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Germany Exchange - April 7 - 22, 1999
The next day was cold and overcast. We met at the Hamburg City Hall for a tour. In the evening, small group welcome parties were held according to which part of town (or rural area) we were placed. A guest at one of the parties complemented ambassador Walter Rowoldt on his German. He explained he had been an exchange pastor in Germany 20 years ago. On further investigation, they determined Walter had conducted the lady¹s mother¹s funeral! Saturday, we went on a bus tour to Lauenburg where we saw the oldest lock in Germany, built to transport salt to the Baltic Sea; then on to the East German town of Schwerin where we had lunch and toured a restored castle built on an island. Sunday was a free day. Jan Lingren visited a church where she obtained records on at least three relatives. Monday, in spite of rain, we toured the Hamburg harbor and canals by boat. The following day was free, and many of us went shopping, visiting or sightseeing. Wednesday, we toured the salt-producing town of Luneburg. Because of the value of salt, Luneburg and the port at Lubeck were not destroyed by the Norsemen during their invasions, and many buildings were still standing. In the evening we had our farewell party and got a chuckle because it was listed as a èwell fareî party on the itinerary. We had soup, brown bread and cold cuts, then enjoyed German accordion music around a roaring fire. We took the 2-hour bus trip to Kiel on Thursday and were met by our second week hosts. Ambassadors visited an open-air museum on Friday. Saturday and Sunday were free days, and most hosts drove us to Denmark on one of those days. We saw the North-Baltic Sea Canal and charming fishing villages along the Baltic Sea. Many of us also had an opportunity to tour Kiel and go shopping. Ambassador Dick Hansen visited an address of relatives found on an envelope in his grandfather¹s effects and discovered the people living there were also named Hansen and were probably his relatives. Helen Lyles was surprised by a visit with seven of her relatives (2 cousins). Monday we took the ferry to Denmark and back. A welcome party was held in the evening with a typical German dinner of roulades, red cabbage, and plum compote, and entertainment by dancers and sea shanty singers. The next morning we met at the Government Building for an explanation of the government of Schleswig-Holstein and a question-answer session with two legislators from different political parties. Following lunch we took the ferry across the harbor to Laboe to see the Navy Monument, a 75-metre tall memorial to sailors lost during World War I and II. Some of us toured a U-boat submarine. On our final day we had a bus tour to the North Sea with stops at the seaport Husum and the Dutch renaissance town Friedrichstadt. Then it was home to pack and get ready for the long journey home. |
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epleted by the loss of June Simpson (broken leg) and Jeanne Zwiebel (hand surgery), sixteen ambassadors departed Lincoln for Hamburg and Kiel, Germany on April 7th. We were joined in Chicago by five ambassadors from Iowa and North Carolina. After about 24 hours of travel, we were greeted at the Hamburg airport by our hosts for the first week. Most of us spent the day napping and adjusting to the seven-hour time change.