“There’s a toothbrush, toothpaste …” Clemence and Hartmut Fröhlich from Siegen pack their bags for a two-week trip to the east of the USA. “And you know, if something is missing: It doesn’t matter, you can buy it there.” ‘There’ in this case means: “Virginia is the area. I think so.” Correct. The Merrys are on their way to Virginia. Located on the Atlantic coast, crossed by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River. Had it not been for John Denver, even fewer Germans would have heard of this delightful landscape. The emphasis is on: heard.
Hartmut Fröhlich also knows the John Denver song. Still, nothing about the Virginia trip appeals to him. But his wife wants to go there – and she has prevailed. “I was the one who wanted to do that. For cultural reasons. And then we held a conference, the two of us.” “
Hartmut Fröhlich is a retired senior public prosecutor. His wife is a family and trauma therapist. Both are united by a love of travel. On this tour, for the first time, they disagreed. To get one thing straight up front: Hartmut Fröhlich changed his mind on the first day in the USA. In the end, he was absolutely thrilled. “It was definitely worth it for me. And it was good that my wife was so pushy and always said, come with me!”
In fact, Germans tend to underestimate the east of the United States. Jörg Becker from the German-American Society Siegen-Wittgenstein knows that too. He organized this private trip. “I’ve been working on the trip for nine months. Not every day, but every now and then. It was quite an effort.” The lawyer from Siegen studied in the USA. It was then that he discovered that a group of Siegerländer emigrated to Virginia 300 years ago. The 42 miners founded America’s first contiguous German settlement.
Many Germans also moved to Pennsylvania. Especially religious refugees from the Palatinate and Saarland. Their descendants are the Amish who still live in Pennsylvania or Ohio today. Just like 300 years ago. Without electricity, without running water, without cars. Because they drive in horse-drawn carriages, the so-called buggies, and still work their fields with horses or oxen. The tour group that has joined the German-American Society and Jörg Becker wants to see all of this. First up is Culpeper, Virginia. To where the first Germans founded a settlement.
Proud of family history
For Americans, this 300-year history of settlement is a big deal. Especially for Marc Wheat. He is the President of the Germanna Foundation in Virginia and responsible for ensuring that Americans and Germans stay in touch. Marc Wheat is a typical American: tall, strong, always in a good mood. But above all, he is one thing: proud of his family history. “My great-great-great grandfather was a pastor in Oberfischbach and vice-principal of the Latin school in the Nikolaikirche. And I come from other families from Trupbach and some villages around Siegen.”
No matter how difficult the places are to pronounce, Americans almost always know where their ancestors came from. “Eisern, Niederfischbach, Freudenberg, Heidelberg, Wuppertal, Munich, Netphen …” Everyone is happy that their distant relatives from Germany are finally visiting them. Hundreds of Americans have come to greet the German tour group.
37 “Good old Germans” embrace the group when they arrive in Virginia. Actually it should have been 38. The American Ellis Hitt traveled from Ohio specifically to meet his closest German relative. “Eberhard”, a third cousin. But as much as Ellis Hitt searches, he cannot find Eberhard in the German tour group. “And I asked: where is Eberhard? And they said to me: He was standing at passport control without an ID.” – “You didn’t let him leave the country.” – “He wasn’t allowed to fly with me!” – “OH NO !!” “
Meanwhile, those with passports meet outside the headquarters of the Germanna Foundation in Virginia. There is an emigration museum in the building. Even unannounced Germans are very welcome here. “I know one German word: diversion.”
However, some descendants of the emigrants speak more than just one word of German. “I actually wanted to tell you that.” Like Maddison Brown, for example. He belongs to the Germanna Foundation of Virginia and leads large and small German tour groups through the old settlement areas. His tours always end with the wonderfully beautiful views of Shenandoah National Park. “Exactly. We leave at eight thirty. And every car gets a map of this part of Virginia. And at half past eight we arrive in the park. There we have free admission because we are an ‘education group’.”
Shenandoah-Park und Blue Ridge Mountains
In the park at the latest, it will become clear to German visitors why so many emigrated to this area. “Gigantic. We don’t have that. It’s terrific and cannot be compared with anything.” What Karin Ohrendorf from Siegen thinks is the view. The view extends for kilometers in Shenandoah National Park. It is located in the middle of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Numerous rivers end in huge waterfalls. If you want, you can walk for days through densely forested areas without meeting a person. However, there are black bears in Shenandoah National Park. Madison Brown of the Germanna Foundation has come across one in this area: “I’ve seen more bears than snakes here.”
