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Archiver > GERMAN-BOHEMIAN > 2008-09 > 1220622611


From: Robert Paulson <>
Subject: Re: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Travel to Jablonec nad Nisou and L'vov
Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2008 08:50:11 -0500
References: <85fb5e78.e6e8.4779.947f.fe541d9aa66f@aol.com>,<8CADCAB7E97EABF-1658-2B8@MBLK-M36.sysops.aol.com><4538bd1a.1518.421d.8eb7.e9ed4e39c902@aol.com>
In-Reply-To: <4538bd1a.1518.421d.8eb7.e9ed4e39c902@aol.com>


Just another suggestion for travel in the Czech Republic: when you
rent your car, ask to rent a GPS as well. Most rental agencies at
airports have them available. Check around. These can be programed
in English and can be invaluable in just getting around or locating
your hotels, etc. in large cities. They can also be of use in
locating small village in the countryside.

Bob Paulson
On Sep 4, 2008, at 10:53 PM, KarenHob wrote:

> You want to visit the city the Germans called Gablonz.
> The Germans who were expelled from there settled Neu Gablonz in
> eastern Bavaria. You may find cousins there.
>
> You may find them more easily if you publish the names you are
> researching
> from that area, perhaps their birth years, too, and when they
> emigrated if
> you know (have you looked at the ship's lists indexes or at Leo
> Baca's books
> of Czechs to America which also include Bohemian-German families?)
>
> My daughter was just in CR and had Jakub Smid, a professional
> researcher
> from Brno, show her around our ancestral village and the other places
> important to our ancestors. Before she went she visited with a
> family in
> Germany who had lived in that same village -- we were able to
> contact them
> because one of them was a member of this list and saw my interest in
> Mariafels.
>
> Jakub charged $160 per day but he was able to cut his own expense by
> staying with family in Beroun. I don't know that he could do that
> if he
> were with you in Gablonz.
>
> Driving to Dresden from Gablonz should not be difficult but if it
> is a Czech
> car rental you have to have papers to cross the border with it and
> drop
> it off outside of CR.
> I think I would dive or take the train to Terezin first if you have
> time to visit there.
> Then drop it off at a designated place on the Elbe
> and take the riverboat or scenic train to Dresden, then a taxi to a
> central
> hotel or pension in the old town where it is possible to walk to
> all the sights. I stayed
> at the Hilton sharing a $200 double room with my sister. It was
> worth the cost
> because we were in the middle of everything and did not need
> transportation.
> They also had parking for our car (not all hotels do). It was
> about a block
> from the Eger river where the riverboats from CR docked, and very
> close to the
> old royal palace, cathedral, nuseums, Marienkirche and the entry to
> the
> tunnels under the old fortifications (under the steps going up to
> the top of the wall).
>
> Do not try to drive to a hotel in Dresden. If you are in a car,
> stop at a taxi
> stand as near as you think you can get to downtown without getting
> lost and ask the
> taxi to lead you where you want to go. It is well worth a taxi
> fare to get
> past all the one ways that are not on your maps. This is true for
> Prague,
> Leipzig, Munich, etc., and probably true for Lvov if you are not
> going to be
> met at the train by an English speaking researcher / guide. I
> have used taxis
> to lead the way in Nurnburg, Munich, Prague, Dresden and other
> places.
>
> Lvov was an important military town in Eastern Galicia -- an area
> with German
> settlements that included settlements established by Bohemian Germans.
> You can find names of Germans from Bohemia that went there during the
> 19th century in the LDS films titled: Ansiedlerakten
>
> I would not attempt to drive to Lvov without knowing Ukraninan or
> Russian
> language and without having a LOT of gifts of clothing, chocolate,
> nylons,
> and even cosmetics for the people along the way. The people in the
> countryside
> are very poor and even some bars of perfumed soap and a nice fleecy
> towel
> would be a luxury for them if you stayed in a village pension.
> Finding accommodations for overnight with secure parking might be a
> problem.
> I have no idea what condition the roads might be in or how
> convenient the gas stations
> are.
>
> Join the Austro-Hungarian-L list on Rootsweb and post a request for
> help
> on a visit to Lvov and see who replies. There have been several Lvov
> researchers who know English on that list. See if there is
> someone who can
> meet you at the train and share a cab or drive you to your hotel
> and then
> discuss what you will see. If all you want is to visit the archive
> you may have
> to order materials you want to view up to 48 hours in advance.
> Some will
> be in Russian and others in German or Polish depending on the time
> period.
>
> A trip that includes Gablonz, Dresden, Leipzig and Lvov would require
> about 3-4 weeks if you wanted to do each city justice. Taking
> overnight trains to avoid a
> night in a hotel could also reduce the days required. Get a rail
> pass in the US if you plan to travel by train very
> much.
>
> Karen
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> In a message dated 09/04/08 07:45:24 Mountain Daylight Time,
> jteague444 writes:
> traveling in the areas of Jablonec nad Nisou in the Czech Replubic
> If you can take a train there and then rent a car to go wherever
> you want to go, do so.
> Find a hotel with guarded parking.
> Do not leve anything visible inside your car when you leave it
> parked and locked.
>
> You can drive to Dresden and Leipzig from CR but you may not want
> to go through
> the mountains in the north of CR. Plan your route carefully.
> If you plan to include Prague and you are traveling alone, do not
> drive, take the train.
>
> Contact Jakub Smid as a possible guide. He has relatives in Beroun
> and stays with
> them when in western CR so it saves both you and him some cash. He
> charged about
> $160 per day to show my daughter around Mariafels, my ancestral
> village.
>
>
>
>
> ?or L'vov, Ukraine?? Would it be considered as safe as driving,
> say, in Germany or Austria??
>
> Is the old former East Germany area also now as safe and tourist
> friendly as the old West Germany (for example, Dresden, Leipzig,
> Potsdam)??
>
> And, is L'vov tourist friendly at all??
>
> The person traveling is a middle-aged female and would drive or
> take trains into these areas.? Also, can anyone recommend
> geneologists for hire?in?Jablonec nad Nisou and L'vov?areas??
>
> Did Germanic people migrate to L'vov, or were they innately
> Germanic as part of the Austria empire??
>
> My other question involves how to locate how and when a person
> arrived in the US, esp. when the surname may have changed
> spellings.? I find similar spellings, but have never been able to
> find the exact link between Old and New World ancestors.? What are
> the best sources for bridging this gap? I can date direct ancestors
> to the 1860s in the US and find many with similar surnames in all
> the areas listed above.? But, I cannot link them into one family
> line.?
>
> Any advice would be?very much?appreciated.? Thank you.
> German-Bohemian Heritage Society web site http://www.rootsweb.com/
> ~gbhs/
> German-Bohemian Heritage Society web site http://www.rootsweb.com/
> ~gbhs/
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