Jungrindl is found!

Thursday June 11th, 2009

It looked nice outside when I first got up, but it was raining before we left the hotel. I grabbed an extra jacket to go with my raincoat and umbrella, but little did I know how wet I would get as the day went on.  I was traveling with Jim Mack and Louie Lindmeyer as well as a Czech guide, and would be joined later in the morning by the Helmet Mages family from ____ and Klaus and Frank _______.

Our first stop was Tannawa (Zdanov in Czech).  I didn’t have a house number, but my latest research had revealed that my great-great-great-grandmother, Maria Magdalena Maidinger, was born in Tannawa in 1717.  We looked around and took photos in the rain, then headed off for Hirschsteinhausl and Jungrindl.

We were traveling with a Czech guide who had done some research on the villages he was helping us find.   We pulled up to the Hirschsteinhausl site and he pointed for us to go up the mountain, indicating that their was a ruin not far up the trail.  I knew we were in Hirschsteinhausl where we parked, but we all agreed that this sounded interesting, so we headed up.

The hike was extraordinary!  We were walking through the Bohmerwald (Bohemian Forest)!  It was clear that we were very high up as we could see glimpses of sky through the trees along the horizon line.

Our Czech guide had not started out with us, but caught up to us to lead us on.  I’m sure we would have turned back if he hadn’t rejoined us, because it ended up being a long way!

What we found was the Hirschberg site (berg is German for castle).  Although the berg is in ruins the views from this elevation were quite dramatic.  

As we were heading back down the mountain to continue our adventure the weather turned on us, it started to rain.  Then pour.  Then thunder and lightning.  And yes, even hail.  Despite my raincoat, I was soaked through by the time we reached the bus.  The worst was my shoes--wet liked I’d stepped into a full bathtub!  It was mid-morning and the plan was to stay out until we’d seen all we needed to see...

Our plan had been to next search for the village of Jungrindl, we had gotten close to finding it on two previous trips to the homeland but had since found new maps to help pinpoint the site.  This is the village that my immigrant Schweinfurter family, Josef and Margaretha, had lived in before they left for America.  Since it was pouring rain and searching for Jungrindl would require us to hike through the woods and brush we said we’d have to come back later in the day.

As the day went on we visited other villages and I tried to dry out, actually going through a pack of tissues trying to ring out my socks.  Our driver dried my socks on the heat vents, but my shoes were so wet it really didn’t help.  All day there was sun, then rain, sun, then rain: it was miserable.  Some of the other sites that we visited include the cemetery in Stockau, where I found three Schweinfurth’s from Hirschsteinhausl), Paadorf, Dianahoff, Unterhutten and Schwarzach before taking a short break in Waier (((for Pivo.)))) 

Then it was on to Jungrindl.  I was so excited that I was practically running, leaving Jim and Louie and their GPS behind. From all the time that I had spent studying the new maps I knew where I was going.

Just before we saw the first ruins a rainbow appeared above the forest of trees--it was a sign, someone was welcoming me home!

We proceeded to find at least nine ruins of houses.  Many villages along the border region were destroyed between World War II and the Cold War/Communist era, and Jungrindl was among them.  This is why it had been so hard to find.

We explored and took photos before heading back to the hotel where I was very grateful for a hot shower and nursed my aching feet.  

It was a challenging and rewarding day all in one.  A quest that had started more than a decade before with the passport of Josef and Margaretha was now complete.

What will be next?

Now, when I think of my immigrant Schweinfurter’s leaving Jungrindl, I know what they left behind:  a little village nestled between the giant evergreen trees and a large pasture.  My Schweinfurter Heimatland is found.