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Sommerhausen, Germany and Francis Daniel Pastorius

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Friday, October 7th, 2011

The town hall and sign for the Gasthaus Zum Ochsen

The charming hamlet of Sommerhausen, Germany has a wall, towers, a castle and many very old houses nestled between steep slopes covered with vineyards and the Main River. The town is also home to the man who established Germantown, Pennsylvania.

Birthplace of Francis Daniel Pastorius (1651-1720) in the heart of Sommerhausen

In 1683, a group of Mennonites, Pietists, and Quakers – like Abraham Isacks op den Graeff – in Frankfurt approached Pastorius about acting as their agent to purchase land in Pennsylvania for a settlement. Pastorius took passage to Philadelphia. He established Germantown on land purchased from William Penn. He lived there until his death.

Marlene Rokicki enjoys sauerbraten in the Gasthaus zum Ochsen, Sommerhausen.

Enjoy German history and your own connections to the past on a family history tour! For details contact us today.

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Categories : Family History, Germany Tours

Tags : germantown, pastorius, sommerhausen

Best offer ever for Germany and Austria experience in 2012

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Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

Discover the delights of Germany on this 11-day adventure including:

• Medieval Rothenburg ob der Tauber
• The Romantic Road
• Nurnberg
• Roman “Castra Regina,” today’s Regensburg
• Munich
• King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein Castle
• Berchtesgaden including nearby Salzburg, Austria

Our starting point, Miltenberg am Main, has one of Germany's most picturesque market squares.

Day 1: Miltenberg am Main (1)

Guests arrive at Frankfurt’s International Airport where they are met by tour guide and founder of European Focus, James Derheim. We drive an hour to the west to the little town of Miltenberg am Main, where we stay the night in Germany’s oldest inn. The “Riesen” was built in 1590 on foundations dating back to the 12th century.

Unlike big bus tours, we don’t push our guests to be too active on their arrival day. We understand that people may be tired from their journey. Therefore, guests have free time for the afternoon before we meet in the late afternoon for a walking tour of the town and dinner in a traditional “Gasthaus” or restaurant with beer brewed right in Miltenberg.

Day 2: Romantic Road to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (2)

Rothenburg ob der Tauber was founded in the 10th century

We travel on part of the “Romantic Road” to the best-preserved medieval town in Germany and a stay of two nights in an historic inn located close to the center of the town. Guests can walk to all of the highlights. Tonight, enjoy a tour of the town with the “Nightwatchman,” and learn what it was like to live in “the Good Old Days.”

Day 3: Rothenburg and environs

Guests have the morning to enjoy shopping or a museum in Rothenburg. We meet at noon for a short road trip to a castle located about half an hour outside of town. This castle was mothballed in the middle of the 1700s after the last male heir died without children. The castle is a perfect time capsule of gentry life in this part of Germany.

We return to Rothenburg later in the afternoon for rest before dinner at one of the area’s best schnitzel restaurants. (Schnitzel is a pork filet, breaded and lightly fried – yum!)

Day 4: Nurnberg and Regensburg (1)

We leave Rothenburg after breakfast and drive via the back country roads to the former free imperial city of Nurnberg where we enjoy a walking tour lasting about an hour and a half with a local guide. After the tour, we meet at a tiny bratwurst kitchen which claims to be the oldest in Germany for lunch. Afterwards, we make a stop at the former Nazi party parade grounds where we see a grandstand used during those 1930’s rallies leading up to WWII.
We then continue to Regensburg for a night spent in the shadow of the massive cathedral.

A recent guest of European Focus enjoying the terrific brats at the St. Lorenz Gasthaus in Nurnberg

Day 5: Munich and Schwangau (2)

After breakfast wee leave for Munich where we have lunch and time for seeing the major sights including the Glockenspiel in the Marienplatz and the Hofbrauhaus. Later, we continue to the mountains south of Munich for a two-night stay at a family-owned and operated inn located within sight of Neuschwanstein Castle.

Day 6: King Ludwig’s World and Oberammergau

Neuschwanstein Castle - inspiration for Walt Disney

We see Neuschwanstein Castle this morning and then go to Oberammergau for lunch and time for shopping before we visit Linderhof Castle in the afternoon.

Day 7: Alpine drive to Berchtesgaden (2)

We drive over spectacular scenery to the far southeastern corner of Germany and a two-night stay in one of the prettiest parts of the country. Guests will enjoy tremendous scenery from their rooms.

Day 8: Salzburg, Austria

We take a short half-hour drive to Salzburg where we see some of the sights attached to the “Sound of Music” story plus other historical highlights.

Gorgeous scenery all around the Berchtesgaden area

Day 9: Landshut (1)

After a morning visit to the famous “Eagle’s Nest” high above Berchtesgaden, we drive via the back country roads to our final stop of the trip, the charming small city of Landshut, located a convenient half hour from the Munich International Airport.

Day 10: Departure from Munich Intl. Airport

Guests depart. Extensions are available for those wishing to stay longer and explore other areas of Germany.

