Today’s post is 1850 words, 34 photos, an 8 minute read. Enjoy!
Hi everyone,
Welcome back to Traveling with Tom. This week I’ll take you to several villages around Jülich Germany. We’ll see plenty of churches, cemeteries, and a big hole in the ground.
Before we get started, if you missed any of the previous posts in this series, click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
The Trail to Jülich
It was drizzling when we left Bonn headed for the small city of Jülich about 50 miles west of Cologne near the border with the Netherlands and Belgium. Jülich with a population of over 34,000 people, was organized by the Romans in the first century AD. Thus, it has a long history and is known for its impressive citadel, a star-shaped fortress of strategic importance. Given its location it suffered heavy destruction during World War II. It was carefully rebuilt blending modern design with its historic roots. Agriculture plays a central role in the economy of Jülich with rich soil and a gently rolling terrain. Wheat, barley, sugar beets, and canola are predominant crops. Jülich is also recognized for its role in scientific research hosting one of Europe’s leading research institutions.
As we were drawing closer to Jülich we noticed a large tree covered mountain that rises out of the nearly flat countryside. That’s because it’s an artificial mountain created by the overburden from the nearby lignite coal mine. In the photo below, you can see about one-third of the mountain in the background, It rises about 360 feet (110 meters) above the plain. It’s huge! I’ll take you to the mine in a future post, that’s a site to see.
The photo above was taken from our lodgings on a historical estate and horse farm, Margarethenhof. It was a peaceful, comfortable setting for our five night stay. We were a few miles from Jülich where we picked up groceries and take out for dinner. The evening was spent in relaxation and getting ready for our full day of exploring the next day.
Around Jülich
In the morning after coffee and breakfast, Wayne and I visited several of the villages where Wayne’s ancestors originated. We usually first stopped at the local church. On this day, a Monday, many of the churches were closed. One of our early stops was in the village of Rommerskirchen at St. Peter’s Church, it was closed. 
Wayne had an old address of a distant family member. We entered the address into the car’s nav system that took us to an intersection of a couple of roads on the edge of town. Lots has changed over the years especially since World War II. A couple of townspeople walking their dogs came by while we were stopped. Wayne took this photo is of me talking with a local woman about our search. The people we met along the way were super nice and helpful. 
Done the road a few miles, we checked out the village of Gohr, population 2000. Again, we stopped at the church, St. Odilia’s, the patron saint of good eyesight. This church was open.
In the church yard, was a war memorial. There were a lot of names. It may have included some of the towns people who died during the many bombings.
I noticed this building in Gohr with the green shutters. It was a splash of color where we don’t often see it. 
During our travels in the area around Julich we discovered several St. Martin’s Catholic Churches. I wondered why. St. Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier who converted to Christianity and later became a monk then a Bishop. He is famous for sharing his cloak with a beggar. He is known for his compassion and as a man of peace. He is patron of France, many towns across Europe, soldiers, and conscientious objectors. He lived from 316-397 AD.
This version of St. Martin’s was open. The sanctuary was quite well appointed.
We made a lot of stops in small towns, churches, and cemeteries. The driving was easy, mostly on two-lane backroads with scenic farms. We observed farmers lifting sugar beets and potatoes. Back at the horse farm, we had dinner, did some reading and writing then hit the hay to prepare for another day of exploring.
Manheim
Our first destination for the day was the small village of Manheim, spelled with one small n not two. The German city of Mannheim at the confluence of the Neckar and Upper Rhine Rivers has two small n’s and has a population of over 300,000. This is Manheim is essentially a ghost town.
Off in the distance, we noticed what looked like power plants with cooling towers emitting steam. I believe they were.
Wayne and I were stunned when we pulled off the highway and found buildings occupied by — no one. There were a couple of houses that looked like someone lived there, as evidenced by a parked car. The once stately church was boarded up, surrounded by a tall fence, and large warning signs in German. The one word we understood was “Verboten!” 
It was then when we noticed the huge open pit mine on the edge of the village. During our drive, we came across an encampment of people near the defaced sign in the photo below.
I stopped near the encampment when I saw a young tall, thin fella with a mask doing some chores. We had a brief chat in English. He told me they were protesting the RWE coal mine that feeds coal to several nearby power plants. Then an older feller came along who spoke excellent English and added to the story. He said the climate in the surrounding area has changed dramatically. He claimed that the air contains quicksilver (mercury) and other heavy metals. Maybe.
