Moving On!!

I left you on a kind of boring note with the library, books and lists! We went on Tuesday morning and moved on to the musuem in Langnau, Germany. A very old house (500 years old), you can see where the timbers were hewn with axes to make it smooth.

Notice the walls here.

Pottery

Dear to my Heart and my current sewing machine was made here in Switzerland, a Bernina!

Clothing & Accessories

  The house had several rooms and they represented the different trades of that time. Most of our family were probably farmers but we aren't sure. Some of the trades represented were linen, cheese making, pottery, sewing (clothier), glass makers, to name a few. They made barber bowls out of glass. The bowls had a cutout for the neck so the barber wouldn't get the man all wet! Sugar bowls were made. Sugar was expensive and so they tended to make bowls that held the sugar very pretty.  Also, a kitchen and bedroom were in the museum. In the bedroom, the bed was not very long. It was thought that the people sat up to sleep, better breathing!! The cradle was right next to the bed for the young one. It had a rope that the parent could reach over and pull the rope and rock the cradle!!!

Barber Bowls

The cookstove, it was always hot, and coffee was
 always on the burner.

 The stove was always warm or hot, coffee was always on (of course, it usually had something added to it!). They had their own coffee plants and ground their own coffee. A built-in waffle maker (at least it looked like one) was on the stove.

  A Bible was in a prominent place in the home. BUT some of the pages might be torn out, if the enemy came they took the pages out so that the names wouldn't be obvious. The torn out pages were placed back in the Bible. It was a big Bible and they recorded marriages, births, and deaths in it. The bed also had the names of the couple inscribed on the headboard. The wife (at this time) kept her maiden name.

  There was another room with a famous surgeon honored. A small town but had a famous medical person there and people came from all around to see him.

   There was a piano in the home also. Of course, the garden was beautiful. These people seemed to take great pride in their gardens. They were beautiful.

  We went to a Mennonite Center and here we saw places (a display) where the people were in different places, meeting in homes.  Martin (the guy we met there) says that they try to put "new life in old buildings." True in the building we were in and other places they minister to. They have meetings for babies/toddlers, Sunday School for older children, youth also meet Sunday evenings (they have several teens from the community also). Martin described the teen service as very LOUD and BIG speakers. The teens set it all up and tear it all down when they are done. They have a "fellowship hall" where they eat together and have a coffee house. And the worship service for adults.

Mearl and I in a covered bridge on our journey.

Now for our exercise, we move on!!! Our host for the day, Paul Hostettler, took us on a driving tour and then we parked the car and walked. We walked for about an hour. This was the place where he feels our ancestors came from. We couldn't get into the buildings (they are closed for 2012, maybe 2013.) Mearl, Paul, and I walked up hill and down.

Mearl and Paul walking up the lane. Can you imagine a car going up this direction? We did see some cars, a cement truck and motorcycles. But we didn't drive.

  We had an enjoyable time, even though Paul couldn't speak much English. I was reminded of the chorus "We walk and talk as good men should and do, we clasp our hands, our voices ring with laughter, My God and I go in the fields together." We laughed and had a great time. It, again, was very moving to think of our ancestors making a living and walking those same lands. We were up in the hills and it was beautiful. There were homes there and animals also. If the video works right (first time I've tried this), it is cow bells, couldn't see the cows but we could hear them. Mearl and I both have grown to love the sound of the bells.

  We found our car and finished the day with Paul showing us where he had pastored from 1961 - 1976. It was a beautiful church also, both inside and out. He and his wife, Lucie, lived in the village also. The village was Lauperswil, Germany.



  Most of the churches we were in had the pulpit on one side and up pretty high. I think every church had a steeple and all the steeples had a clock on them. Some were beautiful, others were simple, BUT all the clocks were correct. We thought that was very interesting. The steeples had bells in them and they rang every 15 minutes usually. Again, they were beautiful.

















   Keep on the journey with us.

Sharon (Grabill) McMillan