We woke up about 6:30 a.m., eager to start another day of our adventure in Fehmarn. Mrs. Claussen-Mackaprang prepared us breakfast of fresh bread and rolls, cheese, salami, a soft-boiled egg and hot tea. It was wonderful. Her home is set up with 3 rooms to rent and she includes breakfast. She is a very charming, German widow. Her English is as poor as our German, but we communicated a little using a German travel book and making gestures!

Judy at Breakfast

John and I highly recommend that you rent a room from a local Fehmaraner. The rates are reasonable and the experience is very pleasant. You get to experience a different kind of Germany, especially in this slower, more rural area.

On the road again, we first stopped at a bakery to purchase 2 pastries and some bottled water for later. Now we were ready for our trip to Neustadt, and tried to drive off the island. We encountered one small problem…. We couldn’t find the road off the island. After several wrong roads and much laughter, we finally found the one and only road off the island.

We so thoroughly enjoyed looking at the scenery while we drove, that we didn’t pay attention to the full names of the passing towns. We turned off the highway, thinking we were on our way to Neustadt and ended up in Neukirchen. This was a lovely little town off the beaten path and we talked to a German woman who spoke very little English. She helped us understand that we were in the wrong town.

Travel tip #5- When looking for a place, pay attention to the whole word, not just the beginning letters! Our excitement in traveling through the area caused us to not pay attention to the whole name of the town.

Back on the road and 30 more minutes later, we found Neustadt, where we had an appointment at the Kirchenbuchamt fuer Kreis Oldenburg/Holstein at Kirchenstraße 7 Neustadt. with Mrs. Melittle Mull-Ehler. This is the archive for Fehmarn and John was eager to start his genealogy research. When we found the research room, John went straight to the work and couldn’t believe that they let you look through the original church books. He was so excited, and began looking through the Bannesdorf tote book. There is not photocopying allowed, so I got a crash course in reading the records. John wanted me to hand copy the pages, so I began to do it!! This was an impossible mission, but being a good sister, I tried.

Mrs. Ehler came into the room, and John introduced himself. She was very helpful and kind to us. John started to research ancestors for people who have made queries at his website. This archive has the records dating after 1876, which are not available in America on microfilm. Therefore, he was so excited to have access to these important records. Unfortunately, his excitement gave way to the realization that he couldn’t hand copy everything that he wanted. John found an alphabetical typed index of the Burg marriages from 1654 to 1768, which is a very difficult time to read the old script on the original records. John wanted a copy of this index, and asked Mrs. Ehler if this was possible. She was most kind, and said this was not a problem. John was very grateful. (We paid 10 DM for the copies.)

Mrs. Ehler is a professional genealogist and performs this service for the small fee of $10 DM an hour. She has available all the Fehmarn church books, even those not available on microfilm. John took this opportunity to make use of her services and hired her to transcribe some records that are not available at the LDS family history centers.

Now, remember the kind, obedient sister, sitting at the table, hand copying the church records….. I also, was most grateful for the help from Mrs. Ehler. I realized the impossibility of this task when Brother John assigned it to me. John was no longer frustrated about what he couldn’t get, and began working on specific pieces of information he needed for our family history and some information needed by his website friends. He assigned me a new and possible task of looking for our Great-grandmother’s siblings. This was suddenly very simple compared to what I had been attempting. After finding this information, I, too, was getting excited over our "finds". When we left the Archives about 2 p.m., we felt like we had really accomplished something.

We decided that we needed lunch, and went off in search of a restaurant. We walked around the area, but only found a teashop, where I bought some candies for gifts for the family back home. (I spent 27 DM.) We finally drove to the harbor (just a few blocks) and had lunch at the Griechisches Restaurant Piraus. The waitress spoke no English, so when we asked for a menu to read (using gestures!), she told us they had gyros. We said fine and so that’s what we had for lunch. It was unlike our American gyros, but quite good. With the meal came a small shot glass of clear liquid. Not knowing what this was, we tried it, only to find out it was liquor. Our lunch cost 39.00 DM, and John tried to give her a 10 DM, but she would not take it. She only took the coin, which was in our change. I added the coins from my pocket, and we were on our way again.

Travel tip #6- The change you get back from the German DM’s will include coins for 1 DM, 2 DM and 5 DM. We wrongly assumed that these denominations would be paper money like we have in America. Look at your coins. These are your dollars!

After lunch, we headed back to Burg. Before driving back to our room, we stopped at a local grocery store called the Aldi Market. We bought bottled water, more film and assorted candy items. They are much cheaper in the grocery store than in the gift shops! I had a fun time looking at all the food items in the store (as this is my "thing"). Luckily, John humors his sister. We have a deal on this trip. I will go to cemeteries with him and he will go to stores with me. It works well and we’re both happy.

After stopping back in our room to unload our purchases, we went to the local Volksbank. We decided to turn in our DM Traveler’s checks for cash and were charged a service charge of only 10 DM. Keep your passport handy, as you will need this for identification. We were advised to have the traveler’s checks, when we exchanged our US currency into German currency. Our advise is "don’t bother", if you are going to Fehmarn. So far, no one wants to be paid with credit cards of any kind or travelers checks (DM or US currency). The stores and restaurants only want German currency. (This advice from American Express probably was directed for the traveler going to larger, main cities. Fehmarn is not a general tourist destination for Americans.)

Burg Market area

Upon leaving the bank, we went to a small store with merchandise displayed on the front sidewalk and purchased 4 T-shirts for a total of 69.60 DM. When we came out of the small store, we noticed someone writing something by our car. We were getting a parking ticket! This cost us 10 DM (paid directly to the meter maid), but we used this experience to learn about parking at the marketplace.

Travel tip #7- We understood that the large blue & white signs with "P’s" on them indicate parking, but we could not read the smaller print. Now we learned that "nor mit parkenschien" means you must look for an automat machine in the area, put in 2 DM (coins) for 1 hour or 4 DM for 2 hours, get a parking ticket and place this on your dash. This will allow you to park for an hour or two without getting a parking ticket. Live and Learn!

After a little shopping, we were soon on the road again, driving towards Petersdorf to see the cemetery at the church. John went row by row, taking photos of some of the headstones.

By 8 p.m., we decided to go to dinner, and ended up at Dat ole Aalhus in Landkirchen. John ordered a fish dinner, but could not read the menu so he just pointed. Well the pointing method got him a plate of cold, smoked shrimp, lox and some kind of raw fish. It was beautifully displayed, but a bit of a surprise to him. Along with the fish, came a side dish of potatoes. He ate all of the fish except the one that "was really raw!" I read the menu (with the use of the above-mentioned article) and ordered a dish with pork, turkey and beef in a mushroom sauce. I have learned to identify these words, so I have somewhat of an idea of what the meal will be. Mine also came with a salad. Coca-Cola is easy to order, so we have been drinking lots of it. Dinner cost us 64.60 DM and this time the service charge was clearly marked on the bill. We rounded up to the next DM and went on our way.

St. Petri church in Landkirchen

After dinner, we went across the street to the Landkirchen Church cemetery and John began taking more pictures. He is truly a man on a mission. Sunset does not occur till about 9:30 to 10 p.m., so we made good use of the daylight. Exhaustion started to set in, so John and I went back to our room and retired for the night.

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