Leaving Sulzfeld, or more particularly, Ravensburg, with the tower, we went to Zaberfeld, the home of the Käfers. From there, it was a few miles to Schwaigern. So, we had done a loop during the day, visiting a lot of places where I had ancestors. Schwaigern itself, Gemmingen, Neuenbürg, Oberderdingen, and Zaberfeld were ancestral homes. But, my favorite was Ravensburg, with the view. The driving had not been hard, and we had gotten out of the car and walked around quite a bit.
The next morning we set out on another loop, one that generally went south and then west. The first stop was Brackenheim. The church there was typical of many, in that it has evolved over time, until it is hard to identify just what was original, and what was added. St. Jakobus, the church, was said to have been built in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as a chapel. The last work was a major renovation in 1965. They have preserved a fresco, which seems to be very old. The parish house bears the date 1692 over the door. There are a lot of beautiful half-timbered structures in the town.
Almost next door is Botenheim. I looked to see if any Schneiders or Öhlers (Aylors) were coming or going to church, but I did not see them. A couple of miles down the road is Bönnigheim. They still have a portal from the wall around the town, with a watch tower above. One realizes how small these villages were in previous times, because these sections of the old wall are usually right down town. A marker notes that the church was first mentioned in 1100, so they can look down their noses at those upstart people from Brackenheim.
We could go into the church at Bönnigheim, which is fanciful but very nicely done. The organist was practicing, and the man who takes care of the bell-ringing mechanism was there. He didn’t speak English, but he wanted me to climb up into the tower so he could show me the mechanism. Overall, it looks much like the works of a clock, though a bit more elaborate. In fact, it is a clock which rings the bells on the hours and the quarter hours. The attendant oils and cleans it, and checks that it is on time. Probably, the mechanism was made in the nineteenth century. Prior to that, someone pulled on the ropes. Anyway, the inspection of a bell-ringing mechanism had not been on my list of things to see, but it was fun. The church itself looked very old in the design.
Usually, the major church in town has a war memorial for the two world wars of the twentieth century. Typically, every name is given, and curiosity compels me to read the names. (Back in Schwaigern there were Reiners, Bogers, Willets, and Baumgartners.) Here, there were a Sautter, Späth, and Wieland. The town also has its watchtower. Just south of town there were Disney-like castles, complete with water slides.
Cleebronn is close by. Its church has been repaired in a major way, perhaps due to damage in WW II. There was no attempt to hide the repairs, and perhaps it is a deliberate reminder of the evils of war.
(15 Jun 00)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.