From The Dubois County Daily Herald
Wednesday, December 15, 1954

HARK THE HERALD

Oberkirch and Reute
by A. T. Rumbach

Still accompanied by Mrs. Mechtilde Goelz, we set out in our family bus for Oberkirch, where her sisters Mrs. Marie Meier and Miss Adelheide Lang live.   (The three sisters are nieces of the late A. J. Berger.)   We were cordially received at the large Meier home, the family home of the Langs.   It was a very old house, but was in the process of being renovated, so with many excuses about the condition in which the carpenters had left the house we were put up for the night at the home of Adelheide, who occupied a large, two-bedroom apartment just opposite the French military station.   The two rooms were turned over to us in spite of our insisting that we stay at a hotel, while Adelheide stayed in the Meier home for the night.  

We had a nice dinner at Meiers’ before taking possession of the apartment, the entire family accompanying us there, where we were served a late evening snack and learned much about the history of Oberkirch, its old castle which overlooks the town from its perch on the highest Schwarzwald peak, and the old church on a large plaza in the center of Oberkirch.   We attended services there early the next morning, it being the First Friday ( October 1, 1954), then returned for breakfast.   A visit to a local art shop and wood-carving establishment resulted in the purchase of some samples of the wood-carver’s art, dinner plates with the word “ Oberkirch” carved in the rim, salad bowls with knife and fork, all of wood.   The artist showed us some of his masterpieces-large madonnas and crucifixes and other religious articles that would have made excellent gifts, but were too large to carry along on the rest of the trip.  

In passing, I must mention that we passed through Aachen, en route from Karlsruhe to Wagshurst.   I have learned since returning home that the family of Mrs. A. A. Schuetter of Ireland came from this city.   It is the market and trading center of Wagshurst.

Our schedule called for an early departure for Reute, but the three sisters insisted on our staying for dinner, at which they introduced us to a brand new (to us) but typical Schwarzwald Friday dinner – Pfifferling with Spaetzle; dried mushrooms steamed and served over dumplings (better known to us a “ knoepfle”).

In the meantime, Mr. Meier, a truck driver, had arranged for us to make the trip to Reute via auto.   Mechtilde returned to her home in Karlsruhe with the little bus that brought us here.   So about 1 pm, we, like the bird in the old saying, wiped our “bills” and flew away from our gracious hosts to arrive via Emmerdingen, in late afternoon at our destination and our “home” for the next eighteen days, “ Reute-an-der-Glotter.”

To say we were royally received is putting it mildly.   Our hostess and cousin, Klara Hettich (nee Rumbach) and family had been patiently awaiting our arrival, and her son, Hans, and daughter, Anna Luise, met us at the edge of the village, at the Field Cross, on their bicycles and led us to their quaint, typically – South German home, where the rest of the family, the two Annas (grandmother), and our hostess and her sister and children greeted us most heartily.   Over the door was hung a wreath with the inscription “ Herzlich Wilkommen” (a hearty welcome).   We moved in with bag and baggage to our two rooms, very comfortably fitted out, with twin beds, and were soon seated at the festive board for supper.

I do not recall leaving the table, as one after another, the rest of the relatives and numerous neighbors, stopped in to greet us, and stayed to discuss their favorite subject, the wonderland which is America, and “Die Alte Heimat” – Baden.   To them, we were the four Onkels von America – Onkel Fred, Onkel Albert, Onkel Virgil und Onkel Alphonse.   Later in the evening, we were served “ wechen” (hard rolls) made from half-and-half (wheat and rye flour) and pastetten and kuchen, all baked in the Hettich bakery which adjoins the house in the rear, and the excellent product of the nearby vineyards, plus coffee.  

“ Onkel” Alphonse, who had been shivering from the cold, damp atmosphere we encountered in Holland, Belgium and Germany since our arrival, in spite of the flannel longies he bought in Karlsruhe, thawed out for the first time on the bench adjoining the glazed-tile heater, and found the thick feather bed, which was a part of each of the twin beds much to his “comfort”.  

It was a memorable day, marred only by the fact that Buzz, who was to meet us in Reute from Paris, failed to show up, and there was no mail from home.   However, while we were at breakfast the next morning, Klara came in, proudly exhibiting a sheaf of air mail letters in which we all shared.   While we were reading and passing around the batch of clippings from the Daily Herald, we heard a commotion out in the street, and looking we saw a taxicab from Emmerdingen draw up at the front door.   Buzz emerged with his trusty basketball kit containing his comb and tooth brush (etc).   He was ushered in with great ceremony and was soon seated with us at breakfast.   He had arrived at Freiburg the evening before, and our hosts were very indigent to learn that he was unable to find a cab driver who knew where Reute is.    So he spent the night in Freiburg, took an early train to Emmerdingen, where the first cabbie he approached knew immediately where he was headed for.