In driving from Wagenbach to Unterbiegelhof, one traces out the curve of the letter "C" from one point to the other point. Actually, the two farms are not far apart. They perhaps even may have butted to each other on the back sides. I make this point because later I will use this physical proximity to help analyze names on a list in London.
The host at Unterbiegelhof is very gracious. I am told by others that no matter how large the crowd is that calls on him he will offer refreshments. Sometimes tour busses even drop in. One manager of a tour tried to sneak in without advance warning just so he would not have any stock of refreshments. But he had advance word, or a large refrigerator, and he still offered refreshments.
In 2002, Beyond Germanna had carried a big article on the ancestry of the Gaar family (thanks to the research of the Theodore Walker family). In this article, it made mention that Hans Gaar was from Kolnpach. This was the earliest defined Gaar, so I took it as a challenge to find out what was intended by Kolnpach, which does not appear in any gazetteer. I found a reference to Kolmbach in generally the right area, but the location was not sharply defined. When we were visiting friends in southern Bavaria, our host was able to find the farm on an ordnance map (from a CD) and was able to print us a detailed map. With this in hand we headed for the southeastern corner of Bavaria (and Germany).
About a mile from the destination we found a sign which pointed to Kolmbach. This agreed with the map and so we were quickly led to the farm of the name Kolmbach. Since very few of the other farms had their own names, it must have a very old site before there were many villages. Possibly it was more imposing than it is today. No one seemed to be home, but my persistent knocking finally brought an elderly woman to the door. She said only, "Nicht fotographieren." Even I got the drift of this. She did not want any photographs made (she could see the camera around my neck). Our conclusion was the house and out buildings were not actively used in farming. Perhaps there was some farm land, but it was probably leased out. The working generation probably was elsewhere and left grandmother at home alone to cope with strangers who were poking their nose in where they were not desired. So we beat a retreat so as not to upset Grossmutter.
We did decide to continue down the road, and within a short distance we came to another house where we stopped and made some inquiries. We told the lady there what we had been doing and why we had been doing it and asked if she would telephone Kolmbach after the working people came home and tell them what had happened because the story that Grossmutter told them would probably be garbled. While we talking, the phone rang and the lady excused herself. Eleanor told me that she bet it was Grossmutter warning the lady here that there were strangers in the neighborhood doing strange things. Eleanor was right as the lady confirmed when she returned.
(20 Apr 05)
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.