It wouldn't be an understatement to say that every weekend there is a festival somewhere in Germany. However, we soon learned that all festivals resemble each other - the exception being a change of scenery. This isn't a bad thing, we love festivals, but we know that we aren't missing out if we cannot attend one. To change things, we decided to drive to France for a Medieval festival held in Citadelle de Bitche. We were ready to return to France after our one month traveling Metz-take. Bitche is a city in the Lorraine region just across the German border, a 45-minute drive away.
Walking up to the Citadelle, Medieval music could be heard echoing off the castle walls - albeit, I am a charlatan when it comes to the Medieval genre. This was more of an assumption based on the aptly named festival. The inviting trio had a lute, an unknown high-pitched instrument, and the ever-present jangle of a tambourine. We entered the castle through the main gate where we would start our day with a self-guided tour through the Citadelle - assisted by headphones and a period-piece movie on the history of Citadelle de Bitche. The film focused mainly on the Franco-Prussian war and the illusion of an indomitable fortress - it also featured a memorable birthing scene.
After construction in 17th century, the Citadelle was reinforced twice - most recently in 1740. Like most fortresses, the denizens believed their walls to be impenetrable - which was true until the Franco-Prussian war. As it turns out, Citadelle de Bitche has the illusion of a hillside fortification - at least from where we parked. However, the castle is poorly placed in a basin - thus, in 1870-1871, the Prussians bombarded the Citadelle walls with mortars from nearby hillsides until Commander Louis-Casimir Teyssier finally surrendered by order of the French government.
The most memorable scene of the movie was when Commander Teyssier delivered a baby in the barracks with echos of exploding mortars reverberating in the background. He held the newborn in his hands and said with great hope, "Wonderful, it is a boy...and he is well endowed." The Citadelle de Bitche tour ended atop the fortress where the main attractions of the festivities were located.
Here we enjoyed lunch accompanied with the glorious people watching that every Medieval festival provides. However, lunch proved to be a very complicated process, not in that we didn't understand the options of; meat, meat, meat, or meat. Rather, we had to exchange Euro for "Medieval coins" of indeterminable value - there was no writing the coins, nor was there a distinct size differential. Further, we had to take these coins to another stand and exchange them for tickets. Then the tickets were exchanged with the food stands to get a desired meal.
While eating lunch and pondering the complexities of the festival's currency system, we were conveniently centralized for the entertainment. It started with the village dolt walking around humoring (mostly scaring) the public with his uncanny resemblance of a hobgoblin-esque Danny DeVito harlequin. This was followed by a band and fire show. When the show drew to an end, we walked the rest of the castle grounds enjoying vendor stands and the petting zoo.
We were surprised to see that event participants truly played the part and live on castle grounds. There was a lone man sitting in a tent dressed in full regalia, but no more details to add aside from him sitting on a throne in a small tent suitable for a single chair...leering. On the other side of the makeshift village, there was a gentleman wielding a staff, practicing for some sort of combat that will ultimately never happen (although, I am not sure if civil unrest in this Medieval town is resolved with staff-wielding skills). As we left the festival, we even saw a dragon, well, maybe not a dragon, but a gecko.
Wonderful...a male gecko, and well endowed!!!
Who knew northeast France has geckos...?
Citadelle de Bitche
Entering the Citadelle gate
Former Citadelle stables
View of Citadelle entrance and town of Bitche
Cute little Bitche
Afternoon entertainment
Fire!!!
Fire Fire!!!
Impenetrable walls
Cannon atop the Citadelle
Firing canons from the top aren't enough if you don't drop bombs here
For the sake of convenience, I have neglected to write about the World Cup due to superstition and the fact that I am months behind on updates. Die Mannschaft (Germany's national fußball team nickname) opened the group stage of the World Cup with Portugal. Knowing Homburg was hosting public viewings for all the games, we decided to venture out to watch the game with the locals.
Unfortunately, we got off to a late start and we failed to find the public viewing area because we were rushed to find a television. We ended up at a local cafe off the main street and arrived 25 minutes into the game - fortunately, Deutschland was already up 2-0 at that time. The game ended with a 4-0 thrashing and we were introduced to the celebratory tradition of honking your horn throughout the city. Upon our exit, we found the public viewing square with the droves of people flooding into the streets after the victory - we would attempt to watch the next few games in the public spectrum (and one in Heidelberg).
