MARCH 10 - 23, 2018 CZECH REPUBLIC, AUSTRIA , GERMANY

         The Spring Temple closure dates for 2018, were from March 10 - March 26.  We have looked forward to these dates for many months, because David, Jennifer, McKenna, Dallin and Eliza were coming to visit.

  They flew nonstop from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Frankfurt, Germany.  There they rented a car and drove to Freiberg.

AT DOORS OF FREIBERG DOM CHURCH

  They arrived in  time for Dallin to do a few baptisms in the temple, and for us to take Jen and David on a quick tour of the temple before it closed.   
 
     Following our work in the temple ,we had a luncheon with our Branch in the Ward Meeting House, called the Gemeinde.  I was happy to take this opportunity to introduce the family to some of our German friends, and temple missionaries with whom we serve.  This weekend was our Branch conference weekend, so visitors from the Stake were there.

     On Sunday afternoon, March 11th, we drove to the site between Dresden and Meissen  where President Monson rededicated the land of Germany for the preaching of the gospel in April 1975.  We then drove around Freiberg, showing them the Silver Mining site that put Freiberg on the map 500 years ago.  We also visited the many hundred years old Dom Kirche (church).

AT PRESIDENT MONSON DEDICATION SITE

We have a cemetery in Freiberg which is the burial place of 1300 German refugees, driven out of Poland  and Czechoslovakia after World War II.  These people came to Freiberg, but there was no place for them to live, so they died from the cold and from hunger.  Freiberg was at the time under the control of the Russian communist government. The Russians buried these people in mass graves with no markers, however, their names were listed.  After the Russian governent lost control of Germany, with the fall of the Iron Curtain around 1989-1990, the German people made grave markers and had the names of these people engraved on the headstones, six people to one headstone, with their birth and death dates.
     One of our temple missionaries, Ed Fillmore, came to this cemetery with missionaries Larry Bonner, and Lee Ashby, and took pictures of the names on these headstones, and he then submitted the information to the "Find A Grave" program accessible on Family Search.  He wasn't able to completely finish taking pictures of all of the headstones, so he has asked Elder Ashby to finish the job for him. 

GERMAN REFUGEE CEMETERY (SO SAD)

     Monday, March 12th, we drove to Dresden, Germany, a short 40 minute drive from Freiberg.  It was a very rainy day, and we walked around with umbrellas all day long.  We took a tour of the Historic Green Vault, inside the Royal Palace of the Princes of Saxony.  The Historic GreenVault  houses the collection of the royal family's treasure trove of ivory, silver and gold, plus the Saxony crown jewels.  This collection was begun by Augustus the Strong in the early 1700's.  Though damaged in the bombing of Dresden in World War II, it has been painstakingly restored.
   
     We, also, visited the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Dresden.  This church was totally destroyed in the bombing of Dresden, and sat in ruins for decades.  Restoration began in 1992, trying to use as much of the original materials as possible. This reconstruction cost 100 million euros, 90 percent  coming from private doners around the world.  President Uchtdorf referred to this church in one of his General Conference talks.

DINING AT THE PULVER TURM RESTAURANT

     Situated next to the Frauenkirche is a lovely restaurant called The Pulver Turm.  It serves delicious German food, but the decor and ambiance of the place is super.  This restaurant was built on the ruins of a building and tower destroyed during the bombing of Dresden.  It is very interesting to see the parts of old walls inside, and the decorations from old time Germany.  We had lunch in this restaurant, and a delightful meal was enjoyed by all.

     Our last stop in Dresden was at the Zwinger.  The Zwinger was a baroque masterpiece built by the Wettin Dynasty, who ruled Saxon Germany for more that 800 years, right up till the end of the First World War.  It was built for pleasurable pursuits, like partying, weddings, etc.  It now houses four different museums, none of which we visited.  It has a beautiful glockenspiel that chimes every fifteen minutes.  The chimes are made of porcelain, and make a beautiful sound.

      During our two and 1/2 hour drive to Prague, we finally dried out from all the rain in Dresden.  In Prague, Czeche Republic, we stayed in an airbnb apartment way up on the third floor of a building in the heart of Prague.

JAN HUIS MEMORIAL

  It was old, but we enjoyed it because we could all be together.  Prague is a  beautiful city.  On Tuesday, March 13th, we visited the Old Town Square, about a block from our apartment.  The streets are made of cobblestones, and are very narrow.  We saw the statue of Jan Huis, a religious reformer who had trouble with the Vatican about a 100 years before Martin Luther.  He preached in the people's language and complained about church corruption.  He was tried for heresy and burned in 1415.  He is considered a hero by the Czech people.

     We visited the Prague Castle and Cathedral, located way up on a hill in Prague.    It has a very interesting area in the castle complex, called The Golden Lane.  This is a street of homes that are very small, and used to house the servants, and maybe some goldsmiths who worked in the castle.  They were occupied until World War II.  The houses now display medieval torture, alchemy, armor and medieval clothing, as well as gift shops.  We actually ate lunch in a small restaurant on this street.

