Wednesday, May 31, 2000

 I slept well, but John told me that the morning sun woke him up…… at 3:15 am.  He went back to sleep, with a little difficulty.  The sunsets late and it gets dark about 10 pm and I’ve been told now that it rises very early!!! 

By 6:30 am, John and I were ready to take on a full day of activities ahead of us.  At 7:30 am, we met with Tressie and Alan downstairs in Annie’s guest dining room for a typical German breakfast.  This consists of assorted breads and rolls with butter or jams, sliced cheese and cold cuts, a soft-boiled egg and tea for us.  Alan and Tressie like water, but are having a hard time, as most of the water they are served is carbonated.  Breakfast was very good and very peaceful.  We needed that, before starting off on today’s adventure.

Breakfast at Annie's house

 About 8:45 am, we left our temporary home and drove to the polizei (police) station down the street to pay for our parking ticket of yesterday.  They explained by pointing that this was not issued by them, but by the city of Burg.  Payment could be made at the Rathaus  (City Hall) down the street.  That was easy, as we already knew where that was.   We made payment of 10 DM, and were law-abiding tourists again.  We also found out, that we had gotten the ticket because we had parked for too long.  The tickets from the automat machines will only enable you to park for 1 hour.

 This morning there was a street market set up in the city square, with lots of booths to browse.  Traffic was heavy, both for cars and people.  Last year, we never saw this much activity on the main road the whole time we were here.  But this year’s trip is a week later in the year, and the tourist season seems to be in full swing.  We all immediately were drawn to the colorful booths of flowers, fruits and vegetables and a wide variety of merchandise for sale. 

Street market in Burg town square next to Rathaus

  Tressie and I headed one way, while the guys went another.  We immediately became excited when we found tables of beautiful small tablecloths for only 20 DM each.  The colored under liners were only 15 DM and we each bought an assortment.  John found us in no time, and had done a little shopping also.   He found some Fehmarn T-Shirts and sent me in that direction to buy some for myself.  We are typical tourists and want all the local souvenirs.  Before buying some T-shirts for my 3 grandchildren, I found a table scarf embroidered with daisies and an apron that reminded me of my long-gone German grandmother.   Around the corner, and up another aisle, I found a doll outfit of a German costume that I thought my granddaughter might like.  The fresh fruits and vegetables all looked and smelled great.  I bought some strawberries to eat with our breakfast in the morning.

 TRESSIE- “ I love street fairs. I also bought 4 table clothes with liners.  Down a few more booths, I found the Fehmarn T-shirts for Alan and myself.  Alan went off in another direction, while I found another booth of pretty table scarfs, and bought one as a gift.  This was my first such experience here, and I loved it.”

 While we continued to shop, John went to the Volks Bank, where he exchanged our US American travelers checks for Deutsch Marks (DM) and some Danish Kroners for tomorrows trip to Copenhagen.  We’ve found this to be an easy way to exchange our money.  Luckily, we had enough DM from last year’s trip to take us through the first few days of this trip.  They are very accommodating at this bank, even though they speak little English.

 Using our family radios, we all kept shopping and calling each other whenever we found something interesting.  These radios give you a sense of freedom to roam about and not lose each other.  The only draw back, as pointed out by John, is the embarrassment you might feel when your pocket starts talking to you when you are in a bank or other quiet area.  He just looks around, like everyone else, looking for the source of these mysterious voices.  Otherwise, they come in very handy for keeping track of everyone in your crowd.

 Tressie and I continued our shopping in the street market, while John went to the Burg Church cemetery to look at more headstones.  Alan wandered down the street to look at more shops.  After purchasing several other items, we found the guys and headed for the local food market.  We bought water, candy, fruit and sausage for about 50 DM. 

 At this point, Alan went to the Volks Bank to buy more DM and Kroners.  John went with him and I dragged Tressie into the Stolz department store for more shopping.  We purchased a few more things, before the guys called us on the radios, wondering where we went off to this time. 

 When we got back to the car, Alan told us he was missing all his traveler’s checks.  John also had misplaced half of his.  We went back to our rooms to look for the “lost” money and to deposit our shopping bags in the rooms.  Jet lag will do funny things to your mind.  We’ve all been extra tired, and sometimes you can’t remember where you put things…… like your money.  All the “lost” checks were found, and we went back to the bank.  

 The guys took care of the banking, while I went to a local bakery across the street from our parked car. I just love all the bakeries in Germany.   Tressie went to purchase a parking ticket from the automat, to prevent another 10 DM parking fine.  In no time, we were in our car and back on the road.

 After leaving the main street, we went to Michael Mackaprangs’ house, as John needed to talk with him while we were on the island.  He was not at home, so John made use of his mail slot in the door, and left him a copy of his Fehmarn Genealogy Database on a computer CD.  (Last year Michael and his mother, Ruth Mackaprang had helped us with our genealogy research.   John wanted to thank them by further sharing the information he has gathered and put on this CD.)  We also went down the street, and tried to say Hello to Dorothee Gossel’s in-laws.  Last year they were so kind as to have us over to their home for lunch.  (Dorothee is our Fehmarn contact, who makes the arrangements for our room when we stay on the island.)

 After these unsuccessful attempts at making contact with our local friends, we went to Landkirchen’s  St. Petri Church.   This is John’s and my favorite church on the island.  The island of Fehmarn has 4 main churches located at Burg (the largest), Landkirchen, Petersdorf and Bannesdorf (the smallest and most modest).  

