Author: Ann Laemmlen Lewis

Three kilometers from Wintertur, where we were staying is this splendid castle up on the top of a mountain.  Ernst brought us and his granddaughter, Amanda here this morning.  Her parents were married here about 12 years ago.  Above is some information at a bus stop on the way to the castle.  These are some of the beautiful things we saw as we hiked up to the top.

In every town and village you find these kinds of water fountains.  I’m quite taken by them and love taking pictures of them.

The village of Kyburg, up on the top of the mountain has a population of just over 400 people.  Here is a local church:

And this is one of the stairway paths that comes up the mountain from the bottom.

Approaching the castle:

Here’s a model showing the layout of the castle:

We saw the castle gardens and some sheep and cows outside the castle entrance.  I would love to be a gardener here!

Interesting sundial clock:

Castle entrances are always defendable, which means they’re usually small.

One of the first things inside the castle courtyard was this post for prisoners.

Here’s the castle history and timeline:

This was the room where Amanda’s parents were married.

Here is one of the prison rooms in the castle:

This is up in the tower.  This castle is very child-friendly.  They had activities throughout for children and things to look for and find.

Beautiful woodwork.

Beautiful views.

Here’s a collection of the armory used here.

Histories and genealogies on the walls:

My maiden name, Laemmlen, means “little lamb.”  Our family crest looks something like this:

This was a fun room where you could dress up and have your picture taken in front of a medieval setting.

A morning well spent.

This weekend we are all excited for General Conference.  It’s also a 4-day weekend in Germany, celebrating German Reunification Day on Tuesday.  With extra time off, we decided to drive to Switzerland to visit dear friends.

We left yesterday afternoon and drove south, arriving in Wintertur in time for John to attend the last half of a Stake Priesthood meeting there.  He served here in Wintertur 50 years ago as a young missionary.

The Lewises and Oliver Bassler, our Swiss NCD

After the meeting, the men had a hamburger and BBQ and games.  We are staying with our friends, Regina and Ernst Bosshard here.  Regina and I walked to the church to join our husbands.

Here is Regina’s home this morning.  She is such a delight.  Her family is half Israeli and half Romanian.  Her grandkids and sister were also staying here this weekend.

The weekend was off to a great start!

These are the folks we work with every day.  Today we celebrated Dinis’s birthday–he’s gone to Salt Lake for General Conference and oodles of meetings.  This is the birthday card photo we sent to him.

Left to right: Sis Lewis, Elder Lewis, Ralf Grünke, Sis Garber, Rebecca our intern, Elder Garber and Daniel Kopischke.

Today in our Tuesday German Class, Frau Enger taught us back-to-school traditions.  She is such a delight!  When a child begins first grade here, they’re sent off to school with a special cone prepared by their mother.  The cone is filled with little school supplies and treats to make the first day of real school a little bit easier.

A few weeks ago when school started, we saw children walking with their cones and their mothers to school.  Fr Enger always teaches us about things going on in this German world around us.

After learning some school vocabulary, Fr Enger presented each of us with a little cone she’d made, filled with treats and an apple from her tree.

During our lesson she showed us her family scrapbooks and photos of sending her son off to first grade.  She also brought out this beautiful 1945 reader from her own childhood.  It had the most exquisite little illustrations.

Fr Enger’s home is peaceful and it feels like a refuge.  She has a beautiful garden in her backyard.  Her son’s family lives in the apartment above her.

I’m so happy when I’m able to attend this little class with my friends.

This evening John and I were invited to dinner at the home of our colleague, Ralf.  He and his family live in Windecken (that means windy corners), about 30 minutes from where we live.  Ralf enjoys introducing others to his village.  We were excited to learn more about the history there.

This old town is now called Nidderau-Windecken, created as a city in 1288.

From my journal:  It was a really interesting tour–the old mill and school, who lived where, stumbling blocks where Jewish families lived (who were murdered), an old Jewish cemetery that was desecrated by Swede-hired Serbs in the 30-year war. Only 3 stones remain–the rest were thrown into constructions piles and used by builders.

There were many 1700s homes, one belonged to the Grandfather of the Lindt chocolate inventor. Another belonged to the fellow who invented the sugar jars that people who drink coffee use (only dispenses one teaspoon at a time).

We wandered for an hour or more, up and down the little narrow streets, looking at the places people lived, hearing the stories. Ralf had photocopies of some of the people who lived in some of the houses–the Jewish family who owned the shop frequented by all of the village, until Hitler made being Jewish bad. They were deported to Auschwitz and killed. Ralf showed us pictures of their faces. Ralf’s family sponsored one of the brass stumbling stones–for their son, a handsome young man, born on the same day as one of Ralf’s kids, 80 years before. He attended the same school Ralf’s kids attended there in the village. He loved Fussball and sports. He was tall and very handsome. The father fought in WWI and was a distinguished soldier, awarded a special cross medal for bravery, which he hung in the shop window to show he was one of them, who fought for Germany. All to no avail. The family is no more. It’s real and it’s heartbreaking.

The Lindt Chocolate grandpa lived in this home upstairs:

There was a Jewish synagogue that was destroyed during Krystal Nacht. Ralf says they’re trying to change the name of that night to something that implies more than glass was broken–lives were also broken and destroyed.

The streets were narrow and cobbled. We went in the old church, now Protestant. The Marktplatz is circled by beautiful old half-timber homes. They’ve just changed out the cobblestones for flat pavers, easier for folks to walk on. The old City Hall still stands at the head, from the 1300s. There is so much history here. The homes are old and kept up. There are specialist carpenters who take care of the old homes, restoring and preserving them. I love drinking in the history and love imagining people through the centuries living in these places that are still maintained and standing and lived in now. It’s incredible to me. I love it so much.

There was an old castle there, now what’s left of it has been turned into a day care for people with dementia. There is a nice garden courtyard behind a big gate where they can wander. There is a pretend bus stop so if someone thinks they have to go somewhere right now, they’re taken to the bus stop, where they may sit for hours until they forget where they thought they needed to go. It was sweet.

What an interesting wander!  Followed by a delicious dinner and good visiting with Ralf and his family.  His son, Phillip leaves for the MTC in Provo soon.

On the outer edges of Hessenpark we found these buildings.  The one above is a reconstruction project underway.  The building below is a huge warehouse where they must store equipment and tools and things used in the park to recreate the buildings.  The Germans take their history seriously and I’m so glad for that.  This work is done carefully and purposefully.

Below is the photo of a home before it was brought to Hessenpark.

Here it is, reconstructed here:

This was a huge hall attached to a lumberyard and sawmill.  Wood was stored here to dry.

A long open shed covered lots of old farm equipment.  It reminded me again of Dad and Grandpa and all the old farm equipment I grew up around.

Here’s a cute little blacksmith’s shop:

As our day came to an end, we started back to the main town plaza.

Well, that concludes the tour of Hessenpark.  I know I will revisit these photos often so I can return here in my mind when I am far away.  I hope you’ve enjoyed this look back into time as much as I have!