Jachenau, the home of the Jost Gudelius family, is a very pretty place. Just to the south is the range of mountains which separate Germany and Austria. Cross the mountains into Austria and you will be in Innsbruck. Jachenau itself is the valley of the Jachen River. For an introduction to the Jost Gudelius family, see their web page at http://www.gudelius.de/ . For a web page on Jachenau itself, see http://www1.jachenau.de/ . (The symbol after the www is a "one", not an "L".) Though the language is German, there are lots of pictures to read, and one hardly needs words. Be sure and explore all of the subpages.
On Monday, Jost, Eleanor, and I went on a tour of the area by car and by foot. The pace was slow and the scenery was enjoyable. The views would have been improved had it not been threatening to rain, but none fell. We were in parks, around lakes, and into the town of Mittenwald, which is almost on the border between Austria and Germany. Jost might have enjoyed the day’s outing more if we had been more adventurous. He would point to a mountain, which looked as if it had a vertical face, and say that he had skied down it. (I could ski down a vertical face myself.) There are many trails to walk and bike in the summer. In the winter, locomotion switches to skis for downhill and cross country runs.
The Gudelius family is new to the area; they have been there only about thirty years. So, they are in the category of a newcomers. Now, the Sachenbachs, another family, are beginning to be accepted. They have lived on the same place for eight hundred years. Their intentions are clearer.
Jachenau, as a town, is more of a concept than a concentrated place. We stayed with a farmer, next door to the Gudelius family, where they keep a dairy herd and tourists. The cows readily accepted us. The yellow pages in the Jachenau web site give many businesses, but I had to ask Jost where were the businesses, as I didn’t see them. He told me that most of them operate out of homes, without any sign announcing their presence. The computer store, for instance, is run by the forester in the evening from his home.
We had decided before coming to Jachenau that we would go on to Gresten, Austria. The success of the visit to Jachenau built our confidence that such a venture would be fun. Getting from Germany to Austria is a nonentity. We were hardly aware when we crossed the border while traveling on the Autobahn, but we did stop to get some Austrian schillings to spend, and benzine to propel the car. Incidentally, though we think gasoline prices are high here, benzine, the lowest grade of gasoline, costs about one dollar per quart in Germany or Austria.
One of the hardest things in Austria was to remember that it is a separate country from Germany, and should be treated with the respect due to a sovereign nation. To say that we were vacationing in Germany is poor taste. We were vacationing in Germany and in Austria. When you pay for something, it is brought home clearly that there has been a change. I almost had a heart attack when I asked the price of a room for one night in Austria. I was told 700 and I fainted away. Actually, that was a good price, as there are 14 Schillings to a dollar, so it was only fifty dollars, and "frühstuck was inklusive" (breakfast was included).
(21 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.