How quickly time passes! Four years have passed since we last got together in 2008 in Salzstetten! vor.
This time we had selected Dettlingen as our venue for 2012. In 1992 it had served as the place for a German-Swiss Gathering of those with the name „Dettling,“ and ever since then our community has been staging a grand Family Gathering every four years. Dettling Community members Karl Josef and Egon and their wives assumed the responsibility for organizing this year’s event.
The event started officially on Sunday at 10 o’clock AM, and as soon as about eighty persons had made their way to the multi-use hall, a welcoming reception with champagne ensued. Inside the hall, it was unfortunately impossible to take a photo of all eighty people, so the photographer asked us all to meet outside in front of the hall for the obligatory group photo. However, the weather gods were not being cooperative. It began to rain, but we all squeezed together under the eaves so that we might appear halfways dry in the picture.
After we gathered together back inside the hall, our host Karl Josef welcomed us all and told us a few things about the his hometown of Dettlingen. Among other things many of us did not know is the fact that Dettlingen is a purely residential zone, with only two part-time farmers in the area. Our President Dieter then took the floor, extending greetings from our Swiss cousins Franz Xaver and Severin, who for important reasons had been unable to attend. Dieter’s next topic was the „Dettling-Book.“ It is nearly sold out, with only ten copies remaining. Member Günter Steimle, who with his wife Helen had traveled from Minnedorf, Switzerland, used the opportunity to acquire one of the
remaining copies of the Dettling Book. After that, our treasurer Franz of Mühlbach talked about our finances, and he was happy to be able to report positive facts only.
At the very end, our President Dieter surprised Andrea by presenting her with a gift for her tireless efforts as our Internet person champagne from the Oppmann Winery in Würzburg. With her slide presentation „Dettling- ein Name der verbindet [Dettling – a name that binds together]“ she then entertained the attendees until it was time for lunch. Our organizers deserve high praise. They had made a good choice with the catering firm that served us a meal that was ample and tasty.
Following lunch, Karl Josef and a few other interested people toured the „St. Pantaleon“ Church, which was erected by the Muri Foundation in 1712. Its coat-of-arms appears directly above the triumphal arch. Worth mentioning also is the high altar with its neo-Gothic style and a 1491 triptych donated by Buchard of Ehingen. In addition, there is the Agatha Shrine stemming from 1589, with its late Gothic depiction of the saints.
In between events, Andrea’s children presented a musically slide show with musical accompaniment which provided a retrospective on the past four years. They did a fine job. For coffee time we had all punctually gathered back in the beautifully decorated hall. As is by now almost a tradition, Siegfried and Gerolf Dettling and two other musicians accompanied this period of relaxing and conversing.
Surely there was enough to talk about. Unfortunately, though, such a day usually ends all too quickly. Anyone who wishes is invited to join us in one of our family outings. The next one has already been planned for 2013!
At this point I would once again like like to draw your attention to our diligent helpers, Karl Josef and Marga with their son Simon; Egon und Karin; as well as our new members Martin and Irene Dettling. Their efforts made it possible for us once again to pass some pleasant hours in a pleasant environment....... „Warmest thanks to all of you!“
In our member area, members can view further photos of the meeting or download or view the illustrated slides of the lecture as a PDF file.