Black bears are actually considered harmless. But if you want to be on the safe side, book a tour with one of the park rangers. “Well, I think we won’t see many animals today. Our group is too big for that. But especially hikers who are traveling alone get to see bears, deer and, if they’re unlucky, skunks. We’ll be one of them Make short circuits. It’s an hour and a half long and has fantastic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Shall we go? “
Betty the ranger. didn’t promise too much. The paths are well developed. But even those who are not good on their feet will get their money’s worth in this park. Because the famous Skyline Drive leads 170 kilometers over the ridge, across the entire park. Everywhere there are places to stop, look out and pause. Even Michael London, known as Little Joe from Bonanza or series like “Our Little Farm” and “An Angel on Earth” “sang about Shenandoah Park.
Even if German tourists tend to avoid the American East: Americans like to vacation there themselves. Whether in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia or New Jersey. Instead, Germans are drawn to Miami, Florida in droves. Americans prefer the more comfortable climate in Cape May, New Jersey. Las Vegas in Nevada casts a spell over the Germans. Americans prefer to go to Atlantic City. Here they are largely among themselves and stroll: “Under the Boardwalk.”
The national park ranger, Betty Gatewood has hiked almost everywhere in the USA. She likes it best in the east. “I have to say, it is incomprehensible to me what draws Germans to hot, steamy Miami or roaring hot Las Vegas. Anyone who strolled along the boardwalk shouldn’t miss it: Miami Beach, where tourists are greeted by hundreds of waiters every evening armed with menus to be ‘asked’ into the restaurant. “
The East is also popular with Americans because of the many different festivals, events and fairs. Cleveland, Ohio is said to have the biggest Oktoberfest outside of Germany. It is really big. And there is yodelling there too. Very American, however.
Americans celebrate differently
The Oktoberfest time is considered the most beautiful time of the year in Ohio. During the annual “Indian Summer” the foliage turns into colors that not even the German autumn has to offer. The leaves of a maple tree are at the same time: yellow, orange, light red, wine red and green. Hundreds stand next to each other and make an unforgettable impression.
Those who vacation here in late summer and autumn only have to pay attention to signs at the entrances to the town. The agricultural fairs in particular – the so-called county and state fairs – are definitely worth a stop. For a small entrance fee, you get great things on offer. The pumpkins in particular reach unimagined dimensions.
Pigs, cows, horses, chickens: they are all polished to a high gloss and brought to the “fair”. The cow with the thickest udder, the chicken with the largest eggs and the pig with the best grunt compete against each other. At the same time there are rodeos, live music and lots of good humor. Americans celebrate differently. The hymn should never be missing. But they also dance differently, and they listen to different music, and above all they drink significantly less alcohol when they party. That is what makes such events so recommendable.
Twin meeting and Amish settlement
Even completely sober, you see twice a year in Ohio. That is when the world’s largest twin meeting takes place in Twinsburg. Up to 2,500 couples come to such meetings. In the end, the pair of twins that looks the most similar will be chosen. But even that which is least similar receives a price. “What’s your name, and where are you from? However. That’s your price: the Gold Medal for the most alike twins”
Hundreds of twins made it to the finals. For example the 70-year-old ‘King Twins’ from Miami, who are discussing who looks younger: “I am the boss. And three minutes older.” “Doesn’t she look older?”
Or the 16-year-old twin brothers Kim and Wild from Michigan, who just got their driver’s license. However, only ‘one’, which they then alternately show at traffic controls: “It’s cool to look alike!” Ben and Marc have been coming to Ohio from Colorado for six years. They do everything together, they say. Nobody could ever keep them apart. Not even her own mother. She has tried many times to feed the same twin twice.
The 30-year-old twin brothers Ian and Alan have the longest way to travel. You have been from Sydney, Australia for five years. Every year with the same wish: you are looking for twins to marry.
The largest Amish population in America lives just 30 kilometers from Twinsburg. You emigrated from Germany and Switzerland around 300 years ago and – in addition to English – you still speak German. And love to explain why Amish clothing is mostly black, blue and purple and doesn’t have buttons or zippers. “The men want to show that they are all equal in the community and all have the same rank.”
In Ohio, the Amish towns are easily identified by their names. They are called Berlin, Fryburg or Strasburg. There are no traffic lights and no police here. Only street signs that indicate slow-moving carriages.
The second largest Amish group lives in Pennsylvania. In a place called “Bird in hand”, that is: bird in hand. The tour group of the German-American Society goes there and visits an Amish farm that is open to tourists. And since German is spoken in Amish Country, communication is not a problem. Question from a tourist: “Do the Amish use tractors to cultivate their fields? Yesterday we saw one on the tractor.” Answer Amish: “Yes, the Amish have tractors. But they don’t use engines, they use generators. They don’t want the tractor to be a car. American life is a slow life.”
The decelerated world of the Amish fascinates tourists. But the very next day it goes back to Germany. With many impressions and the knowledge that the Blue Ridge Mountains are worth a trip: “Gigantic!” – “I do not regret it”
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