Post #126 14 March 2017

Gentlefolk,

This post describes out stay in Weilheim, near Munich, Bavaria 24 - 31 August 2016.

I was born in Weilheim a year after the end of WW2.  My father was in the Hungarian Artillery and ended up as an American prisoner-of-war near Weilheim. He decided not to return to Hungary and was declared a 'Displaced Person' (Stateless). My mother was originally from Dresden.  As the Soviet Army approached, her family sought refuge in Bavaria (in the small town of Weilheim, about 50 km south-east of Munich) which was in the American Zone.

My parents met, and started a family; they had 3 kids in quick succession. The situation in Germany looked hopeless so they emigrated to Australia, arriving in January 1951.

My mother's sister and her husband (and their 3 children Heidi, Oda, and Michael) stayed in Weilheim; we visited them several times over the years.

This time we had a week in Weilheim, and were able to catch up with everyone.  We had two days left on our German Rail Pass, so decided to do day trips to Nuremberg and Regensburg, two beautiful old cities in Bavaria.

This post has photos of our time in Weilheim and the other cities.

Weilheim is situated between Munich and Garmisch which is near the Austrian border. It is called 'Weilheim in Oberbayern'  (Weilheim OBB) to distinguish it from other towns with the same name. There is a good train connection to Munich.  The town has a population of about 20,000.  

Another view of Weilheim area - lakes and rolling hills with views to the Alps in the distance. Weilheim recently celebrated 1,000 years since its founding.  Weilheim is in the foothills of the Alps, beautiful country for hiking and riding.  There are a couple of large lakes nearby which are great for water sports in the summer and of course the Alps are great for snow sports in winter.

We rented a small flat attached to a house - very comfortable.

Part of the main Square in Weilheim - very attractive.  The Cafe Kronner has been a fixture for many years.  A fresh food market is held in the Square twice a week.

Some of the chocolates available for purchase in Cafe Kronner - yummy!

Cafe Kronner had a big range of cakes available - all delicious - and great coffee.

Every village and town in Bavaria has lovely churches, mainly Catholic in this part of Germany.  Me and my siblings were  baptised in this church in the main Square in Weilheim.

Because many people live in apartments, small community garden plots are common.  There was a huge area near where we were staying with many family garden plots, like the one in this photo.

The cemetery in Weilheim where my mother's parents and her sister & husband (Tante Magda and Onkel Duv) are buried. There is a lovely small chapel and the graves are all very well looked after.

The view of Weilheim from a hill called Gurgel, not far from where the family home used to be.

About 6 years ago Oda bought a new ground-floor apartment near the center of Weilheim. She has created a lovely small garden (see photo).  Other cousins, Jurgen and Annie, visited.

Afternoon tea in Oda's elegant living room.  From what I saw travelling around, the quality of German building construction was excellent.

One day we visited Landsberg about 40 km from Weilheim, where Marion lives.  From left: me; Vera; Oda; Marion (Oda's daughter); Thomas (Marion's partner); Claudius; Lena; and Moritz (Marion's son).

One of the lovely old houses in Landsberg.

The River Lech flows through Landsberg. Three boys were playing in the rapids.

Another attractive Square in Landsberg.

Dinner in Marion's garden. From left: Vera, Oda, Marion, Thomas, Claudius, Lena, and Moritz.

The next evening Conny (Heidi's eldest daughter) and her husband Joe invited everyone to their home for a BBQ dinner.  They live in a village about 40 minutes drive from Weilheim and about the same time by train into Munich. Joe works for Boston Consulting Group and they lived in Boston for 3 years - loved it.

Conny going up to her apartment - they rent the top floor of this house on the outskirts of the village.  There is a dairy farm next door - very agricultural - their two sons have a ball.

There were about 20 for dinner, all part of the extended family (three generations).  It was the middle of summer, so long, warm evenings - gorgeous weather.  Everyone made us feel very welcome.

Another day we had dinner with Heidi and her husband Walter.  They have a nice flat on the outskirts of  Weilheim.

Heidi and Walter took us for a walk in some fields about 5 minutes from their apartment.  Corn seemed to be the main crop, and lucern.  We saw some cows in the distance.

A farmer spraying fertiliser on a field of lucern near Heidi and Walter's place. They complained of the smell when the wind was blowing in the direction of their apartment, only 500 m away!

