMAN-FOOD-L@rootsweb.com to subscribe send a message to: > GERMAN-FOOD-L-request@rootsweb.com and add the word SUBSCRIBE in the message and send. > > ============================== > Search over 1 Billion names at Ancestry.com! > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp