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German Roots Trip 2003 - Contents

SEEKING OUR GERMAN ROOTS

Chapter III    
May 16 - 20, 2003

MECKLENBURG
Von Pressentin Family History - Zapel & Kuppentin

Sunday, May 18 - Zapel & Kuppentin

After another excellent breakfast shared with Friedrich-Franz and Chris at our hotel, we embarked on the day’s adventures. Friedrich-Franz had invited us to join him and Chris today at a celebration of the local pastor’s 60th birthday. The Prestin church is one of several where Pastor Schaefer holds services on a rotating basis and he has been of great help to Friedrich-Franz in restoring the Prestin chapel. In 1998 it was this pastor who reconsecrated the chapel. Today, there will be a special church service, led by Pastor Schaefer, at the village of Zapel, followed by the birthday party at his parsonage which adjoins the Zapel church. And what denomination is his church? Here in northern Germany there seems to be no question--if it is a Protestant church, it is an Evangelical Lutheran Church.

We stayed close behind Friedrich-Franz’ snappy black Audi convertible as we drove through a maze of narrow country lanes leading from Wessin to Zapel. We arrived at the church in Zapel just as the bells were ringing for the start of the 9:30 a.m. service. We filed into this simple little church--not unlike the Prestin church in size and architecture. For this special occasion, there was a brass band seated to the left of the altar. And, at the rear of the church on a high balcony was the pipe organ, being played today by a young fellow, maybe fifteen or sixteen. The service was of course in German, and the only thing I could recognize was the Lord’s Prayer. The hymns that were sung were lovely, simple songs and it was a very special feeling to be taking part in the community’s celebration of their church and their pastor. At the end of the service, as we left the church, the young organist was playing not another hymn or anthem, but "Gauntanamera," a Cuban song! which seemed a bit incongruous--and I could see him grinning from the organ loft. Maybe this was his own little present to the pastor!

After leaving the church we walked over to the pastor’s home just beyond the churchyard. The rear lawn was all set up for a party, with big festive tents covering the tables and chairs.

A good thing too, because what had started as a bright sunny day, deteriorated into rain showers during the party. Everyone was handed a glass of champagne or orange juice, for the birthday toast to Pastor Schaefer. The guests presented him with various birthday gifts--bouquets of flowers, wine, potted plants, etc.

Friedrich-Franz waited until all the other gifts had been presented. Then, he stood up and recited a clever little poem which ended each stanza with mention of a gift of money that he was giving to Pastor Schaefer. Chris was part of the show too, and pulled off his cap and would drop in money as Friedrich-Franz read the poem. It started with a few coins, but with each stanza the denomination of the Euro bill got bigger. Both the pastor and the audience were very impressed with Friedrich-Franz’ generosity.

Ah, but the poem continued, pointing out that he could not afford to give so much money to the pastor, since he and Chris live far away, and would need money for the rent of the car, and gas, and taxis--at each mention of another expense, Chris would retrieve another bill out of his hat. Soon, the hat was empty again! By now, the entire assemblage was laughing hilariously. Then, Friedrich-Franz held up his real gift to the pastor, a framed picture of the von Pressentin Chapel.

After the gifts, we all trooped into the parsonage where a lavish buffet dinner was waiting for us. Really beautiful displays of food--even little white paper "booties" on the chicken drumsticks. All was delicious, especially the dessert which was a thick vanilla custard covered with a sauce of raspberries and cranberries. Mmmm. Good!

While we were eating, the brass band from the church serenaded the gathering. Karen and I ate in the same tent as the band, and noticed that during their breaks they were downing big bottles of beer, followed with a chaser of what appeared to be vodka (or schnapps?).

By 1:30 we departed Zapel, again following Friedrich-Franz and Chris. We drove back to the chapel at Prestin where Friedrich-Franz and Chris gathered up the items they will be taking back to Hamburg later this afternoon. Just as they were closing up the building, a group from the "Meditek" company where we are staying came by and were given a tour of the chapel.

Later, with the huge oak floor planks in place over the crypt, the metal security gate locked at the front door, and the wrought iron gate at the church yard entrance locked with Friedrich-Franz’ impressive key, we set off for the next event of the day.

Kuppentin

Friedrich-Franz and Chris had a meeting with a couple named "von Fuchs" who live near the Kuppentin church in a handsome "country house." Frau von Fuchs is one of the leading forces in the restoration of the church which was badly neglected during GDR days. Again, the von Fuchs have no historical ties to this area; they moved here eight years ago from western Germany as retirees and got interested in the reconstruction of this handsome structure. One of the oldest churches in Mecklenburg, it is mentioned in a document dated 1235 A.D. and must have existed even before then.

Friedrich-Franz had kindly asked that Karen and I be included in their meeting. We also got to enjoy the wonderful "tea" that Frau von Fuchs prepared. More good "kuchen" (two kinds: a raspberry/blackberry cake and also a light cake with vanilla sauce)--all accompanied by the tea and "kaffee." The von Fuchs’ home was not the usual design we’ve seen so far in northern Germany. It was a rather rustic building, and BIG is the best way to describe everything about it. Basically the floor plan is a rectangle. The entry hall was big enough to accommodate huge palm trees in enormous pots. We walked through to the back of the house which appeared to be one room running the length of the house, but partially divided into a dining room, living room and music room--all with exceedingly high ceilings, perhaps fourteen feet. The third member of the von Fuchs family was their German Shepherd. In the US, I always treat German Shepherd dogs with respect--they seem all business and quite capable of biting off my arm if they should feel so inclined. But the von Fuchs' dog, as well as"Alki," the German Shepherd who protects the Meditek building, seemed so much more, well, genial. When these dogs indicated that they would like some petting, I was happy to oblige.

Kuppentin was once part of a much larger von Pressentin estate which encompassed Daschow and two other estates. In the mid-1700’s the then-current von Pressentin owner divided the entire property into two estates: Daschow and Kuppentin. It would have been only a short carriage ride from Kuppentin to Daschow during the time (1730-1822) that von Pressentins owned these lands. As we drove along these country roads it wasn’t hard to visualize carriages and trotting horses, going down the same lanes, carrying the families from one to another of the huge manor houses for holiday visits.

After our refreshments, we followed Frau von Fuchs over to the church. She had a key to the church--much like the one Friedrich-Franz had for the Prestin church gate. This church was done in two parts--one much older than the other.

The small white addition is the crypt of the local noble family (no doubt relatives of ours, but we didn't note down the name).

The problem now is to determine which part of the church is which and just how it should be restored. They do have old photographs to guide them, and also some "before" photos to show that there was only a damaged shell left for the volunteers to work with after the Russian occupation at the end of WWII.

Many von Pressentins have worshipped in this church in preceding centuries. Note the intact bell tower - unlike Prestin's and Wamckow's it either escaped the great windstorm of 1703 or was rebuilt as it was before the storm.

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