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Reunion in Germany - June 1998
REUNION IN
GERMANY
JUNE
1998
Around Christmas 1997 Dr.
Otto Richter of Bad Neuenahr, Germany, invited a few of the Stracks and Bernbecks
from the United States who are descendants of our common ancestor, Johann
Daniel Bernbeck (1757-1825), to a reunion of the Bernbeck Family near Giessen,
Germany. Since my Grandmother, Karoline Marie Strack, was a Great Granddaughter
of Johann Daniel Bernbeck, I was fortunate to be so invited. I think
it surprised Otto somewhat when I accepted his invitation but his gracious
hospitality was witness to the fact that he was very pleased to have a living
Strack representative from the U.S.A. present at the reunion.
Otto Richter and His Lovely Family (Taken July 1995 Near Malaga, Spain)
From Right, Otto, Jutta, Ellen, and Tanya
Another motivation for
the trip was that I wanted very much to visit again with Anna and Gerhard
Schowengerd in Kattenvenne, Germany, from where my Great Grandfather, Ernst
Schowengerd, emigrated in 1837 to the U.S.A. with his Mother, Anna Maria
Rahen Schowengerd. My wife, Emiko, and I had visited the Schowengerd's
in Kattenvenne over the Christmas 1989 holiday and had very fond memories
of our visit with them. I was somewhat concerned that I would not be
able to see Anna again as I knew that she was approaching an advanced
age.
Following is a pictoral
excursion of our most pleasant visit this year. Below you will
see one of the beautiful castles on the Rhine which we observed during our
drive from Koblenz to Wiesbaden.
  At left
is our most gracious host, Otto Richter, with Emiko and I.
At right is Dr. Arnold, owner of a most interesting
restaurant and museum where we held our first informal gathering of the Bernbeck
Reunion.
As it turns out, Dr. Arnold's Father, shown at the
left below, was a famous sculptor. Shown to his right are three of his statues
exhibiting a common favorite theme, the Lady-In-Waiting.
   
Below are some scenes from of the museum
 
And here are some taken at the formal meeting of
the Bernbeck Reunion
  
From left to right are Antonie (nee Bernbeck) Exner,
speaker of the Bernbeck-Lehrbach branch; Joseph & Gisela (nee Wendel)
Lischka, hosts of the Bernbeck Archive; and Dr. Brigitte (nee Richter) Hercher,
Otto's Aunt and at age 90 the oldest participant at the Reunion.
 
Otto took us to the Church in Londorf where my Great
Great Grandfather, Gottfried Friedrich Christian Strack, preached. I had
the privilege of standing in the pulpit for a brief moment and reliving
history!
Near the conclusion of the reunion I gladly accepted
the appointment of the Bernbeck Family to be the representative of the Strack
and Bernbeck Family members living here in the U.S.A. and was charged with
the responsibility of organizing reunions here.
Then we drove North from Bad Neueunahr to Kattenvenne
where we had a joyous reunion with Anna and Gerhard.
 
Happily it turned out that Anna at age 80 was no
where near retiring to a wheel chair...she still works in the garden and
around the house on a regular basis and enjoyed a beer with us singing lustily
"ein, swei, sofa!"
  
Gehard and his Sister, Renate along with her husband
Klaus-Dieter Zastrau were all in good health and enjoying life at the time
of our visit. Unfortunately, Klaus-Dieter was killed in an automobile
accident in April of this year and continues to be mourned by his family,
relatives, and friends. Gerhard still holds his good position at Dyckerhoff
in Lengerich and has completely remodeled the farmhouse. It is just
beautiful! Renate is a lovely lady and is quite proud of her
garden.
 
We were also quite fortunate to meet for the first
time, Wilhelm Hilgedieck, and his lovely wife Inge shown above. Wilhelm is
a retired school principal and has contributed a great deal to researching
the history of the Schowengerd emigration records in Lienen and has provided
us with very valuable information. Unfortunately, Wilhelm suffered
a stroke after our return to the U.S.A. but we still communicate by email
and Wilhelm was the first to notify me of the tragic death of Klaus-Dieter
Zastrau.
  
Gerhard took us to Munster for a pleasant and
interesting tour of a museum with some Kattenvenne artifacts such as the
school room shown above.
Then with sadness in our heart we left Germany...but
at the last moment we stopped to view the golden casket of my distant ancestor,
Charlemagne, in the Dome Cathedral in Aachen.
Karl Der Gross (Charlemagne) is one of my 32nd Great
Grandparents. His casket was most impressive!
Launched Page on 3 July 1998
Revised 29 July 1999
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