Panoramic during the World Cup Final
The public viewing in Homburg was located in the market square (Marktplatz), an electrifying atmosphere packed with fans, The entrance was similar to a bar pushing the fire code limit - those waiting to get in could only do so when someone left the square. When Die Mannshaft defeated Brasil 7-1 in the semi-final, there was no doubt we were going to watch the final in downtown Homburg.
We arrived to the square a half-hour before kick-off and we still had to wait for the one-in one-out to gain admittance. The crowd was rowdy before the starting whistle, but soon became subdued by the tense oscillation of the match. When Argentina scored in the 32nd minute, the air left the square, however; the replay showed Gonzalo Higuain was offside and fans rejoiced as if Germany had scored. We continued to watch with hopeful reservations - cheering every offensive possession and holding our breath while defending.
During halftime, everyone resumed their normal respiration while replenishing their palates with copious amounts of beer. We took advantage and relocated to a spot closer to the big screen as the second half was about to start. After the ninety minute whistle, the crowd was an emotional wreck and neither team had scored. Then the first fifteen of extra time had passed and still no score, but there was a refreshing confidence if the game went into penalties - Germany has never lost in penalties.
Fortunately, penalties would never come, in the 113th minute - Mario Götze brilliantly put Die Mannschaft ahead 1-0 turning the crowd into bedlam. The remaining seven minutes seemed as long as the previous 113, but the Argentinian side failed to equalize.
The final minute of the game can be viewed in the video below, had there been better lighting, the amount of beer tossed in the crowd would near the volume of a keg.
Let the celebrations begin...
Live music filled the historic square of Homburg and we moved towards the streets. We expected the winning tradition of honking horns, However, when we arrived, we didn't expect the scene we stumbled upon. There was no police presence, but there was an organization to this chaos and it will always sit among the top sporting experiences for me.
Ganz Deutschland ist Weltmeister!!!
Fans trying to stop every passer by to burn rubber
Peaceful riot, no injuries, no car flipping, no fires - well flares are different
One of many celebratory sit-downs
Marktplatz, Homburg - Deutschland vs. USA
Christus Statue with Homburg Coat of Arms, Photo: sol.de
Deutschland vs. USA
Deutschland vs. Portugal
Honking
Lots of flags, one toy car
The song that was the biggest hit throughout the World Cup and is a standing-on-table beer tent favorite (Andreas Bourani - Auf uns)
On the final day of our family visit, we set off for Adelsheim, the hometown of Julie's grandmother. However, during the late 1930's the nefarious Nazi regime destroyed and uprooted countless lives, including Julie's grandmother and her family. The Jewish community of Adelsheim was dispossessed, forced to leave their homes and livelihood behind - but thanks to the efforts of Reinhart Lochmann, the memories and heritage of these families will forever be preserved in a museum dedicated to the Jewish community.
During our visit, Adelsheim was hosting their annual Volksmarch, a weekend-long event that starts with a 10 kilometer walk and finishes with endless one-liter curls. We would also visit two of the adjacent districts, starting with Korb - the birthplace of Julie's grandmother, Gee. Lastly, we stopped by Sennfeld, the location of the historic Synagogue and home to the museum.
Area visited
After a four hour drive, we met both Reinhart and his wife at their home in Adelsheim. They welcomed us like family and were excited for our visit. Once we were all seated and comfortable, Reinhart wanted to confirm the ancestral information for his records. He was pleased to update his notes and add pictures brought by Julie's family. For an hour, we shared stories, photo albums, and laughs. Time flew by and we grew hungry, we headed downtown to tour the city and discover the tradition that famously combines recreational walking and drinking.