PRAGUE CASTLE & ST. VITAS CATHEDRAL

The St. Vitas Cathedral is located on the castle grounds.  We walked through it, and Bill took numerous pictures.  Prague was ruled by the Habsburg's and their coronation ceremonies were held in the St. Vitas Cathedral.  Another church located in the castle complex is called The Basilica of St. George. It was used before the St. Vitas Cathedral was built and was founded by Good King Wenceslas' Dad around 920 AD.  It housed the remains of the earliest Czech kings.  St. Wenceslas' grandmother is buried here.

     The Charles Bridge  is the most famous of all the bridges in Prague.  It is over theVltava River, or better known German name of Moldau River.

CHARLES BRIDGE TOWER

This much loved bridge offers one of the most pleasant and entertaining strolls in Europe.   Musicians, and artisans and a constant stream of people make it a festival every day.  We watched several artists and musicians on our stroll across this bridge.  David actually climbed one of the towers to see the view.

      As Jenny, Eliza and I were strolling on the Old Town Square one day we just had to stop and taste the local baked goods.  We have a picture of us eating a TRDELNIK.  It tasted like a cinnamon sugar doughnut, but surely had a different shape than a donut.  Just after eating the TRDELNIK we saw the Easter Egg Tree, and had to have a picture.

MUSICIANS ON CHARLES BRIDGE

     Wednesday, March 14th, we finished up in Prague and drove to Salzburg.  Salzburg actually got its' name from the Salt Mines nearby.  Salz is the word for salt, in German, and the name of the river running through Salzburg, is the Salzach.  We all wanted to visit Salzburg because of our love of the movie "The Sound of Music."  The scenery in the movie is so beautiful.  We booked our "Sound of Music Tour" with PanoramaTours, and we just loved it.  We had a very good tour guide.  The tour was all in English..  We stopped at places where the movie was filmed and had some insider information shared with us.

PANORAMA TOUR BUS

For instance, the smallest Von Trapp girl in the movie, Brigitte, I think, almost drowned when they filmed the scene where the canoe tips over in the river.

CHURCH WHERE CAPTAIN AND MARIA MARRIED

Also, Christopher Plummer didn't think the movie would be such a hit, and he called it "The Sound of Mucus."  He has since retracted that statement.  Also, where Captain Von Trapp tears up the Nazi flag, Christopher Plummer wasn't strong enough to tear through the fabric, so they had to cut a place in the flag for him to start tearing.  He has to turn the flag around to the right spot to find the tear, which you can see him doing in the movie.   Our tour lasted four hours, and took us through the lakes and mountain region near Salzburg, because Maria's wedding scene was actually filmed at a church miles away from Salzburg.  We would see clips from the film, and then we would stop at the place where it was filmed.  This tour was one of the highlights of our trip for me.


        We took the Funicular up the mountain to the Hohensalzburg Fortress.  It was built on a rock 400 feet above the Salzach River.  Built by a Catholic Archbishop, this fortress was so foreboding that nobody ever attacked the town for over 800 years, so the fortress was never really used.  Salzburg was never really taken over by force, but when Napoleon stopped by, Salzburg wisely surrendered.  After a stint as a military barracks, the fortress was opened to the public in the 1860's.

  The fortress now houses restaurants, museums and a marionette exhibit.

HOHENSALZBURG FORTRESS

     Taking the walking tour through town, we passed Mozart's birthplace and museum.  Mozart is one of Salzburg's most famous citizens.   It was here that he learned to  play the piano and violin, and composed his first boy-genius works.  His family gained fame touring Europe's palaces, and became the toast of Salzburg.  Mozart lived the first 25 years of his 35  year life, in Salzburg.  He played his first big concert at the age of six.


     Thursday Afternoon, March 15th, we left Salzburg, and drove through the Alps on our way to Neuschwanstein Castle near Fuessen, Germany.

MOZART BIRTHPLACE

As we left Salzburg, we got a brief glimpse of Hitler's Eagle's Nest on the top of a high mountain looking over into Austria.  For several hours we just enjoyed driving through the beautiful Alps, past Innsbruck and on to Fuessen.   We stayed in a charming hotel in Fuessen called "The San Marco Hotel."  We had two rooms here, and enjoyed the beautiful views from the dining room to the lakes and mountains outside our windows.

     March 16th, Friday, we arrived at Neuschwanstein Castle in the morning.  We rode a bus to the top of the mountain to visit the Mary's Bridge (Marienbrucke).  The bridge affords a beautiful view of the castle, and spans a deep gorge and river far below.  We then walked down the path to the castle to join our  group for the castle tour.  You're not allowed to take pictures in the castle, but it is one of the famous and beautiful in all of Europe.  Walt Disney used this castle as his plan for the Castle on all Walt Disney productions and theme parks.

NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE

  The castle was built by King Ludwig.from 1869-1886.  He only lived in it for 172 days, when he was declared "mad" and unfit to rule.  He was taken away to another place, and was found dead two days later.  They still don't know if he committed suicide, or was murdered.  He died in 1886, at the age of 40.  As I toured this castle, I thought of Joseph Smith, and that this king was alive at the same time as the Church was in its' infancy.   It's something to think of the homes Joseph Smith lived in, and to see the home of King Ludwig.

     On our way back to Frankfurt on Saturday, March 16th, we took a detour to Lindau, a city on the shores of Lake Constanz, or the Bodensee, near the borders of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

MARIEN BRIDGE - NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE

KUMPS ON STUMPS - NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE

Jennifer wanted to see Lake Constanz, so even though it was a cloudy, misty day, we walked down to the Lindau Harbor and saw the beautiful area.

LINDAU HARBOR - LAKE CONSTANZ

  It was rather cold, so we didn't linger longer, but we know that the view would have been stunning, if the weather had been better.
   

     Our last stop before our hotel near  the Frankfurt Airport, was in the dark, at a town called Deerfelden.  This was a special stop for our son-in-law, David, because his Kump ancestors came from this small town.  It was so dark, and we were running late, so we didn't get to see much, but we do know that it was in the mountains, up miles of winding roads.


     Sunday morning, March 17th,  the kids boarded their plane to fly back home, and Bill and I went to church at the Langen Ward in Frankfurt.  Bill forgot his tie, and was loaned one from the Ward Bishop's office.

BILL WITH BORROWED TIE - LANGEN WARD

  The ward members were all very kind and welcoming to us.  After Sacrament Meeting, we started our 5 hour drive back to Freiberg ,in a snowstorm. One stop along the way took us to Eisenach, Germany, and Wartburg Castle.  We wanted to see this castle because it is where Martin Luther translated the New Testament into the German language the common man could read.  He was in hiding here, because the Pope was after him because of his rebellion against the Catholic Church.   A friendly prince gave him a place to hide while he did this translation work.  Luther had attended some  of his schooling in Eisenach.



     A few days after our arrival home, we took a day trip to Berlin, which is about 2 1/4 hours North from Freiberg.  We were especially interested in seeing the World War II sites.

WARTBURG CASTLE - EISENACH

  Berlin has become a beautiful modern city, with a wonderful shopping district. We parked downtown, using our "hop on hop off" bus tickets, we took a 1 1/2 hour tour of Berlin.  We then got off close to the Reichstag and began walking.  We saw the Reichstag, but didn't go inside.   We also saw the building where Angela Merkel has her offices.  It's not in the Reichstag, but in the Chancellerey, which is a modern looking building of concrete and glass.  It is nicknamed "the washing machine" by Berliners for its' hygienic spin-cycle appearance.
     We visited the Memorial to the Politicians who Opposed Hitler, The Berlin Wall Victims Memorial, The Memorial to the Murdered Jews In Europe, and the Site of Hitler's Bunker, even though it sits below a parking lot, today  We, also, visited the Brandenburg Gate, and the U.S. Embassy nearby.

MEMORIAL TO THE MURDERED JEWS

  We wanted to go inside the embassy, which is guarded by German Poliezi,  but we were not allowed.  Only those with business were allowed inside.  I couldn't even have my picture taken by the words that said "EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA."    The police woman said it was because of the terrorist threat.  I told her that my tax dollars helped to build that building, but it didn't make any difference. (smile)
     Our last visit of the day was to The Berlin Wall, and to Checkpoint Charlie.  Outside Checkpoint Charlie was a young man dressed in an American soldier's winter overcoat, holding an American flag.

BRANDENBURG GATE - BERLIN

  If you gave him money, he would let you have your picture taken with him.  We took a picture from a distance, anyway.  Believe it or not, we ate lunch in Berlin at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant close to Checkpoint Charlie.  Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King, and McDonalds were all over the place in Berlin.  And, McDonalds is in many, many towns in Germany.  So is Subway Restaurant.

     We are now back home, and content to put our feet up, sit back and relax!  We would do that, but we are in charge of the baptistry, and have 60 youth from Hannover, Germany, and 40 youth from Frankfurt, Germany here to do baptisms during their Spring break.  Oh well, maybe next week!!!


     

    RANDOM PHOTOS FOR               THIS TIME PERIOD

CHECKPOINT CHARLIE

HITLER'S EAGLE'S NEST AT TIP TOP OF MOUNTAIN - BERCHTESGADEN

THE GOLDEN LANE  - PRAGUE

EATING TRDELNIK - PRAGUE

EASTER EGG TREE - TOWN SQUARE PRAGUE

BILL'S CONTRIBUTION - 2 DAYS LATER WAS MELTED