Travel to Germany - The German American Connection - TGAC

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

04/12/2023

Winter wonderland at the first Advent weekend - The Irsee Monstaery Brewery Hotel and Tavern in Southern Bavaria. In case you are wondering: The illuminated "Christmas Tree" is made out of beer cases! Just one out of many memorable experiences during one of our [TGAC] private customized escorted Germany Tours...

25/11/2023

First Gluehwein of this year's Advent season at the beautiful Christmas Market in Trier, Germany. Good to be back...

04/11/2023

At the Porzellanikon Museum in Selb, Germany, we have enjoyed a couple of private demontrations of the making of porcelain products. Selb is the home of the Rosenthal porcelain manufacturer.

27/10/2023

China painting class at the Furstenberg Porcelain Manufacturer which was founded in the yar 1747. This is on a private customized escorted tour with a 4-day class as the "trip center piece" along with visiting other places where German porcelain is being manufactured, castles, palaces, historic towns...

23/09/2023

This private custom escorted German Ancestry Tour took us to Saxony, Germany. One of the parish churches where some of the Saxon ancestors once were baptized in turned out to be a true treasure - still with several original artefacts from the Catholic times before 1538 which they had kept even though they became Protestant during Reformation in Saxony. The baptismal fond dates back to 1519 and the altar dates back to 1521...

13/09/2023

The community of Kippenheim, Baden, had made a great effort in the 1980s to restore the Jewish Synagog there. Today this place is a wonderful example how local history can be brought back alive, not just as a memorial but also as a place to celebrate tradition and for people to meet today...