It was such a wonderful gift to be able to visit 4 of my German Ancestral villages while on my Rhine River cruise this past summer. While it required extra effort on our part -- renting a car, getting to the car rental agency before it closed at 1pm and of course finding our way back to our ship -- it was well worth it! I loved seeing the natural beauty of the areas surrounding Helferskirchen, Wirges, Staudt and Dernbach. I was pleasantly surprised to find that these villages are growing larger and seem to be doing very well. I wonder if I can find any photos of these villages from the 1700 and 1800's.
I enjoyed the peaceful moments while I sat in the churches where my ancestors attended Sunday Mass -- St. Boniface in Wirges, St. Laurentius in Dernbach and the cute little prayer chapel in Helferskirchen.
While my Grandma Theresa knew that her father Peter Joseph Nebgen was from Dernbach, Germany, I don't think she knew about her ancestors from Helferskirchen, Staudt and Wirges. I wonder if she had known, would she and Grandpa Charlie stopped and visited these villages on their trip up the Rhine River in 1961?
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