24 August 2006
We arrived in Crailsheim (not far from Rottenberg and one hour from Stuttgart, due north of Konstanz…) around 6 pm after a very ambitious day. The hardest thing was convincing Amy to get up by 8:30 so we could get on the road by 9 am. ;-) I knew that we wanted to take some time along our way to visit some historical Laun sites. We took the ferry across a beautiful Bodensee (known to non-locals as Lake Constance) and headed north through some beautiful areas…farmlands, countryside with castles and churches in the distance….and, after a gentle rain, everything was so green.
Our first destination was Konigsbronn (with an umlat over the O!) where we looked for a place to have a little lunch. It seems like Germany is very much like France…no one was around and everything looked locked up. We stopped at a place near to the center where, like the continental divide, waters flow south, or north towards the Danube. It was beautiful pond and grotto and we met a nice German family from the Black Forest area. They suggested we check for family information at the city hall or they thought they had seen a museum. We found the museum but unfortunately it was only open on Mondays and Fridays.
We drove out of the town where many of Jeff’s relatives were born and lived their lives in the 1700s and 1800s…and I quickly glanced at Gabi’s notes to find that this was the town where we would find the gravesite of Christian Friedrich Laun , who died in 1896. We had rather general directions on how to get there so we found a “Penny Market” and showed some people Gabi’s pictures with the gravestone and the lake. Although they spoke limited English, we got a clear idea of where to go…It is just a half mile from the entrance to the town, near a large Maier factory on the left.
As it was when Jeff’s parents visited, the rain was falling as we approached the cemetery. It was beautiful, just across from a lake. We quickly found the headstone and paid our respects, took some pictures for posterity and then headed for the car as the thunder was approaching. We sat in our car eating a quick lunch …and before we knew it, the rain stopped and we went out to see the lake. Jeff had warned me the day before that it would be raining at the cemetery….he was right!
We then went on to a town called Wasseralfingen where to the east, above the town of Rothert were the old mines. It was a little difficult to find but we arrived in time to get one of the last tours of the day. It was fascinating…and we road on the miners cars deep into the mine for an hour and a half tour where many of the Laun family members worked, many years ago.
The iron from this mine kept the ironwerke facory busy for many centuries. Jeff’s gggrandfather (Johann Christof Laun d. 1784) was secretary at the Iron-werkes and his son Friedrich Christian Laun (1823-1896) was bookkeeper and secretary at the same place. It was a fabulous tour and insight into the life of these miners.
Then on to Wasseralfingen, the neighboring town where we saw where the current site of the SHW ironworks…and the old site of Jeff’s ancestor’s employment. With all we did, it took about 8 hours (including lunch, the mines tour, backtracking and exploring a bit as we went along.) What a day!
Then a beautiful 40 minute ride through the green countryside to visit Ruth and Romi, Lucas and Elena once more in Crailsheim. Ruth had heard in Munich that Jeff loved spaetzle so she and Romi prepared this special dish for us. Then, tomorrow, a 6- 8 hour trek to Paris for the trip home on Saturday. It seems, at the end of a journey, there is no regret to go home. We have traveled so many roads and seen so many places, but we are eager to see our own home and families. We are ready to head to California!
