In the early morning, thick fog hung over the city, and in my thoughts the number who might actually show up kept getting smaller ... But things don’t always happen the way you imagine them.
Twenty-seven cousins of both genders did fight their way through the fog to get to our family/clan excursion to Sigmaringen, and during the morning hours the weather improved rapidly. We were very pleased to welcome guests from Lauerz in Switzerland, Severin Dettling and his wife Maria. They had found quarters at the Gasthof Traube. Another rather distant journey to get here was experienced by Edith Dettling and her son-in-law Pierre Laurent-Guy from Bischheim near Strasbourg/Alsace. Our new member Gudrun Kunze of Dresden and her husband had made sure that their return trip from Lake Constance included this excursion. After long and warm welcomes and exchanges of the most important news we took off in the direction of the Zollern Castle. At the main entrance we took some quick photos and then continued up toward the actual castle gate. Here the next surprise awaited us.
As early as the past spring, Egon had organized the whole event and called for a separate guide. Our lady guide introduced herself as Frau Walk and surprised us all with the simple statement that she, too, was... a Dettling! Her ancestors had moved from Donauschwaben. That, of course, served nicely as a topic of conversation. Andrea provided her with the appropriate information about our Family Community, and they exchanged e-mail addresses.
She also promised to visit our data base in order to find any connections with Dettlings already recorded there. Perhaps we may have gained a new member?
We received a highly interesting guided tour, during which we learned many things about the Hohenzollerns. After a good hour we were back in the main castle square, where we said our good-byes to the friendly lady guide. Meanwhile it was time for lunch, so we made our way to the inn Gasthof Traube, where Egon had made reservations for our group. The food was good and ample, and afterward nothing stood in the way of a post-prandial walk. This consisted of a visit to the old city. Incidentally, it was a Sunday when businesses were open, with many small merchants offering their wares on the streets. We followed this with a stroll along the “younger” Danube. Here we found the area where a 2013 garden show had taken place, and this also enhanced our experience. Our next goal was the “Bootshaus,” a café located directly on the Danube. It had ample open- air seating for us to enjoy a few concluding bites.
Hilde had brought along some photo albums of previous excursions, and she allowed us to leaf through them. Meanwhile, the afternoon was about to end, and since several of us had a long way to reach home, we said our good-byes and expressed our delight over this very successful excursion.