Hooray Hooray! You are back Christoph! It was really sad with you not there when we were there! The next visit, you are the priority, and your schedule is what we should start with first!
Now before I say anything else, I just finished my Amazon review on Marion's production. I would not allow myself to visit this website until I had done so. The DVD is absolutely fantastic! Next on my to do list is to order more copies of it. My To Do list is actually frightening.
Christoph you did not give many details from your vacation but you sure got into your Siegburg research mode fast! I hope you had plenty of sun. Your Siegburg weather was wonderfully cool and it did rain and was overcast a lot. But we loved that. Germany looked beautiful with all of the flowers blooming everywhere, everything was so clean and tidy, and there appeared to be no pollution. The drivers of cars and trucks were excellent and we never saw an accident anywhere.
Our hope is to come back maybe as early as late September based on your schedule as well. Sister E. Koch is adorable! She seems to be in good health and had the energy to talk for long periods of time. Sister Joanna was terrific too and between the 2 of them and our interpreter, Ernst, we had no difficulties.
I gave Sister E. Koch the small pictures of the Abbey that I brought with us, and that we took sometime in the late 1980's. She was thrilled to have them. So what we plan to bring next time is a lot more of the photos in 8 x 10 size plus some large aerial views that we have already experimented with printing. The Sister can show us what area was the German Hospital portion and what areas she knew and their function.
Since our 1980's trip (and the photos) the Abbey has stuccoed over what was once all stone. It also appears that steps were removed from the back of one side of the building. You will see this when we compare the current structure to these old photos. I will make a set for you. I also want to ask Mr. Norton to make a copy of the photos he took on his trip to Siegburg which was maybe a year or 2 before we went in the 80's.
What you sent is fascinating Christoph! This report was in May of 1944 before D Day on Normandy. I have to go back to the recording from our visit, which I have put in the queue, but the Dr. for the German side had a name that started with S. So it was probably this Dr. Smeeds. Sister E. Koch said he was SS. She also said her older brother was SS too.
More to follow, afraid I will lose this, Hooray Christoph is back!
Jean J