FRIENDSHIP LINK:    VISIT TO GERMANY 16-18th May 2008

         

Friday May 16th

Our visit to Germany began very early on Friday May 16^th. The coach picked us up from St Anselm’s before the arranged time of 4.30am, and to everyone’s credit there were no alarm clock crises and we were ready to leave at 4.25am. along with the dawn chorus!

 

The flight from Heathrow Terminal 5 left on time, and we arrived in Frankfurt just after 10am. We were met with a warm welcome, smiles and hugs from our German hosts, and transported in various cars to Thomashaus, the Church Hall in Watzenborn-Steinberg. After a welcome from Rev’d Alexander Klein, we tucked in to a hearty lunch that had been prepared for us and began to relax in the warmth of the afternoon sunshine and the hospitality of our friends.

 

After we had been taken to our hosts homes and settled in, some of us went on a local walk in the countryside, to visit a reconstructed watchtower. This was built along the Limes (or Limes Romanus), a demarcation line stretching for about 550km, where the Roman Empire stopped at its border with Germany. We then went on to the old monastery at Schiffenberg. Alex told us that at a service at Pentecost, over 1000 people had attended. Later, we saw photos of a Shepherd’s Mass that was held here, where children and adults from the Christuskirche congregation had gathered for a candlelit service at Christmas.

 

Back to Watzenborn-Steinberg for evening prayers in the old church, a calm and lovely place to be together. After prayers, we were invited to different friends homes to share an evening meal together. A perfect way to end our first day.

 

 

Saturday was an action-packed day, which began at 10am. We were impressed to find out that Shirley had managed to fit in a shopping trip for shoes, before the rest of us had finished breakfast!

 

Our first stop was the 12^th century Castle Munzenberg. The castle is mostly in ruins, but still has its two distinctive towers, known as the ‘inkpot’ towers. There are 142 steps to the top, and the views across the countryside are beautiful. It was very windy up there, but we spent some time taking photos, and attempting to see Frankfurt in the distance.

 

Then on to the Abbey at Arnsburg. This was originally a Cistercian Abbey founded in 1174 A.D. The buildings have since been used as a prison, mental hospital, and an orphanage. In the 1950’s it became the last resting place for World War 2 soldiers.

 

On to Lich, where we went to a lovely little restaurant for lunch. We discovered that the town has its own brewery, and some of us sampled the local, very tasty Licher beer. Lich itself is very pretty with wood framed buildings and painted facades.

 

We returned to Thomashaus, and the English group met together for a short rehearsal for our part in the International Evening. Ayo and Chinyere did their best to keep us in order (if not in tune)! From there we went to evening prayers in Christuskirche.

 

The evening was good fun, with music, songs, photos from St Anselm’s and Christuskirche, an excellent and humorous raffle provided by our hosts, a lively game of pass the parcel and lots of food and laughter. As a thank you and a gift of love, we gave our hosts a plaque, which had an inscription on the back which read ‘ In friendship, from all at St Anselm’s Belmont’.

 

 

The Family Service on Sunday morning was held at Christuskirche, and the theme was ‘Feel the Fire’. Ian, June, Helen, Ayo and Mark were asked to participate in different ways during the service. A lot of care and thought had been taken to make sure that both the English and German speaking congregation could follow everything that was going on – powerpoint and hymn sheets were in both languages and Sandra was always on hand to translate where needed! The service was inclusive and inspiring, and with the children joining in – or just toddling around- it had a warm family feel.

 

After the service, some of us went to the local Folk Museum in Watzenborn-Steinberg. Here, there is a display of rooms and furniture from the turn of the last century, also crafts, musical instruments and farming implements. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

We were invited back to the Vicarage for a barbeque, where we had a final, happy get together with our friends. It was also Alex’s birthday, and he was presented with a huge cake!

 

Sadly our visit was almost at an end. Our hosts drove us back to Frankfurt airport, where we said our fond farewells but looked forward to seeing each other again in the not too distance future.

 

The visit to Germany was very special. We were shown great generosity, and so much love and care had gone into the organisation and preparation for our stay. We hope that our ‘Friendship Link' will continue to grow, and that the spiritual, cultural and friendship bonds that have already been established, will become even stronger.

 

Our sincere thanks to Rev’d Alexander Klein, Rev’d Jutta Hoffman-Weils, and to all the people in Watzenborn-Steinberg who opened not only their homes, but their hearts to us.