 
Inside the Landkirchen church

 JOHN- “This is my favorite church, because our ancestors have their epitaphs on the walls, along with their portraits.  They were the pastors of the St. Petri Church for about 2 hundred years from 1600 - 1700.  I think St. Petri’s Church is the most ornate of the 4 main churches.  This visit, I noticed a new, large portrait on the wall for Jacob Iversen, who is an ancestor for several of the readers of this website.  I took pictures of his portrait.”

 
Jacob Iversen, pastor in Landkirchen

 While John wandered about the cemetery taking more photos, Alan took a walk in the surrounding neighborhood and found another cemetery about 2 blocks down the road.

 ALAN- “I saw a sign for a museum, so I took a walk, to look for it.  Just as I passed the van with Silo Climbing signs, I came upon a large hedge with a gate.  It was a entrance to a small cemetery that looked interesting.”

 Alan called John on the family radio, and he got excited.  After finishing up at St. Petri’s Church, we all walked to the other cemetery.  John then wandered around the new little cemetery and made some wonderful finds.  He found Elsie Bugge’s Mother, Father & Sister’s headstones.  Elsie (born on Fehmarn) is the translator for the website, and John was excited about this new find.

 After walking around the cemeteries, it was getting late, and we needed to eat lunch.  One block from the church was a local hamburger grill called Deiter’s Grill.  We ordered some German fast food, and ate on an outside patio at a cost of less than 15 DM for the two of us. 

 TRESSIE- “Alan and I ordered burgers for about 15 DM’s also.  We found that hamburgers in Germany are different from burgers in the US of A.  They are served with sliced cucumbers, lettuce, tomato and some type of yellow creamy dressing.  It was very odd to us, though we did enjoy them.”

 Leaving Lankirchen, we headed toward Westerbergen.  Opps…. We made a wrong turn and ended up in the town of Wulfen and decided to walk down to the beach to view the bridge. (Luckily you can only get just so lost on this island.  Being a “small” island, you eventually run into some shoreline.  So getting places does not take very long.)

  
View of Bridge from Wulfen

  Walking to the beach, we took photos of the Fehmarnsund Bridge, with ponies in a pasture in the foreground.  Tressie and I walked along the beach, collecting small rocks.  Everywhere we go, cemeteries and beaches have these small, multi-colored rocks…… so we decided to pick up a few rocks here and a few there, wherever we go,  as a remembrance of the island.  The small rocks remind me of the headstones in the cemeteries.

 Back in the car….. we planned to see the Bannesdorf  Church, after a detour to the city of Burgstaaken to check out the Silo Climbing.  Alan was going to try this, but we found this to be a tourist attraction that kids were climbing, so he decided not to do this.  This city is a seaport, so we walked around by the boats and the small open-air market.  We looked at the fresh vegetables & fruit, jams, pickled food items, honeys and other items on display.  After taste-testing the honeys and jams, I purchased 3 different fruit jams to bring home with me and some fresh plums and cherries for us to eat along the road.

   
Bannesdorf Church

 By this time, it was just after 4 pm, and we finally made it to the Bannesdorf Church.  John, of course, is looking for more headstones of some of the families he is researching now.  I sat down and rested in the peacefulness of this small church.  Tressie and Alan were wandering around, but soon joined me inside the church.

 TRESSIE- “We entered this small church through the side door.  This church feels very rustic and country-like and looks like it belongs in the 1700’s.  Less ornate inside than the other churches, I found myself thinking about the simple times that these people lived in.”

 Soon, we all were headed back to our room. Exhaustion was taking its toll.   Jet-lag was striking…. Or just the tired tourists trying to do too much!!!  We went back to our room to rest before dinner.  John napped.  Tressie napped.  Alan napped.  Judy typed and worked on this article.  (What is wrong with this picture?) 

 At 6:30 pm, I started walking up my traveling companions so we could go to dinner.  If you wait too long, the restaurants will be closed and we don’t have room service!  The shops close early, on the main street, usually about 6 or 7 pm.  The restaurants stay open later, but they won’t stay open too late.

 We went to a very good restaurant that we liked last year called Doppel-eisle.  The food is excellent and served with beautiful garnishes. We choose to eat at the outside tables.  Because the waiter spoke very little English, we attempted to read the menu ourselves.  Tressie and I choose pork dinners, and John chose beef.   These were gourmet meals, complete with vegetable garnishes.  Service was a little slow, but we find the Germans tend to linger over their meals and the servers give you plenty of time to talk with your friends.  We have found this in most of the better restaurants that we have tried.  Dinner for 3 was just less than 100 DM, so we gave the server a 100 DM bill.  Tipping is modest…. Just round up the amount and give it to the server.  American’s are used to tipping 15% – 20%, but that is too much here in Germany, and the servers themselves will correct you.

 TRESSIE- “When we sat down for dinner, Alan decided he wanted to explore the Burg streets and went on a walking tour.  I, on the other hand, was hungry and ordered a pork meal with brown sauce and mushrooms.  The food was excellent, but the cool night air can get to you, as the evening comes on.”

 Dinner was finished just after 9 pm.  After finding Alan, we went back to our rooms and turned in for the night.  Tomorrow we planned to see Copenhagen, so we wanted an early start.

 Click here to continue on to Tursday

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