Total price per person including all sightseeing, lodging in high quality small hotels and inns, meals, transportation in Germany and Austria, private guide/translator and all incidentals: 3,145 Euro per person
Exchange rates can be found at www.x-rates.com

This is a special offer micro-group tour with no more than six adults invited. Price is based on a minimum of four adults. Because this is such a fantastic offer, guests must pay in full, in advance. Trip cancellation or interruption insurance is mandatory to protect all parties including European Focus in case a guest cannot make the trip due to illness or other reasons.

Sign-up deadline is October 12, 2011 for this October, 2012 tour.
Tour dates TBD but will be after the end of Germany’s Oktoberfest. (Start date after October 7)
Guests wishing to partake in Munich’s Oktoberfest can contact European Focus for assistance.

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Categories : Germany Tours

Tags : berchtesgaden, germany, group, micro, miltenberg, munich, neuschwanstein, offer, opportunity, rothenburg, schwangau, tour

European Focus Appreciates its Return Guests

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Friday, September 30th, 2011

Stopping for lunch at a place with a stunning view of the Zugspitz, Germany

Bob and Marlene Rokicki are five time European Focus guests, while their son Bruce and his wife Melissa are enjoying their second trip with us. This one is the ‘Grand Tour’ and has included so far, Amsterdam and Haarlem in the Netherlands, Brugge in Belgium, Koln, the Mosel River Valley and Trier, the Alsace of France, parts of Austria and now, Berchtesgaden and surroundings in Germany. We are heading for Munich and the Oktoberfest on October 1. Stay tuned!

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Categories : Germany Tours

Tags : germany, zugspitz

Is the Black Forest Really Black?

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Friday, September 30th, 2011

There are more than a few legends connected with Germany’s Black Forest. Several have to do with the name. ‘Schwarzwald’ in Germany, ‘Black Forest’ in English. Is it really black in color? Well, no, it is definitely very much green. From a distance though, the dense pine forest appears to be black or deep blue in color, depending on the light. Once inside the territory, things open up and people express amazement that there are farms and fields and pastures. On a warm late September day, the Black Forest is definitely emerald.

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Categories : Germany Tours

Tags : black, forest, germany

Trier is Germany’s Oldest City

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Monday, September 26th, 2011

Trier has one of Germany's prettiest market squares

But not only that, it is one of Germany’s most interesting and most lively places. On a warm Saturday morning in late September, the city is full of daytrippers and locals and yes, a few tourists who come to enjoy the shopping, Roman ruins and beautiful architecture of the city once known as “Treverum” under the Caesars.

Emperor Constantine's throne hall seen from the Petrisberg hill

Trier is in the state of Rheinland-Pfalz, occupying a lovely position on the peaceful Mosel River. The borders of Luxembourg and France are just a hop away. The city is said to have been settled 1,300 years before the Romans came by Celts. That claim has never been officially proven. What is known, is that the Romans made Trier their regional capital after Emperor Diocletian split the empire into Western and Eastern halves in the early part of the 3rd century. This was an effort to gain control over the far-flung parts of the empire. It succeeded in part, giving the empire another 200 years before it finally collapsed under its own weight.

The Romans cultivated grapes here more than 1,900 years ago

Because Trier was such an important city, grand structures were built. Four massive town gates equal in size and grandeur to what one would find in Rome greeted the visitor, or protected the city against the “barbarians.” A huge palace complex for Helen, the mother of Constantine, Rome’s first Christian emperor. Extensive baths. A strong bridge over the Mosel which still carries traffic today. An amphitheater holding 20,000 spectators. A race track or “circus.” This could all be found around Trier’s grid pattern of residences, palaces and temples. Today, a resident of Trier can’t stick a shovel into the ground without hitting something Roman. (Therefore, most home renovations are held in secret behind the cover of tarps)

One of four city gates, and the only one to survive iron and stone plunderers because it was converted to a church in the middle ages. The Porta Nigra was then returned to its original state under Napolean.

On a sunny Saturday morning in September, to watch the world go by in the market place of Trier is a delight, and an experience not to be missed.

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Categories : Germany Tours

Tags : nigra, porta, romans, trier

Hotel Alt Koelnischer Hof in Bacharach Wonderful Place to Stay in Rhein Valley of Germany

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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

The grand Hotel Alt Koelnischer Hof in the center of Bacharach

European Focus likes to end our Germany trips in the medieval hamlet of Bacharach. Jenean Derheim says, “If Pinocchio had been German, then Bacharach would be his hometown.” This charming village is full of half-timbered houses, a grand church and quaint corners just waiting for the photographer.

The best and in our opinion only place to stay in town (although there are other, much lower in quality hotels and inns) is the grand Hotel Alt Koelnischer Hof. Situated in the center of town at the crossroads of the village’s two main streets and next to the church (don’t worry, they turn the loud clanging bells off at 10 p.m. and don’t reactivate them until 8 a.m.) the hotel is now being run by the third and fourth generation of the Scherschlicht family. Young Dennis is not far behind, and he will be generation five. We’ve watched Dennis since he was a boy, serving coffee in the mornings when on school holiday, the pot nearly as big as he was back then. Now Dennis is more than six feet tall and speaks English with confidence.

