Visiting the Family

Family Grave
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On Thursday we took Max and Mateis's cousins Jill and Joelle with us to Lindenthal to visit the Melatenstrasse Cemetary.  Uncle Helmut served as our tour guide.  The cemetary was established in the late 1700s after Napoleon's armies conquered this region.  At that time it was decreed that cemetaries would no longer be attached to the local churches, but rather outside the city limits.  We've heard a couple of different versions of why this decision was made; the obvious being for health reasons, and the other to diminish the power of the church in Cologne, which at that time was very politically influential.  Additionally, the French brought other changes, including the numerical designation of homes (sans street names).  One of these buildings bears the number 4711, which is now the name of the famous eau d' cologne from which we get the name "cologne".

Family Grave
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We visited the graves of Kurt's grandparents and great-grandparents, as well as other relatives that were laid to rest there.  Following local tradition, we lit and placed candles on the graves.  We also took a walk down "Millionaire's Row", where several notable people from Cologne and their families are interred in quite elaborate crypts.

We took a bus to the "Old Town" where we had a family get together. We visited a local pub and socialized for many hours. It was a great evening.

Cemetary Grounds
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Food of the Day:  Kurt's cousin Marion's husband Georg made us a wonderful meal of "Metjes", which are juvenile herring that are extra tender and completely devoid of any fishy taste.  They are purchased fresh, filleted, and are cut up into 1" squares, drizzled with olive oil and covered with a generous helping of green onions.  Eaten with fresh bread, it's quite a wonderful dish...even Mateis liked it!