So, today was in my view pretty unique. As my family is half German, I decided shortly before my trip how cool it would be to visit the town my ancestors came from. About 55 miles west of Frankfurt lies the itty bitty town of Spabrücken, in the German state of Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate for all you English speakers).

After dealing with a major, major league a-hole bus driver I made it to the town. (I took a train the the small town of Bad Kreuznach and needed to catch a bus for the last bit, but I didn’t have the right change for a ticket, and she closed the door and drove away as soon as I stepped off to get change at a small shop literally a 6 second walk away leaving me stuck in B.K. for 90 mintes until the next bus came. I even said I would be right back.)

Anyways, the town is very small and 99% residential, with virtually nothing to do, as my prior research indicated. By the time I got off the bus I had already done everything there is…mostly. I have been carrying around a copy of my family tree and photo copies of the old old baptism records the church has which date back to my great great great grandfather, Phillipi Zimmermann from 1830. I got off the bus and was wondering where in the heck the church was, I turned around and saw it right there next to the bus stop. Surprisingly it is quite large and has a very nice interior. I went inside to see if I could find the pastor or keeper of the records, and sadly was never able to find anyone. I knocked around on different doors, including the office, and other side doors. Wah. I came back several times, but still nobody came.

It is almost a ghost town, there’s hundreds of buildings (though it is hard to tell), but maybe saw a little over a dozen people, though vehicle traffic was somewhat regular. Lots of shops were closed, with only a small party with children and animals going on.

I went to the graveyard which is very very well taken care of to potentially find any long lost (in more ways than 1) family members. I found 8 graves of couples and individuals with the last name Zimmermanm, but it is a fairly common last name, so it wouldn’t help me much. As I was wandering around, one of the keepers came over and asked which name I was looking for, I explained simply (as he didn’t speak any English at all). I showed him my papers, and he tried to help, he was quite friendly, but wasn’t really able to, since he doesn’t know my family, and could only point out that any really really old graves are long gone. In Germany, with the exception of old and historic cemeteries, grave plots are rented for 20-30 years, after that, I have no idea what happens.

It started getting chilly, and a little bit late, and staying the night there is the last thing I wanted, so I hopped on the next bus back to Bad Kreuznach, with a very friendly driver this time, and made it back to French ford.

On the plus side, today is literally the first day since Berchtesgaden that I have seen the blue of the sky. Or at least he first time since I can remember seeing it. And it was only a tiny tiny spot. I also had some fun with 2 cats who were terrified of me.

*Also got around to posting my photos from Heidelberg so be sure to go back and scroll down and check em too, incuding the worlds largest cask.