Rothenburg and Family Roots

Our latest stay has been in the idyllic town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. We stayed in a hotel that is more than 700 years old. Just through the lobby was a rose garden where we could duck out of the bustle of tourists and relax. It was a great stay. The many fun German shops (including the famous Christmas store), dining options, ice cream shops (the daily stop hasn’t ended), and history here are amazing.

We went back to St. Jakob Church (St. James in English) this morning. The wooden Holy Blood Altar is perhaps the most incredible woodwork I’ve ever seen. The characters, the intentionality of where light shines through the altar, the incredibly ornate ceiling for the Last Supper scene, all truly amazing. It’s hard to capture in photos or words. On the separate main altar, we noticed that Peter has glasses perched on the end of his nose! We learned from a parishioner, that glasses had been invented just a few years before the artist painted the scene (1466). That means Peter didn’t wear glasses, but with a glasses-wearer in the family, this was a fun thing to have pointed out.

Most moving from this leg of our journey was taking a day-trip over to Heilbronn. My dad was born here in Germany in 1960. His grandma, mom, and uncle all lived in this home (grey 3 story home pictured below). Notice that the lower two floors of the house are brick. The top floor is not. Dad’s family was in the basement as bombs from World War II were dropped on the city (one wave of several). The top third of the building was destroyed and later rebuilt, but not with brick. Everyone within the home survived. Heilbronn was hit heavily during the war. My grandma (Dad’s mom) would share stories about the allies shooting at her as she gathered firewood among other frightening stories from the time.

My dad lived in Heilbronn the first few years of his life. It was very moving as he shared and remembered the stories from two generations before him. I’ve heard the stories before, but standing in front of the house, brought new depth. We stood with him as the center point, passing the stories down to the two generations after him. In total a five-generation bridge was converging at the old family home. Dad being the center point (two generation before him and now standing with two generations after). We wandered down the street to a park where my dad played as a child. His great-grandpa helped maintain the park and encouraged it to become a neighborhood gathering place (which it still is today). We then went down to the Rathaus (City Hall), where my grandpa and grandma (my dad’s parents) were married.

Now we are headed to Munich for a couple of nights before heading to Paris. We’ve let the girls know about Disneyland Paris. Since, Peyton has been sleeping in her Elsa dress (from Frozen). They are a bit excited!