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Archiver > OSTFRIESEN > 1998-12 > 0912499910


From: Amy Robbins-Tjaden <>
Subject: [OSTFRIESEN-L] Ostfriesen odyssey---of sorts
Date: Tue, 01 Dec 1998 01:11:50


I thought some of you might be interested in this post I got from someone
who recently traveled to Ostfriesland. I asked him for some quick
impressions and this is what he sent (and, yse, I did get his permission to
forward the post):

>Dear Amy:
>
>I am a television reporter in Cincinnati. I was awarded a three-week
fellowship
>to go to Germany through RIAS (Radio in the American Sector), which was a
major
>source of western news and culture during the Cold War.
>
>I mention that only to explain that I was there on someone else's "dime",
so I
>didn't have much free time until the third week in Berlin. Right up until the
>time I was to go, I wasn't sure I'd be able to make the sidetrip. I wasn't
>well prepared--just took off one morning hoping to see my grandfather's
>birthplace and get back to Berlin the following night. As you know, Berlin is
>quite a jaunt from Ostfriesland, and I only had two days. It took about six
>hours to get to Leer, but it was a direct train from Berlin.
>
>I had made contact with a man who responded to my posts on Manfred Becker's
>Ostfriesland website. He encouraged me to come, and contacted my relatives in
>Wiesedermeer, letting them know the day I would arrive. They spoke NO
English,
>so I was forced to rely on my two years of German from college days, some 20
>years ago.
>
>Leer is a quaint town...and I wound up killing two hours there because the
bus
>to Wiesmoor was late. It is pedestrian friendly...a "post card" kind of place
>right near the North Sea. Narrow streets, friendly people. There is a Best
>Western Hotel right near the train station that looked very nice for about
>$50/night.
>
>It was very strange walking around Leer on the last day of June. It felt
like a
>March day in the United States...the kids were still in school, the
temperature
>was about 50 degrees--made even chillier by a very stiff breeze.
>
>The bus to Wiesmoor was very cheap...just a couple of dollars, and it was
very
>luxurious. When I got to Wiesmoor, it was pouring rain, so I made a
beeline to
>a hotel right across the street from the bus stop...it was called the
Zorfkrug.
>Clean, friendly, $45 for a spacious room.
>
>The most expensive thing was the cab--$20 from Wiesmoor to Wiesedermeer, a
>village of 600 people about five miles away.
>
>Arend Kahler (umlaut on a) greeted me, but as I mentioned, he speaks no
>English. He did show me a book about the history of Wiesedermeer that said a
>Kahler helped colonize the town nearly 260 years ago. He showed me woods that
>probably weren't even mature when my grandfather played in that yard
>(pre-1900).
>
>It is very flat land...much like the midwest except a few more trees. A very
>large network of canals connects the various towns with the North Sea. I
would
>assume they are also flood control canals...some appeared navagable..
>
>As for the tea--they love it. They give it to you with very heavy cream and
>rock candy. The rock candy hit me, because one of the few things I remember
>about my grandfather was that he had a passion for it. He died in 1968,
when I
>was just eight years old.
>
>The next day, I went to Aurich, where my father's mother's family came from
>(Meyer, Junker). It is not quite as nice as Leer, but it has a very
>out-of-the-way charm. If I had more time, I'd go to Emden and look at the
North
>Sea coast. I missed Wilhelmshaven and Jever. The latter town produces Jever
>Beer, which is one of Germany's top brands.
>
>A few other general observations: Every residential building I saw was built
>of brick...and even the barns are brick. I don't quite know why. My
relatives
>told me they don't get very much snow, because the North Sea air moderates
the
>climate. Occasionally they get buried.
>
>It really looks like Holland (the Dutch border is only 6 miles from
>Leer)...there are a lot of Windmills. In fact, my relatives are quite
proud of
>the fact that the windmill in the Deutsches Museum (Munich) is from
>Wiesedermeer.
>
>As for "my" Junkers, Margaret was born in Aurich and came to the US while a
>baby. They first went to Freeport, IL (northwest of Chicago, on Wisconsin
>border), and then Parkersburg, Iowa (near Cedar Rapids). She met her husband
>Gerd Meyer in that area...he, too, was born near Aurich. They first lived in
>Grundy County, Iowa...which apparently has a large Ostfriesen heritage. From
>there, they moved to a farm near Fairbury, NE.
>
>I hadn't thought there was a huge Ostfriesen connection with Fairbury, but
>perhaps I was wrong? Do you think that's what might have attracted them
there?
>My dad always wondered why they would leave relatively good farmland in Iowa
>for Fairbury...where they had a rough time of it in the Depression years. My
>dad's family moved to NE Nebraska (Stanton County) later in the 30s...but I
>don't think there is an Ostfriesen connection there.
>
>Wow, I've rambled on! If you need any information about travel to
>Ostfriesland, please don't hesitate to contact me (or for any other info, for
>that matter). I am VERY glad I took the two day detour and saw the region.
When
>I mentioned it to Germans in Berlin, they gave me a blank stare and said
it was
>the "Boondocks"...kind of like a New Yorker talking about Nebraska, I guess!
>
>Take care...have a great holiday!
>
>Mark Kahler

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