Rothenklempenow

Rothenklempenow!!!!!                

From Kiel Germany we took the train to Hamburg. Heather has a friend that lives there named lucy. Lucy and Christian gave us their flat for a few days. After doing some research we decided that we would head towards Poland and stop in a very little town called Rothenklempenow. So we took the 4 hour train, stopping in Lubeck to change rails. The stop we wanted is Locknitz. Rothenklempenow lies about 10k north. We decided we’d hitch hike into Rothenklempenow and take some photos and look around. Thought we’d visit the cemetery and then go back to the train station and head on into Poland. Hitch hiking was going very slow and so we started walking. The people we did run into did not speak any English. Because the USSR controlled this area and left less than 25 years ago, most people were taught Russian in school. And the west was looked down upon. Finally a car pulled over and a woman named Marion Pedri gave us a ride. She spoke a little English and thought it amazing that we have travel so far to see if we could just pop into a small town and expect to find anything after 140 years. I really didn’t have any expectations; I just really want to see where my ancestors lived and get photos of the land to take home and share. As we came to the sign stating that we were entering the town I think my heart skipped a few beats. I got really excited. We took a left off the main road and on to a very old cobble stone road. The church was on the corner with scaffolding around it. It was having some major repairs done. The buildings here were just incredible. Mostly build with stones and filled in with bricks and timber. They are in very good shape for how old they are.  There is a tower left from a castle from the 1200s. Turns out one of the buildings has been turned into an art retreat that does workshops. It’s getting late and we decide to ask if there is a spare room. Nina is running the office and she speaks good English. she asked us what were are doing in Rothenklempenow and we tell her we are looking for our great, great , great grandfather Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Hoeppner’s grave or any info on the Hoeppners. She speaks quickly in German to Anja and Uwe who are also in the office. Turns out there is a descendent of the Hoeppners in town. She calls him and he agrees to meet in the morning. I have a feeling of amazement. That evening Uwe take us to the tower and inserts and old key into the lock. We go through the heavy wooden door and up the spiral staircase to the top of the tower. He points out the Hoepners home and woodshop/sawmill. It’s an incredible view. From there we go to the giant oak tree in the court yard, they say it’s at least 800 years old. It stands there like a giant, so majestic and beautiful. “If this tree could talk”, I think to myself. We go through the gate and out into the gardens. Under another huge oak tree is a white statue, Lina. She is elegant and beautiful with a sense of sadness on her face.  I am moved and can’t quit taking photos of her, trying to capture the essence of the moment.  But as you and I well know, that is impossible. I offer Uwe a bier in the pub down in the cellar of the building. He doesn’t speak English so we have been playing charades for the last hour and a half. But it’s been fun. Uwe is bright eyed and happy. I feel he is excited to have some foreigners in the village.  He makes us feel at home. He is like a big teddy bear. Heather takes a tray of pilsners to a table in the almost empty pub and gets a bunch of laughs and smiles. She is amazing in that aspect. We go to sleep tired and amazed with our heads spinning thinking about tomorrow. The next morning I awoke early and just left out the back door to our little room. I follow a cobble stone street and it turns to a dirt road and I go right.  Following an old fence line the road splits again and I am move to take a left into the path lined with oak trees on both sides. The birds are singing the mist to part so the sun can break through. I arrive at the lake where there are these little triangle houses lining the shore. I am at such peace. When I return heather is still sleeping. Soon we are in Nina and Anya’s office meeting with Uwa Wittkop. He is the grandson of a Hoeppner. He lives right next to the woodshop and saw mill that were ran by the Hoeppner family.  We talked a bit through Nina and speculated about there being a relation. His wife Carmen pointed out how my father and he had a lot of the same features. Once again Nina helped us out by lining up a meeting with the priest who has all the old records dating back to 1600. We drove thought the forest on a winding road. I was thinking, “This looks just like Hemlock Michigan”, that’s where they settle in 1873. We started looking through the birth records and it was so awesome when we found Carl Friedrich Wilhem Hoeppner. And then we found his parents and their parents and again, going back another 100 years!!!!! The records are in such good shape. I know I could piece the whole family back together if I had about 10 more hours. If I have time I will go back and do that work before I come home. My 6^th great grandfather is Johann Carl Ludewich Hopfner (they would change the spelling a little every so often as to give the different branches of the Hoeppners a bit of identity. Just like Wolfgram came from Wolffgramm and then Wolfgramm. Really neat! The next morning Nina and Anya had a breakfast waiting for us. Anya was speaking English to us and we had fun talking about starting a small brewery in Rothenklempenow. Uwa took us around the wood shop and saw mill. It’s part of the museum plan now. Hanging on the walls are the templates they used to make everything from chairs and table to the rail on sleds and sleights. I really felt at home and have spent the last week thinking about how I could move to Rothenklempenow. There is so much more I could write about this adventure but that this will have to do for now.