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German Roots Trip 2003 - Contents

SEEKING OUR GERMAN ROOTS

Chapter IV

May 23-25, 2003

TRIER AND REIL
Butzen Family History

Lindlar to Trier, Friday, May 23

The 9:19 a.m. bus for Cologne pulled in promptly (but, of course!) and we had our choice of seats and suitcase space. An hour later, as we reached the Rhine River and crossed it on the magnificent Hohenzollern bridge, it was a full bus and we had had a good look at much of Cologne’s eastern suburbs. The bus and train stations were very near the west end of the bridge and we were back in the busy, busy "bahnhof" before we knew it.

I used a tape recorder during the trip for making notes, and while we were waiting for our 11:30 train, I made the comment, "And now we’re off to new adventures!" I didn’t realize that we would soon be having an adventure.

All went smoothly for about an hour, then an announcement over the train’s loudspeaker got Karen’s attention. She said, "Oh! There’s been an accident up ahead and we’re all going to have to get off the train and get on a bus. At the village of "Kalle" the train stopped and we all dutifully trooped off. After some minor confusion, we figured out how to get to the parked buses on the other side of the train tracks. So far, so good. We hopped aboard the bus with our luggage and found an open space to park the bags. But the bus driver immediately said, "Nein, nein! You must move the bags. We are bringing on six bicycles." They actually brought on only three bikes, but with all the passengers and their luggage it was very cozy. Luckily, the bus detour was a short one, of fifteen minutes’ duration, and with no more "adventures" we reached Trier about 2:30 in the afternoon.

Trier

And, why did we include Trier on this trip? First, because I always heard that my great-grandmother, Maria Anna Butzen "came from Reil, a little village near Trier." In fact, until last year I never tried to pin down Reil on a map, but when I did, I discovered it is about midway between Trier and the mouth of the Mosel River at Koblenz.

Second, our train route to Reil requires going through Trier. Third, the European travel guru, Rick Steves, always includes Trier on his list of best places to see in Germany. Besides its picturesque setting on the bank of the Mosel River, Rick praised Trier for its history and interesting Roman ruins.

Or, as some of the tourist literature proclaims:

"Germany's oldest city, Trier sits on the border with France and Luxembourg, about 60 miles southwest of Koblenz."

"Anthropological finds established that Trier was a settlement in 2000 BC and by the first century AD, the Romans had made "Augusta Treverorum" their Western capitol for Great Britain and Gaul. It was a Roman imperial capital in the 3rd and 4th centuries, AD and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city houses the most important Roman ruins north of the Alps."

"The Emperor Constantine ruled his Roman empire from Trier for ten years: 306 to 316 AD. He built the Imperial Baths, and his palace, which still exists today as a church. At that time, Rome was already in decline and Trier was probably the more important of the two cities. After the emperor chose Constantinople as his capital, his sons continued to live in Trier."

"Attractions include The Porta Nigra (city gate, 2nd century); Roman Imperial Baths; Basilica; Amphitheatre (which held 20,000 people); Cathedral (4th century); Gothic Church of Our Lady; Simeonsstift with 11th-century cloisters; Church of St Matthew (Apostle's grave); Church of St Paulinus (designed by Balthasar Neumann); Regional Museum; and the house where Karl Marx was born."

 

 

 

Porta Nigra, Roman City Gate

 

Yes! We didn’t want to miss Trier.

By 3:45 p.m. we were checked into our room at Hotel Kessler, which is two kilometers from the train station. And we KNOW that because we walked those kilometers, dragging our suitcases over the bumpity, bump cobblestone streets, the wheels on our suitcases making an embarrassing amount of noise as we trooped past crowds of people starting their holiday weekend in this colorful town. I hadn't been able to find a hotel close to the train station in this busy tourist city.

The main part of Trier, from the famous "Porta Nigra" Roman gate to our hotel, was simply mobbed with clots of school children and tourists, just moseying along. The sun had come out, the air was balmy and it was a delightful Friday afternoon in Trier.

After a little recovery time in our room, we walked back up to the tourist center of Trier, right next to the Porta Nigra. We had scheduled a few hours tomorrow morning to see more of the town, and now we took the "Römer tour" on a little trolley that winds in and out of the narrow, Medieval/Roman streets, glimpsing the old Roman ruins, the churches and getting an overview so we could decide what we wanted to see in more depth in the morning.

We ate dinner around 6 p.m. at a sidewalk café near the Porta Nigra. We each had half a roasted chicken--very good. As I sipped my Alster beer/lemonade drink, I remarked to Karen, "Life is good." Indeed!

Walking back along the "pedestrian only" area, we found an ice cream store and made good on our earlier promise to enjoy the money we saved by our long walk from the train station to the hotel. For E 1.80 each we got 3 scoops of wonderful "eis" with flavors like Hazelnut, Chocolate, Walnut and Cherry, all served in a little paper dish with a teeny spoon for eating.

It was time to make a check-in phone call to Glenn. A couple blocks from the hotel we found a phone booth and once again, our MCI phone card worked beautifully. Definitely the cheapest way to make trans-Atlantic phone calls. Glenn had heard from Mark, who is seeing Inca ruins in Peru.

Karen utilized our German phone card to call Herr Gossler, another contact for us in the Mosel Valley. Herr Gossler is a retired banker and lives in a small village above the Mosel river valley not far from Reil. His retirement hobby is tracking the German emigrants who were in the "forced emigration" from his village in 1852 and who settled in either North or South America.

We had learned of him last year through a Butzen cousin. He made a visit last fall to the Midwest, mainly Wisconsin, and found some of the descendants of those 1850’s emigrants. We invited him to come to Oregon, but when he realized the immense distances in the USA, he had to decline. But, he had offered to show us some of the Mosel River area, and Karen made an appointment with him for Sunday afternoon, when we will be staying with the Arns, our Butzen relatives in Reil.

Our third phone call was to the Arns, alerting them that we planned to arrive in Reil about 2:30 tomorrow, after an hour’s train ride from Trier. They will meet us at the train. We wound up the day with relaxing soaks in the nice, deep bathtub of our hotel room.

 

Area Map for Trier and Koblenz Reil is located on the Mosel River between Wittlich and Koblenz

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