CONTACTS I MADE IN GERMANY

I did a little research with not a great amount of success. I was searching for a way to come in contact with someone that lived in that area, and would be willing to answer a few questions. Since I had purchase items on Ebay, I thought it would be interesting looking for old vintage postcards from someone living in the southwestern portion of Germany. After making a few purchases, I found someone living in Offenburg, which is, located about 10 miles from Oberschopfheim. His name was Ottmar Mueller, who was selling antique books and other printed items, on Ebay. As time went by, we developed into friends with common interests in the area. Ottmar, would play a very important part in my research, which I will never be able to thank him enough.

Late in October of 2001, I received an email from a Ebay vendor, that I had purchased some postcards a couple months earlier. His name was Berthold Weiner, who was a physician living in Konstance, and assured me that he had something I would find very interesting and valuable. All I had to do was provide him with my mailing address. No problem. Now was the hard part, of waiting.

On Dec. 21st, I received a small package from Konstance, Germany. When I opened the package with a small book the size of a Reader's Digest, obviously written in German. The only thing I could recognize was the name Oberschopfheim within the title. Wow, I finally had something about the village, without a way of translating it into English. Hmmmmmmmm. I contacted Berthold Weiner, and thanked him for this wonderful contribution, asking him how much I owed him for the copy of the book. His response was, it was a pleasure to be of help. Such generous and helpful people were the norm, all during my research. I was shocked how people in another country could take time from their busy lives to help a crazy American, in search of his family roots.

Gabby Wiedele of the Offenburg Genealogy Society also saw John’s post and contacted him. Renee Hauser of Zell-Weierbach is in the same society and she offered to help. She made the contacts for him in Germany. He had asked to meet the mayor of Oberschopfheim.

In Oberschopfheim they stayed with Karl Heinz and Ute Huck who were very gracious hosts. They took us to visit many points of interest from Strasbourg, France, to the Bodensee, stopping at the Hofbauernhaus, a museum of early life in the area, and the House of 1000 Clocks in Triberg. Karl took us to one of my favorite places to visit, the "Shooting Club" in Oberschopfheim called the "Schützenverein". Karl, his son and daughter are members of the shooting club. We visited there and I joined as a member in honor of my ancestors. Here is a link to their website, http://www.schuetzenverein-oberschopfheim.de/ .

German Friends

A gathering of all our new friends in Oberschopfheim Germany, 2004.