On June 1,

I arrived in Moselkern, a tiny village on the edge of the Mosel river. The purpose of my visit to this quaint setting was to visit Burg Eltz, a 12th century castle about an hour's hike through the woods surrounding the town. And so, once again I wandered through a beautiful German forest in search of a castle taking photos along the way.

Success!

Having achieved what I had set out to do in Moselkern, it was time to move on. 

My next destination was Bad Neustadt, a city near the northern border of the German state of Bavaria. In coming to this area, it was my intention to visit the lands of my ancestors.

My grandmother, Sarah Limpert, has done extensive research into my family's history and one of her greatest findings is a ship's log documenting the immigration of Bernhard Limpert and his wife, Dorothea Schublein, to the United States in the mid-19th century from Nickersfelden and Brendlorenzen, Germany, respectively. On today's map, one will find that the once independent village of Brendlorenzen has become a district within the larger city of Bad Neustadt, but that the village of Nickersfelden remains very much as it may have been over a hundred years ago, a small rural farming village of only a few hundred inhabitants. 

Renting a bike, I set out from Bad Neustadt towards Nickersfelden and the other surrounding villages in search of churches and graveyards were hints of my family history might be hiding. Upon my arrival in Nickersfelden, I recorded a short video while walking into town and had a picture taken of me at the city sign.

While my search of churches and graveyards did not turn up any 19th century familial connections, I did find this:

a small church and graveyard high atop a wooded foothill honoring local soldiers who lost their lives during the battles of World War II. Walking through the rows of grave markers, I found out that, while my grandparents had made it through the war unscathed, perhaps not everyone in my larger family circle had been so lucky.

From Bad Neustadt, I set off for Berlin, where I was to visit both my father's old friend, Gustav Seibt, a leading German historian, journalist and literary critic, and the offices of First Solar, a world leader in thin film photovoltaics manufacturing.