MARTIN HEINER FAMILY ORGANIZATION

12-18 September 2024, Historic Trip to Germany

Thirty-six Heiner members and their spouses visited Wasungen and Walldorf, Germany as part of the 1150th anniversary of the founding of Walldorf.  Eberhard Wolf was our host and guide, aided by Michael Scholz (a Dietzel descendant), Heidi Höppner, and Catharina Wassink.  Ralf Ströder, the Historical Association photographer, took numerous photos of the visit.  

 

Highlights:

• T-Shirts were made for all participants, including our German hosts, with the slogan: “Martin Heiner Family – American Branches Returning to our German Roots”

• A ceremony was held in which Mayor Thomas Kästner, and his staff, gave a greeting and presentation, welcoming the Heiner branches from America back home to their roots in Wasungen.

• We kept our 2016 promise of providing printed vital records from our research. Kathleen Lindsay presented them at the Wasungen reception to the mayor and six books at the Sunday church service to the Wasungen Pastor.  Due to extremely limited time and resources, the task was impossible. However, through a series of miracles, our researcher Donna Ewart was able to quickly finishing translating the Wasungen Germany parish marriage records and get the information to Dana Palmer who stayed home to compile everything, and send the completed books to Kathleen who had a bishop in Freiberg print the six index books overnight.

• The Wasungen brass band serenaded us in an extended outdoor concert.

• We visited Adelgunda Dietzel’s house and school and the Wasungen church were Martin and Adelgunda were married and attended, as well as the graveyard and other important Wasungen sites

• On Sunday, a special service was held welcoming the Heiner Family back to their roots.  Their choir was on leave, so we provided all the music for the service: Kathleen Lindsay conducted and Paul Seare played the organ for a choir made up of the American Heiners in performing four musical numbers in English and German:

  • I Know that My Redeemer Lives (Ich weiß, dass mein Erlöser lebt)

  • I am a Child of God, (Ich bin ein Kind fon Gott)

  • Martin Luther's A Mighty Fortress is our God.

  • A piece, by J. S. Bach

• A special festival dinner was held after church in a large hall, accompanied by a band that played festive music including American Broadway numbers in our honor.

• We visited the rebuilt Walldorf Kirchenburg church which had burned down in 2012, hosted by Isabella Wachmer and her daughter, Sabrina Gunther.

• We saw the house where Martin Heiner grew up.  We always thought it was destroyed long ago, but through the research of Ronny Suske who provided the information to Dana Palmer, it was discovered to be still standing (albeit somewhat remodeled).

• Visit to Meiningen including the elegant Elisabethenburg Palace and the famous Meiningen Theater Museum.

• Visit to the Vesra Abby, a living museum showing a German village of the 1700s.

• Visit to Point Alpha – a West/East Border crossing; a section of the fence and the original guard towers are still standing along with a museum depicting the stark and brutal impact of the division of Germany from 1952 to 1989.  As a young man, Eberhard Wolf served as a border guard on the East German side.

• Visit to the Merkers-Kieselbach – a potash mine where the Nazis hid gold and plundered artworks just before the end of WWII.

• Visit to Eisenach which features the Wartburg Castle where Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German and Bachhaus, Johann Sebastian Bach's birthplace.

• Visit Weimar, the German capital from 1918-1933, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

• We stayed at the Fit & Aktiv Hotel in Schmalkalden, a very upscale hotel which also houses a culinary school.  Schmalkalden was a charming town with numerous shops and restaurants—a tourist’s paradise.

 

This trip has cemented the relationship between the Heiners in America with their cousins in Germany.