Conrad Vockeroths Home Town

View of Spangenberg from castle
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Finding Spangenberg was easy, as well as getting the speeding ticket.  No matter where you are in the world, you know a speed trap when you see it, or the flash of the camara.  This area is beautiful, green hills, tranquil.  I see where Billy gets his green thumb from.  We had dinner in Spangeberg, and drove around a bit.  The next day went to Melsungen to find the Vockeroths Department store.  We went in to at least purchase something and spoke to one shop girl trying to see if the family still owned it.  Her highschool english was rusty, and my german, well wait I have no German (other than Billy).  We used the Lingo tool that Jill gave me and found that the store was still owned by the Vockeroth family, but they were not there at the time.  We continued shopping and then the shopkeep came over and whispered " there is Herr Vockeroth".  Billy took out his passport and asked " Could we take a picture of you since we have the same name?"  Herr Vockeroth did a double take, and we explained out search.  We brought pictures of Spangenburg, Vockeroths store and Konrad Vockeroth.  As we were talking he said that after the wars, they were so busy rebuilding they lost so many records so he could not be sure if we were from his line.  Turns out there is alot of Vockeroths in this area, even a little hamlet called Vockerode with about 10 homes in that area.  We exchanged info and even got a family discount on our purchases!  Tom mentioned that they were going to close this store in 2 weeks and move to a new building across from the castle.  We said our goodbuys and went to explore this charming town.  Tom was modest...there is the original store we went to, a childrens shop and athletic store as well.  The new building is huge!  The Vockeroth family is doing well in Melsungen.

Billy and Tom Vockeroth in front of store
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After Melsungen we went back to Spangenburg and visited the castle.  It was pretty much closed down, only the reception desk open.