Introduction to our Tour
 Heinrich
had invited his friends Micheal and wife, Rita, to accompany us on our
tour. Michael, on the right, was quite good at speaking English, and he
wanted this opportunity to travel with us so he could practice his English.
It was decided that Michael and Rita would go in the Opel with Vicki and
me, while Tom would ride in Heinrich and Erika's car. Being curious about
many things I had seen in Germany, I plied Michael with questions, but
he didn't seem to mind. Only once did he say that something was just too
complicated to explain.
My specific goal was to tour
an area of the German state of Rhineland-Pfalz where several of my great
great grandparents were born. This region is about 45 miles southwest
of Frankfurt am Main between Luxembourg and Heidelberrg. If you are using
Internet Explorer 4.0 or later, you can see the map by holding the mouse
over "The Region" above. Otherwise, click
here. The five communities that we wanted to visit are labeled in
red in the map Around Kusel.
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The
first place we headed for was the southwesternmost point of our trip,
Niederbexbach. To
the left, you can see the three of us standing in front of the city
limits sign at Niederbexbach, which
is a tiny "Dorf" south of Bexbach, just a few miles east
northeast of the French border in the area of Germany known as the
Saarland. Andreas
Noe was our great great grandparent who was born in Niederbexbach
in 1835 and came to the U.S.A in 1854 as an 18 year old man with his
parents, brothers and sisters. Earlier, I have written about the entire
saga of Andreas and his wife, Carolina Harth Noe. For a picture
of Andreas Noe and a more detailed map of Niederbexbach, point to
the name above or take this link. |
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