Rathaus
Creek running through Adelsheim
Half-timbered building downtown
Statue seen has been there since Gee's childhood
Quiet little area at the end of the Volksmarch
River near the demarcation of Baden and Württemburg
The Volksmarch of Adelsheim is a festival that involves a noncompetitive walk and finishes with bountiful boozing. We didn't see anyone walking, but there was a copious amount drinking. As we walked the streets, Reinhart recounted the history of the town - adding stories of Gee's childhood in relationship to our location. He spoke of how the town has changed over the course of years and how some characteristics remain unscathed. After touring Adelsheim, we stopped by the main tent of the Volksmarch where we ate, drank, and met local townspeople. It was a wonderful lunch and was great for Julie's parents to have a "truly German"experience outside the realm of sightseeing. We walked the tents and absorbed the celebratory atmosphere - once satiated with food and drink, we set off to see the neighboring townships, Korb and Sennfeld.
Volksmarch saw competition
A short drive away, we arrived in Korb, the birthplace of Julie's grandmother and the town where she spent the early years of her life. We saw the house she lived in, but could not go inside due to the current condition. While in Korb, Reinhart showed us old pictures of Gee's house her school (across the street from her house) and classmates. Later, we drove to the old synagogue of Sennfeld, to see the museum.
The synagogue was built in 1836 and remains relatively unchanged, however; recent renovations uncovered the original Mikveh. The museum commemorates the Jewish communities of Adelsheim and traces their imposed relocation to concentration camps. Reinhart walked us through each section translating the German for us and explaining the significance of each area. Before departing, Reinhart showed us the visitors' guestbook signed by members of the Jewish community and their relatives. In the books, a handwritten message by Julie's grandmother Gee from years ago (the entry was entirely in German so Reinhart translated for us) - a surreal moment intangible through the use of words or photograph. Julie's mother added another passage to the book and we made our way to the final stop on our visit.
Lastly, we stopped by the Jewish cemetery to visit the burial site of Julie's great-great-grandparents. We payed our respects and added a rock to the top of each memorial, a peaceful end to the most humbling of days.
Jewish Cemetery
Paying our respects
With the unequivocal devotion and effort of Reinhart and all those who have helped him, the Jewish community of Adelsheim will always be remembered and the legacy of those who survived will continue to live on through their decedents.
Day two of our family adventure continued with the castle theme, we were off to visit Burg Eltz, a family owned castle for more than 33 generations. Our first stop along the way, Cochem, a quaint little town along the Mosel River valley with cobble stoned streets, a castle, and apparently a mustard museum. Our house appears to be a geographical oddity*, our destination was yet another two hour drive away. By the time we arrived we were ready for lunch - the pervasive overcast and sporadic showers precipitated the decision to find a restaurant. Being that Cochem is a small town, we almost walked the entire town-scape before deciding on a locale.
After lunch, we continued to walk the streets, seeming as though we were traveling through a different period in time - only the stores and people served as reminders of the present. We walked across the bridge to take more pictures and get a better view of Reichsburg, the castle in Cochem. There are more restaurants on the other side of the Mosel and a Historic Mustard Mill (Historische Senfmühle). The tour didn't seem to justify the cost, but there were samples of all the varieties of mustard made at the facility (highly recommend the Historischer Senf, seriously, buy some now). The taste test convinced us to make some purchases, ending our visit in Cochem - it was time to go to Burg Eltz.
Another two-hours 15-minutes in the car and we arrived at one of the few family-owned castles in Germany. We parked near the castle for a nominal fee, but there is an option with free parking and it involves a 35-minute hike to the castle grounds - being that we aren't sadist, this was not an option. Burg Eltz has a rich 850-year history and is one of only a few castles in Germany to have never incurred collateral damage through the wars. The castle is uninhabited, but the Count and Countess use their property as a tourist attraction. The tour costs nine Euro and is a rare insight through the history of a well preserved family-owned castle. Pictures are not allowed on the tour (reason unknown), but somehow my camera would mysteriously take a photo when walking around. The tour ends with an unguided walk thorough the family treasury and contains an immense private collection that would be an "Antiques Roadshow" appraiser's wet dream.
Our day was cap-stoned with a visit to Beilstein, a picturesque town alongside the Mosel River. Exploring the village of Beilstein is like walking through a fairy tale. Half-timbered homes, cobble-stoned streets, and even has a castle, but unfortunately, Burg Metternich was closed for the evening. We finished our day with dinner at Wirsthaus Alte Stadtmauer on the balcony overlooking the Mosel followed with some gelatto across the street.
geographical oddity*
Cochem
Endert Gate Tower, remains of old town wall dating back to 1332