He was passionate about the cause and said they were making progress. He told me that he was born in Germany but spent much of his early years in upstate New York before returning to Germany. His father was an engineer and wanted him to become an engineer. He became an activist. His parents divorced and his father returned to the U.S. He’s now a citizen.
He told me that the mining company bought out everyone in the village including the church. Residents were offered housing options in a nearby town often called Neu Manheim. The talkative fella mentioned that Michael Schumacher was married in the village church. I didn’t know who he was talking so looked him up. Michael Schumacher is a former Formula One race car driver. He was born and raised nearby where his family owned a go-cart track. That’s where he learned to drive a young age. He dominated the racing circuit in Europe for several years until he was severely injured in a skiing accident in 2013. His son Mick followed in his father’s footsteps as race car driver.
This was a very interesting stop. A few days later, I had a chance to see the mine the activists were protesting. Stay tuned for more in a future blog post.
Between Manheim and Kerpen, we saw this very elaborate war memorial. It was one of the nicest memorials that we encountered on our trip.
Kerpen
Our next stop was the nearby town of Kerpen, population 67,000. It’s a close suburb of Cologne and has a very quiet, family oriented feel. We stopped at the first church steeple we saw, another St. Martin’s.
We drove into the center of town and found a place to park the car. We walked to the large church, St. Mariä Heimsuchung or translated as Church of the Visitation of Mary. It looked like there was some renovation going on but I checked the door to see if it was open. It was. I took a peek inside and saw there was dust all over so stepped back out. After I closed the door, someone made sure the lock was secure.
At this point, I saw there was a museum across the street. I tried to open the door which was locked then tried to decipher the sign. From what I could gather is was by appointment only. As I was about to leave, a women opened the door then asked what I wanted. I said, “We would like to check out the museum.” She pointed me to the top of the stairs. I waved Wayne over and we climbed the stairs. Wayne told the archivist some of what he is looking for regarding family history. He told us to take a look at the small museum while he did a search.
The major display was of the 2005 World Youth Day, a Catholic youth festival held every two to four years. The 2005 version was held in a large field between Kerpen and Cologne. Organized under the auspices of Pope John Paul II before he died in April 2005, the August event was presided over by the new Pope Benedict. An estimated 400,000 youth from all over the world attended the week-long conference. The closing mass on August 21 was attended by over one million people. Here’s a photo of a photo of the event.
Meet Vincent, the junior archivist at the museum. He had been on the job for four weeks. His English was excellent and proved to be very helpful after looking up some of Wayne’s family names in a database. He found some preliminary information and told Wayne to contact him for more. Vincent then suggested we go to the city cemetery to check out some of the names that may be familiar. It was an enjoyable and fruitful experience.
What Vincent didn’t tell us is the cemetery was huge! There were several sections including a Jewish section. 
As I walked through the cemetery, I found a section devoted to those military members killed in World War II. There were two names on each headstone. Some had lived through World War I and died fighting in the Second World War.
There were several mass graves of names with the same surname. My best guess is that many of these families were killed in allied bombing runs. Kerpen was heavily damaged during the war due to its proximity to Cologne and its industrial base. Sad to see.
I was struck by this monument on the boulevard just outside the cemetery. It is a Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Kerpren. The names inscribed on the monument list the names of 153 Jews from Kerpen murdered at Auchwitz. Very few Jews from Kerpen survived the war by hiding or were in mixed marriages. Another sobering reminder of the civilian casualties of war. 
It was a good and interesting day in Germany. The sun was shining, the temperatures in the upper 50s, and the countryside delightful. We ended our day with a stop for some Mexican-American takeout. No sausage and sauerkraut for us this night.
Join me next week when I’ll take you on an excursion to Cologne.
But before I go……
THE FIVE SENSES PLUS ONE
Saw – lots of churches, cemeteries, headstones, war memorials, an abandoned village, an exhibit on World Youth Day, lot of farms and farmland, power plants
Heard – people talking, met people protesting, traffic, kids playing at a school, quiet in the country
Touch – door handles of churches and museum
Smell – food cooking, a beet processing plant, body oder of protester, horse dung
Taste – cinnamon rolls, tacos and chips, pistachio croissant, chicken tenders, red wine, lasagna
Learned – bombings are destructive and kill people, about mining and climate change, things have changed over time, what was once farmland is know housing and part of the urban environment
Until next week, happy travels!
Tom
PS: Click here for a link to the post about my book “Farm Boy.” Contact me if you are interested in purchasing a copy. Thanks to all have plunked down your hard earned dollars and read the book. TM