I grew up feeling very close to my paternal grandparents, particularly my grandmother, Carrie Hess Dreifuss. We saw them only one or two weeks a year because my parents moved away from Brooklyn, NY to Washington, DC before I was born so that they could both get jobs. Yet my grandma Dreifuss had qualities that endeared her to all who knew her. Years after her death in 1963 ( I was just 13), my father wrote a short tribute to her life, which is also published on this website.
After studying her genealogy as an adult I became quite interested in learning about her and her family's life in Germany before immigrating to the U.S. in 1906. I knew she was born in 1884 in a small village in Hessen, Germay Hintersteinau before moving to the city of Fulda. Fulda lies west of Hintersteinau also in the German State of Hesse (known as Hessen in Germany).
But it wasn't until September 2023 that I made the trip. I believe it was the best and most interesting trip I have made anywhere in the world. Certainly it was the most valuable as a genealogist and familty historian. Below I describe two spectacular weeks in Germany in 2023 and some of the conclusions we made. I would recommend anyone interested in a similar trip look prepare somewhat as we did for our journey.
Part I. The First Seeds of our Journey
Original planning happened 2018 and earler when Shelley and I discussed a family roots trip to Germany. We had done an earlier trip in the summmer of1999 with our daughters who were still in their teens. Jeff also joined us on that first trip. We primarily visited Altdorf and the Schmieheim cemetery on that summer trip.
For the second trip, Shelley and I wanted to visit primarily my grandmother's, and her family's origins in Hesse. We discussed it with Jeff and Sue at a family Bar Mitzvah. Word quickly got out at the affair and wider interest developed. My cousin s Gary and Myrna Levine wanted to come as well as Suzanne (Schechter) who volunteered to help me in the planning.
With the help of Suzanne, we identified a guide, planner, translator and transportation expert within Germany, Ute Melhorn of the German American Connection. Frau Melhorn was also an experienced genealogist, which would later prove extremely useful.
A long trip was planned and with Jeff and Sue, Gary, Myrna, Suzanne and several others, planned in detail by Ute. Unfortunately, the trip was cancelled at the last minute by the unforeseen Covid pandemic.
Part II. Post Covid: A New Trip is Planned
This is a work on progress