Switzerland here we come!

We got to Switzerland this afternoon about 4:00, an earlier day than we've had. Mearl wanted to show me a cathedral in Strasbourg, France but that didn't work out. We continued on our way to Bern, Switzerland.
  We haven't found any new facts about the family but have seen several places where they might have been. Especially in Weierhof, there were a lot of Krehbiel's, although again, not entirely sure of the ancestry facts. At Weierhof, there is a cemetery, behind the old church. The cemeteries are beautiful there. Along one wall of the old church (that was all that was left of the church), were old tombstones, a lot of them with Krehbiel names on them. Gary told us that when the graves are 30-35 years old and they need room, when they dig graves for the recently deceased, if they find bones, they keep them and they are buried with the next person. They do not embalm and only have wooden caskets and that's what is in the ground. People do not complain, but the tombstones are preserved or given to family members if they want them. Just walking through the village was interesting, thinking of those who might have gone before us, or if our line wasn't from there, it would have been close to what the people might have gone through.
   There is still a Mennonite church in Weierhof today, a congregation of about 300 people. Some from right there in the village and some travel from a little ways away. That church has hosted quite a few conferences and seems to be one of the oldest churches in Germany.
   We visited another cemetery at Sippersfeld, that cemetery was again beautiful and I'll try to include some pics of that. Makes ours look pitiful. One of the most recent graves was a Krehbiel and the date of death was 9/21/2012. The roses and other flowers on the grave were still fresh.
   We went on to Pfrimmerhof (a small village, campground, restaurant). Very old village. A man by the name of Frederich Krehbiel still lives there. We met him, but he didn't speak English and our German lacks a LOT!!! The owner of the campground and that area still lives there and he does speak English and can interpret. Stopped back there yesterday but neither one was home, found a camper that does speak English so we'll try and get back there on our way back north before we leave.
    That's all for today, I'll add some pics if this will let me and I'll be back in touch tomorrow evening.
    Thanks for journeying along. I'll get better at adding pictures, I hope!! Thanks for being patient!

Sharon (Grabill) McMillan

First look at Germany.

Notice the Street Name Crayenbuhl 

Weierhof Mennonite Church

Church in Sippersfeld

One of many graves

Krehbiel died 9/21/2012

Leaving on a Jet Plane!!!

We made it to Germany!! When I envisioned this trip, I thought we'd have access to the 'net all the time and I could update this every day. But that's not the case or hasn't been. We may have it now in the evenings anyway.
   We've had a great trip so far. One interesting observation, why would anyone in their "right" mind rent a car to people that don't know the language, don't know the country, and reading a map of a different country. By now, Mearl is doing well with the car (a stick shift) and I am much more in touch with the map. The GPS is working better for us. This all was an experience.
   The really interesting experience is meeting people. The people we've met have been really great. We've met with several people since Wednesday. They give us a lot of time, interested in what we're doing and help in any way they can. We went to one genealogy office, a lot of books, extensive card file, and a lot of files that had letters in them from people that were looking for other family members. Very interesting!!! We didn't find anything of value there though.
   We stayed with an older gentlemen (Ernst Neff) for two nights. His home was in the village of Weierhof, Germany. He reminded me a lot of my Dad. He lives alone but in a home connected to a daughter's (which was his homestead.) Somewhat similar to Amish parents homes. Weierhof had a library and the man we met there was great (Gary Waltner). He helped us with Mearl's cell phone, our GPS, and suggested people we contact also.  Both Gary and Ernst learned German and English in their schools. Gary is from SD and lived in a German community so learned German. Ernst was from Germany and learned English.
  I am having trouble with the internet. I will close for this time. Thanks for your notes and I'll include some pictures tomorrow evening if I can. I've taken probably 400 pics so far. I know you don't want to see all of them, but I'll include a few!!!
  Thanks for journeying with us!!
 

Night before!!!

Dear Ones,

    The top country is Germany and the bottom one is Switzerland.  Or if you can read that language, you're all set. 

    We are about ready to go. I'm not packed yet but have things ready to put in the suitcase, Mearl says he's getting close also. We will leave about 9:00 in the morning, we fly out of Chicago at 3:40 p.m. (Chicago time), getting to Frankfurt, Germany about 7:00 a.m. the next morning. Mearl and I will sing Happy Birthday to all of you with birthdays on the 26th!!!!

   Thanks for taking the journey with us.  S & M  

Ready to go?!!

Dear Ones,

   Mearl and I are about to start a journey. Well, actually, we've already started the journey, but now we'll be able to go and put feet to our genealogy. On Tuesday, the 26th, we will be leaving Chicago for Frankfurt, Germany. Mearl has done a lot of background work and when we arrive in Germany, we will be meeting some people that will help us learn a lot of the Grabill and Miller ancestry to hopefully document the beginning of both of the families. 

   We invite you to join us as we begin our journey and read the detail of our days. I'll be posting pictures as we go along the way. (That is if the internet is available and the computer cooperates and my learning to BLOG becomes better!)  

   I've also posted this to Facebook for those of you that are on FB. 

   Thanks, and enjoy the journey with us.

Sharon McMillan and Mearl Grabill