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Erickson Itinerary
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Fellow Spearheaders,
Our trip to Gelnhausen in August of 2005 was absolutely wonderful. You
would not believe how prosperous, well kept, and beautiful the town is
now. It is like a magic fairy waved a wand over the old town I knew in
1962-4 and turned it into a town with beauty and charm as if Walt Disney
had created it. All of the locals were very friendly, and almost all
spoke English. As it is not a big city, prices were about on a par with
what we pay here; but, the meals were cheaper and of excellent quality.
The photos are in 3 major groups. Click on the Itinerary Link at the
left to view all of the photos.
First group are general pictures of Gelnhausen, Bad Orb, Wachtersbach,
and the castle at Budingen. The pictures are in the order of the day in
August 2005 during which I took them, followed by a brief description.
One thing I did in advance was hire a local historian to give us a
personal walking tour of the old medieval part of the city.
(see
picture 18A01) That was a very good thing to do, as it gave us a
historical foundation of the city, which it turns out is one of the best
preserved medieval towns. The history of the Dom was fascinating. It was
one of the first that switched over to Martin Luther during the
reformation. The historian also gave us inside tips on what to do and
see. That really paid off. She said we should go to Budingen, which we
did, and by extreme good luck met the Princess of Budingen. The Princess
was charming, and invited us into see the family living room
(see picture19C Budingen 6). The princess arranged for us to have
their historian give us a tour of the rest of the castle. Turned out the
historian was a former Fulbright Scholar!
Second Group are more photos of the Kaserne. (except for
71880015 which is the White Palace on
the hill which is now an Italian Restaurant). Note that there is now a
coffee shop, the "Lillie Marlene" in one of the barracks now.
See 71880023. The Kaserne has been turned into a business park. With
the exception of some of the old Wehrmacht barracks which are used by
the city office, all are filled with business offices, and have been
completely renovated and modernized. (What a deal the Germans got).
There are no US troops stationed in Gelnhausen, but the officer's
married quarters are still used by the US Army. Residents commute to
other workstations where there are active posts.
Third group is just copies of 2 postcards I got.
Carl Erickson, 48th Infantry, 1962-1964 |
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