Oberreifenberg

Our second day in Germany consisted of a trip into the Taunus Mountains to the village where Mom was born and our ancestral home.
Sturms and Meisters have lived here since the Middle Ages.

St. Georg Kirche

Located in the highest village in the Taunus Mountains, this is the church where my mother's family celebrated baptisms, first communions, and marriages. 

Click on each picture to enlarge it and to read the captions.

Burgruine Oberreifenberg

These are the ruins of the fortress that was built in the middle ages.
A copy of a sign documenting the history can be found at:
Tafel%202%20Lageplan%20Burgruine.pdf

More information about the fortress ruins:
http://www.burgverein-reifenberg.de/185.html

This family visited and filmed the Oberreifenberg Tower in the spring of 2015. Unfortunately, I can't speak Russian, so I don't know what she is saying in the video. I can tell you that little has changed from when we used to climb it, and according to my Uncle Walter who climbed it often as a young child, there are 88 steps to the top. 

Bassenheimer Palais

This building was commissioned by Count Casimir Ferdinand Adolf Waldbott of Bassenheim the court architect, and was built by Benedict Burtscher in the first half of the 18th century. It was the count's administrative headquarters of the Office Reifenberg.
More information can be found at:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassenheimer_Palais

Family Homes

We did our best to find the family homes that we remembered visiting while growing up In Germany.

Oberreifenberg Scenes

Just a few of the sights on the streets of Oberreifenberg.

Oberreifenberg Friedhof

 We spent the last part of our visit walking through the cemetery. The old friedhof chapel has been replaced with a modern open structure, but each grave is still cared for beautifully and flowers are still blooming as autumn is still full of sunny days.