This hotel has it all, gorgeous woodwork from the turn of the 20th century, a gracious dining hall with paintings from the 1930s showing Bacharach and legends connected with this once mighty town, exceptionally comfortable and modern rooms and best of all, terrific food and a superior wine list.

The Hotel Alt Koelnischer Hof is one of our featured properties. To experience true German hospitality, contact European Focus today to learn how you can be a part of the tradition of the Hotel Alt Koelnischer Hof.

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Categories : Germany Tours

Tags : authentic, bacharach, best, hotel, hotels

Grenzmuseum Schifflersgrund, Allendorf, Germany

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Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

Twenty one years after East and West Germany became one and the museum on the former border near Allendorf has never been busier, according to the man who took our money for the entry and who grew up here, on the Eastern side of the border. ‘People want to come and see what they could not even get close to before,’ Herr Pfeiffer told us.

The border near Bad Sooden - Allendorf in the early 1980s.

Exceptionally well put together, the museum features authentic Soviet and East German hardware including helicopters, military recon vehicles and police cars which look like they were built in the 1940s, but actually were built in the 1980s. A series of photo displays tell the story of how Germany was divided into four zones; American, French, British and Soviet. We were touched when a woman approached us and spoke in English about her memories of growing up in a village near Wetzlar, in the American zone. ‘We were lucky to live in the American zone,’ she said. ‘My brother was younger than I, having been born in 1942. All he knew was war, tanks, soldiers, noise. When we saw our first American soldier it was a black man. We were hiding under a wagon and a tank rolled to a stop near us. He was holding out a Hershey’s bar. I was terrified, because I had never seen a black man before or a chocolate bar either! My brother was less afraid. He took the chocolate and we ate it together. I will never forget that day.’ The woman went on to tell us that she gets angry when people who lived in the former DDR (Deutsche Demokratic Republic) wax nostaligic about the ‘good old days.’ She said, ‘those people had nothing, nothing! How can they be sad for a time when they were so poor, and under control every minute of every day?’

You're being watched. Ostensibly the towers and fences were to keep the Westerners out of the prize and paradise that was East Germany.

We learned much from our encounter with this woman and her husband, together with the displays at this not to be missed museum in the heart of Germany.

Our guest Rachel Hernandez near a vintage East German police car, a carnival car built in the 1980s but looking much older.

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Categories : Germany Tours

Tags : ALLENDORF, grenzmuseum

Regensburg Cathedral and the Judensau

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Sunday, September 11th, 2011

A shocking image to any Jew who would have passed the cathedral while going about their daily business

Some who visit Germany for the first time assume that the persecution of the Jews in Europe began with Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. Not so. The Jews have been chased out of Europe, murdered and punished with huge taxation rates for more than 1,000 years in Europe. In Regensburg there is a visible example of this dark side of European history.
It is the stone sculpture of Jews suckling from a pig.

The Jewish prohibition of pork comes from Torah, in the book Leviticus, Chapter 11, verses 2 through 8. The arrangement of Jews surrounding, suckling, and having intercourse with the animal (sometimes regarded as the devil), is a mockery of Judaism and example of antisemitic propaganda.

The image appears in the Middle Ages, mostly in carvings on church or cathedral walls, often outside where it could be seen from the street (for example at Wittenberg and Regensburg), but also in other forms. The earliest appearance seems to be on the underside of a wooden choir-stall seat in Cologne Cathedral, dating to about 1210. The earliest example in stone dates to ca. 1230 and is located in the cloister of the cathedral at Brandenburg. In about 1470 the image appeared in woodcut form, and thereafter was often copied in popular prints, often with antisemitic commentary. A wall painting on the bridge tower of Frankfurt am Main, constructed between 1475 and 1507 near the gateway to the Jewish ghetto and demolished in 1801, was an especially notorious example and included a scene of the ritual murder of Simon of Trent.

As an unrelated development, during the Nazi period, Judensau was used as an insulting appellation in German. Although this word is identical in form to the name of the image, it is historically separate and morphologically opposite, and translates as “Jewish sow” rather than “Jews’ sow”.

The stone carving of the Jewish Pig is on the south side of the Regensburg Cathedral, facing the former Jewish ghetto. That ghetto was cleared inn 1519 in order to build a church. More than 500 Jews were expelled.

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Categories : Europe Tours, Germany Tours

Tags : jewish, judensau, pig, regensburg

Archive for Germany Tours

Sommerhausen, Germany and Francis Daniel Pastorius

European Focus Appreciates its Return Guests

Is the Black Forest Really Black?

Trier is Germany’s Oldest City

Hotel Alt Koelnischer Hof in Bacharach Wonderful Place to Stay in Rhein Valley of Germany

Grenzmuseum Schifflersgrund, Allendorf, Germany

Regensburg Cathedral and the Judensau

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