POST 30: FAMILY ”PILGRIMAGE” 2018

I typically interject myself into Blog posts only to relate forensic discoveries related to my family research.  This post is an exception.  Below readers can see images from my wife’s and my recently completed European vacation to Spain, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and Austria.  We were gone 44 days, stayed in 22 different places, flew more than 14,000 miles, drove 4,000 miles, and walked over 250 miles.  The number that stands out though are the roughly 35 family, friends, and acquaintances we met or revisited along the way, a family history “pilgrimage” of sorts.  These people greatly enhanced our journey, inspired us, educated us, furthered my family research, and expanded our horizons.  To these fellow travelers we dedicate this Blog post. 

The tone for our family history tour was set by the actual pilgrimage my wife Ann and I made along a portion of the historic route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain that earned us our “Compostela.”  (Figure 1)  The Compostela is the accreditation one receives by completing the pilgrimage to the Tomb of St. James in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.  In our case, we obtained our accreditation by walking the last 118km, or 73 miles, of the pilgrimage route from Sarria to Santiago over five days between May 16th and May 20th, 2018.

Below, readers will find a gallery of portraits of family, friends and colleagues we met on our journey.

Figure 1. Ann & me celebrating our Compostela in Santiago, Spain, May 2018
Figure 2. With my distant cousin Ronny Bruck & his wife Erika.  Guardamar del Segura, Spain, May 2018
Figure 3. With my cousin Ronny Bruck who is sporting a broken right shoulder.  Ronny has translated many historic German documents for me.  Guardamar del Segura, Spain, May 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 4. My second cousin Margarita Vilgertshofer née Bruck with her son-in-law Daniel, daughter Susanne, and husband Erich.  Daniel & Susanne dressed in typical Bavarian garb on the occasion of our visit.  Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany, May 2018
Figure 5. Margarita’s brother, Antonio Bruck, another second cousin, with his wife Inge.  Munich, Germany, May 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 6. With my third cousin, Anna Rothholz. Munich, Germany, May 2018
Figure 7.  With another third cousin, Andi Pauly, whose father developed a detailed family tree showing connections between our families & who collected many family photos that Andi has shared. Munich, Germany, May 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 8. Ashok Sridharan, Indian-origin Mayor of Bonn, participating in the Feast of Corpus Christi holiday parade. Sigi Meiborg, who is writing her PhD. dissertation on Franz Mockrauer, one of my father’s first cousins, lives in Bonn. May 2018
Figure 9. Entrance to the house where Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, May 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 10. Ann with my deceased first cousin Wolfgang Lutze’s family. His widow Gisela is seated, and her two children, Kay & Katya, are behind her. Hilden, Germany, June, 2018
Figure 11. My father’s dear friends from his days in the Free State of Danzig, Peter & Lolo Lau, with their granddaughter Sandra, her husband Kalojan, and their twin boys, Paul & Jan. Peter identified many people in my father’s pictures from his days in Tiegenhof as a dentist. Oberhausen, Germany, June 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 12. With Dr. Irene Below, author of a book on Lucia von Jacobi, the Austrian lady with whom my dear Aunt Susanne co-managed the Villa Primavera Pension in Fiesole, Italy. Werther, Germany, June 2018
Figure 13. Standing by the grave of Josef Mockrauer, buried in the Jüdischer Friedhof in Weissensee. Josef was one of my father’s uncles, and father of Franz Mockrauer, subject of Sigi Meiborg’s PhD. Berlin, Germany, June 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 14. Ann and me with Mr. Paul Newerla, retired lawyer & scholar on the history of Ratibor, where my father was born. Paul has taught me a lot about the history of Ratibor and been very generous with his time.  Raciborz, Poland, June 2018
Figure 15. Standing with Paul Newerla  by the historic statue of John of Nepomuk, once located on Neumarkt near where the Berliner Brauerei once stood, now situated in the middle of a parking lot. Raciborz, Poland, June 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 16. Our English-speaking Polish friend, Malgosia Ploszaj, from Rybnik, Poland, near Raciborz. Malgosia is very active studying the former Jews of Rybnik, and has helped me enormously reviewing historic records at the Polish State Archives in Raciborz. Raciborz, Poland, June 2018
Figure 17. Ann with yet another of my third cousins, Kurt Polborn & his wife Irmgard. Kurt has also translated historic German documents for me & taught me a lot about German history. Landsberg am Lech, Germany, June 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 18. Anna Rothholz’s younger brother, Walter, yet another third cousin. Schliersee, Germany, June 2018
Figure 19. Ann with my third cousin Anna Rothholz’s husband, Gunter Geiss. Schliersee, Germany, June 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 20. Ann with my sibling second cousins, Antonio & Margarita. Schliersee, Germany, June 2018
Figure 21. With my second cousin Margarita & her husband Erich at a Rathskeller. Munich, Germany, June 2018

6 thoughts on “POST 30: FAMILY ”PILGRIMAGE” 2018”

  2. Richard and Ann, you are living my dream. It looks like you had a wonderful time. Great weather and beautiful family members. Thank you for sharing.

    1. Thanks, Tony, for your kind words. I’m looking forward to writing the next few articles which will be based on newly acquired information, some of which is really fascinating. Have a nice 4th!

  3. Your hard work and help from all your contacts has really recreated your lost family.
    Good job!!!

  5. Hi Richard and Ann,
    How great that you were able to so end so much time and “cover so much ground” literally and figuratively. Not too many people have the means and interest to follow all these routes and make all these connections. More power to you folks!
    Best,
    Madeleine

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