June 4 – Ulm

We began today with Catholic Mass at the convention site. I figure that there were close to 2,000 people there. Again, it was very emotional as these people carried their village banners in and out and sang the hymns that they had sung in their own churches in their own villages only a few years ago. You could just feel the emotion in the air. At Communion server that I went to was almost in tears.

After Mass, we moved on to three huge halls. Each one had tables set up and labeled with village names. The idea is that you go to your village table, or one that you are interested in, and meet some of your old friends and neighbours that you might not have seen for a few years. They even had tables for Kanada and Amerika. Here are, clockwise from left, Bev Fritz, Daryle Niedermayer, Trevor Harle, Betty Harle, and Baz Fritz.We had a couple of people come over to say hello and ask if we knew Uncle Johann in Chicago.

Most of the people are elderly and don’t speak English, but a few of us were able to make some connections. Jim was able to converse with a lady from Triebswetter. And I was able to make three potential contacts in Bethausen. Any of you familiar with The Johann Achtzehner book or Liz Hugel’s translation might remember that a group of Zichydorfers left to found this village around 1850. One fellow I talked to said his grandfather was from Zichydorf and another said his uncle was.

Around 2 p.m. three oompa bands fired up in the three different halls and people started to dance. (All the bands that we have seen over the two days have been all wind instruments except for the drums.) At 3 p.m. an entertainment program began in the large hall where the church service had been. It started with some young kids doing folk dancing, then got into a skit that set the stage for the other dancing that followed. It was supposed to depict the Kirchweih celebration that was about the biggest festival on the Catholic Donauschwaben’s calendar.

We finally wrapped things up around 5:30 with the party still rolling along. I ate light and went for a walk looking for the Ulmer Schachtel monument that I thought was around here. Most of the others went out to eat a little later.

June 3 – Ulm

Our purpose in visiting Ulm is to participate in the Heimatag 2006. This is a gathering of Romanian German Banaters held here every two years. Their experience is a little different from that of our Yugoslavian Germans.

The Yugoslavian Germans were thrown into internment camps or sent to forced labour camps after the war. Many perished from murder, malnutrition, disease, and exposure to the elements. When they were finally able to leave, they went to a Germany that was already struggling to rebuild itself. All the new mouths that needed feeding were not very welcome.

While some Romanian Germans were also sent to forced labour camps and had their possessions confiscated, they were not subjected to the same brutal conditions as their neighbours. However, they were virtual prisoners in their own country. Emigration increased to between 10,000 and 15,000 per year from 1977 to 1988. With the fall of the Communist regime, emigration increased to 23,000 in 1989, 111,000 in 1990, 32,000 in 1991, and 16,000 in 1992 before trailing off. The little history lesson is just to explain that this is a relatively young and vibrant group that still has vivid memories of the homes they were forced to leave.

Anyway, the Saturday of the festival is dedicated to commemorating the pioneers who set sail down the Danube en route to the Banat in the 1700’s. It begins with traditional dances on the mall on Saturday morning, followed by a procession to the Mayor’s office. After a short reception, the Mayor joins the procession as it wanders down to the river bank to lay a wreath by the monument to those early pioneers. Here are just a few of the many, many pictures I took.







For someone with such a distant connection to the events being commemorated, I was surprised at how moving I found the whole experience.








For the afternoon, we went to the Donauschwaebisches Zentralmuseum. It was pretty goo, but, in my humble opinion, not as worthwhile as the Haus der Donauschwaben. Like so many big government operations, they seemed to find a way to do less with more. It was all very artistic and took up lots of space, but I don’t think they had any more to offer in the end. Maybe it depends what you are looking for. Here is a nice model they had of an Ulmer Schachtel, the type of barge that the pioneers rode down the Danube.


In the evening we all went out for supper with Dave Dreyer. Those of you in the genealogy crowd will know Dave as the godfather of Banat German immigration to North America. He has extracted ship lists, North Dakota records, military records, and many more and made them available to all of us. While our group was gathering in the lobby for the morning’s activities, I turned around to find Dave standing behind me. He helped us find the action and we spent much of the day with him. Here we are having supper together. Clockwise from left: Baz Fritz, Glenn Schwartz, Dave Dreyer, Frank Dornstauder, Jim Griffin, Daryle Niedermayer, and Trevor Harle in front.

A few of us attended a free concert in the evening. I am not a big fan of operatic singing, but I quite enjoyed this effort. There were five singers who performed solo, in pairs, and in groups. The selections had some energy and weren’t too long. It was quite good. We were too pooped to stay for the second half choir, so we left at intermission. Too bad, I am sure it would have been equally entertaining.

Helmut got talking to a TV crew that was filming the festivities and found that they were from Romanian TV. He asked them to send us a copy of the finished product and they said that they will. Here’s hoping.