Travel to Germany - The German American Connection - TGAC

10/01/2025

How about a Germany Trip in 2025 ?! We - TGAC - offer private custom escorted tours in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Our special niche are German Ancestry and Heritage Tours with 15 years experience: We take you to the villages and towns where YOUR German ancestors once have lived - not just to a region - and we arrange to meet with locals for a truly meaningful trip. We can also assist you with your German genealogy. Of course, we - TGAC - also accommodate general sightseeing or other special interests on our tours: Each trip is customized and we work things out step-by-step together with you for the best possible travel experience... Just contact us - You won't need to commit to a tour right away. Let's talk and see if we - TGAC - are a match for your travel plans ...

16/12/2024

This year's last private custom escorted German Ancestry Tour took us also to Northern Germany - to TIETJEN ancestral places in the moor colonies near the Weser river. At the Buettel church, the local sacristan and parish historian had prepared historic maps and documents about the places where the ancestors have lived and worked - What a special treat!

02/12/2024

Thanks to the great work of the Dithmarschen genealogical society they presented a number of wonderful (surprise) family trees at a family dinner with distant cousins they had also identified - What a special evening in St. Michaelisdonn, Dithmarschen, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...

11/11/2024

Strolling the ancestral village Wiesemscheid in the Eifel region, Germany, with a distant cousin the two US-American visitors did not know about prior to the tour - who is sharing old family pictures... All that thanks to the great effort of local hobby historians and genealogists in Wiesemscheid, Barweiler and Adenau...

26/10/2024

Another very interesting ancestral story took us to family roots in Steffisburg, Switzerland: The Mennonite Zimmermann family was highly respected in the community - in the mid-1600s one ancestor was the landlord of the local tavern (see picture) - but as Mennonites (or Anabaptists) they were persecuted by the Canton of Bern authorities. Since many villages in the Baden area (today Germany) were depopulated after the 30-Years War (1618-1648), the Baden Margrave had invited Swiss people to settle as farmers there - including Mennonites who were granted religious freedom within their small communities. These Swiss Mennonites had a very good reputation for being skilled farmers and upright people in Baden. Nevertheless, several successive years of bad harvests forced them later in 1839 to leave Baden and to emigrate to America...

22/10/2024

When the ancestors of our travelers on this current custom private escorted German Heritage Tour have worked their farm down in the valley, they were having this Hochburg Castle ruin in plain sight every day - and it was in ruins already since its demolition in the 1680s...

17/10/2024

One highlight of a custom private escorted small group tour was the Open Brewery Day at the Traunstein Hofbrauhaus Brewery in Bavaria with beer, food, an open brewery and live music in the festive hall - An event that takes place only once every four years!!! We all had a great time mingling with the locals...

26/09/2024

This latest German Ancestry Tour took us to North West Germany - to Dithmarschen, Oldenburg and East Frisia. Even if some churches have undergone alterations and renovations throughout the centuries of their existence, often ancient artefacts are still there - like this about 800 years old baptismal fond in the Strackholt church. This is not a replica! It is the very same - original - baptismal fond all ancestors have been baptized in - in the 1600s, 1700s, 1800s...

16/09/2024

Another wonderful German Ancestry Tour - this time in Hessen, Germany. We had a great time enjoying the hospitality of local historical societies and sharing information, pictures and stories with the locals - Experiencing the unique "Heimat" feeling...

Custom guided tours in Germany: Ancestry and Heritage, Choirs, Christmas Markets, Luther and Reforma

04/08/2024

Our latest private custom escorted TGAC German Ancestry Tour took us up to the Northern part of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) where colonists have cultivated the hostile moorland in the 1700s. At the Historic Moorhof Augustendorf we learnt a lot about the tough life and work of those ancestors who had settled there - and whose children have later sought a better life in America...

05/07/2024

It was a surprise but a very welcome and enjoyable one: When we were staying at B&B located at the Bronnbach Monastery in Franconia, Germany, they were having a "festival of lights" this evening - with live Salsa music in a monastery that was founded about 900 years ago... The next day we visited an ancestral village nearby where the mayor showed us around - and we even met a distant relative there as a descendant of a family member who had stayed in the home village...

21/06/2024

Vogt family lunch with locals in the Vogt ancestral village of Erlach (Renchen) in Baden, Germany. After a private tour hosted by two locals - including the village mayor - we had lunch at a local fruit farmer's place, followed by a very special presentation by two local historians who researched their archive and who even found out where exactly in Erlach the Vogt ancestors' family has once lived before they emigrated to America in 1852...

08/05/2024

Impression of the Vessra Monastery with its open-air historic village museum, Thuringia, Germany. We - TGAC - like to take those who are traveling with us on a private custom German Ancestry Tour to regional historic village museums. Of course we always visit the individual ancestral places where the German ancestors have once lived and worked, but often the old houses don't exist anymore. The visit of such a historic village museum completes the unique and meaningful travel experience, providing a very good idea how people have really lived back then...

Custom guided tours in Germany: Ancestry and Heritage, Choirs, Christmas Markets, Luther and Reforma

15/03/2024

We - TGAC - are very much looking forward to a new travel season with many great tours in Germany. Again our niche and special expertise are private customized escorted German Ancestry Tours. We always contact locals in the individual ancestral villages who are happy to share their knowledge about the local history and families, best along with coffee and coffee cake... Contact us - TGAC - for your unique German Heritage travel experience!

29/01/2024

All our TGAC tours are private and customized. Our special niche with over 12 years experience are private customized escorted German Ancestry Tours with the option to combine the unique visits of the ancestral villages and towns with other interests such as historic architecture, food, beer, wine, handcraft etc. based on the wishes and preferences of our TGAC travelers and guests. As an expample, the picture here shows the Ducal Opera House in Bayreuth, Bavaria, which is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site... For YOUR unique private customized tour - Just contact us - TGAC!

19/12/2023

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year 2024 to all of you from us - The German American Connection [TGAC]. We have had a very good travel season this year with many exciting - and sometimes surprising - experiences, especially on our private customized German Ancestry Tours. And we very much look forward to the next travel season in 2024 - Maybe it is time for YOUR special trip to Germany?! All our TGAC tours are customized - Just contact us to get an idea about our services for private tours and genealogy...

Custom guided tours in Germany: Ancestry and Heritage, Choirs, Christmas Markets, Luther and Reforma