There were many lovely forests around Weilheim.  One afternoon I went for a walk to a nearby village called Deutenhausen.  

A barn in the village of Deutenhausen, about 6 km from Weilheim.  We were surprised how many houses in Germany have solar panels (seemed to be much more than in Australia), including on these farm buildings.

A pile of wood in Deutenhausen.  The farmer will sell this for fire-wood in winter.

On our last night in Weilheim we invited the family to our place for dinner - they were all keen to try Vera's famous curries. This photo is with Moritz, Marion's eldest son.  He is doing an apprenticeship with BMW (Alpina) about 80 km away, but insisted on coming for dinner.  Moritz has visited Australia twice and loved it - he intends to move to Australia later.

Conny came for dinner with her two boys, Laurenz and Gabriel.

Oda, Heidi and Walter also came for dinner.  

We did day trips to Nuremberg and Regensberg, two lovely old cities in Bavaria.  Here are some photos, but they don't do the cities justice.  We strongly recommend visits to these places.

We did a day trip to Nuremberg (Nurnberg in German). The trials of Nazi leaders were held here after WW2.  This was one of the many impressive churches in Nuremberg. A market was held in the large Square in front of the church the day we visited.

We had lunch in this 500 year old restaurant in Nuremberg. Can you imagine this place has been making and serving food for 5 centuries! The history in these German cities is just amazing.

Much of  City Wall around Old Nuremberg is still intact.  We also visited Regensburg, another lovely old Bavarian city.

Regensburg on the Danube. The only intact medieval city in Germany. Gorgeous. We've never seen so many churches, and cafes, in such a small area!

The famous Steinere Brucke (Stone Bridge, built 1135 - 1146) which for a long time was the only permanent/solid crossing across the Danube. 

Saint Peter's Cathedral in Regensburg, one of Europe's grandest Gothic cathedrals. How did they build such huge, impressive buildings in ancient times????

The incredibly ornate interior of St Peter's Cathedral.

A statue of Don Juan de Austria (English: Don John of Austria; German: Ritter Johann von Osterreich). He was born in Regensburg 1547 and died in Spain in 1578 (aged 31). He was the illegitimate son of  Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, conceived by a local woman when the Emperor visited Regensburg. His half brother, King Philip 2 of Spain appointed him Commander of the Navy and Don Juan defeated a Turkish fleet in the Battle of Lepanto on 7 October 1571 (Miguel Cervantes author of Don Quixote was wounded in this battle). Apparently Don Juan was a womaniser - he "had a woman in every port".

Several nice outdoor cafes in the main Square in Regensburg. Love the cobblestone streets.

I came across this interesting museum - not something one would expect in an ancient German city.  Unfortunately the Golf Museum was closed the day we visited.  Oh well, good to leave something for our next visit!

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And so ended our seven weeks in Europe: 3 weeks in Hungary and 4 weeks in Germany.

We'd like to return to Germany, perhaps in 2018, especially to explore more of Bavaria - what a great place.

Germany is amazing: so well organised, so civilised. The countryside is gorgeous, especially when the flat of the north gives way to rolling hills as one travels south. Personal safety seemed good, at least in the places we frequented. 

Surprisingly, we saw few refugees - somehow this country has managed to absorb about 1 million new arrivals, an incredible feat (but many worry that it has happened too quickly, with financial and social costs to come).  The food is wholesome, and the beer is great.  

Germany has a huge population, over 80 million, and yet the cities are relatively small and livable, and there are a lot of green spaces.  You don't get the great urban sprawls you do in many countries (including Australia); people work in cities but live in towns and villages separated by green belts.

There's a lot to like about Germany, and not much to dislike.  We want to see more of this country.  There is always a temptation to do too much - our thinking is that next time we will spend two or three weeks just focussing on Bavaria.

Mind you, we were lucky on this visit. The weather was generally comfortable (we had been warned that August can be unbearable, but not so) and we experienced little rain.  Also, we had generous and kind friends in each place to show us around - makes a great difference.

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On 31 August 2016 we took a Lufthansa flight from Munich to Hong Kong.  We left Munich at 10.30pm and arrived in Hong Kong at 3.30pm the following day.  

We were now on our way back to Australia (via HK) - our 6 years China teaching and our European holiday were over - we were heading home.

Our 10 days in Hong Kong is the subject of the next post.

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Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

Canberra, Australia

Tuesday 14 March 2017