You might have to re-read that to see the difference.  Today we learned there are two cities in Germany with nearly the same name.  We wanted to go to Schmallenberg as part of our quest to find S’s mother’s birthplace.  We think she lived in Kuckelheim when her family emigrated to the US in 1924.  We knew Kuckelheim is a village in Schmallenberg, in the district (Kreis) of Hochsauerlandkreis in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia.  Google maps says Schmallenberg is about 180 or so kilometers north-ish of Frankfurt.  So, we jumped in the Prius, inserted the key fob, pressed the brake, pressed the start button, waited for the ready light, moved the selector to drive and…. where was I?  Oh yes, we set the navigation system for Schmalenberg and took off.  Yes, Schmalenberg with one ‘l’, not two.  We were going west and a little south but for a while I figured it was just taking us to the autobahn.  Finally we decided we were too west and too south and pulled over.  Consulting my written notes we realized our mistake.  So our two hour journey north took a total of four hours.  But it was worthwhile.

Weather-wise it was gorgeous this morning in Frankfurt.  We walked around a little after breakfast and it was warm enought that I decided to change to shorts for the day trip.  First time this whole trip!  As we got closer to Schmallenberg, with two ‘l’s, it got darker, and then rainier and much colder.  About 10 celcius colder.  We decided to go to Schmallenberg before Kuckelheim because we had the notion that as a village, Kuckelheim would not have a town hall, or records we could search.  We were hoping Schmallenberg was large enough to have some archives or records.  As we neared the town, we saw a sign for a TI (tourist information.) 

In a lot of the smaller towns, the TI is a sign posted near the entry to town, with a few posters and maybe a map.  But little Schmallenberg had a great TI with a wonderful woman named Ursula who was very helpful.  She told us there are two Kuckelheims.  Spelled exactly the same and in the same district.  I’m glad I’m not their mailman!  Anyway, she had the idea to call some people in both Kuckelheims to see if anyone knew anything.  Alas, no leads there.  But she did point us to the town hall (Rathaus.)  There we met another very helpful person who pulled some records and also called her collegue in an adjacent town (Eslohe) to help us decide which Kuckelheim was more likely to be the town we wanted.  As there were no matching records in her books, we decided to shoot for the Kuckelheim closer to Eslohe. 

As you can see, I figured out how to put photos in the blog!  Only took me 21 days… Anyway, we drove to Kuckelheim (near Eslohe) and found the town to be cute as can be.  In the years following WW I a huge percentage of the population of Westphalia left for the US.  Looking at it today, you have to wonder what they were thinking.  It’s peaceful, pretty and seemingly mellow.  But you have to think back to the situation post- WW I when Germany was under intense pressure from the allies for war reparations.  Most of the people were farmers, the markets were depressed and most could not make a living.  They left for the US where they heard land was cheap and farming was good.  Of course many of them never got past New York City or Detroit or Cleveland and they needed to make money on arrival before they could move west and buy a farm.

So we’re not any closer to knowing exactly where S’s mother was born for sure, but we have seen the town where she lived at least for a little while.  It was a great day.  We drove a long way for a lot of hours but met some wonderful, helpful people, saw some beautiful countryside and got to appreciate a little more what it must have been like for the German emigrants so many years ago.