Fond memories from 2001, visit to Bundenthal

Point B on the map is Bundenthal, about 1 hour by car west of Karlsruhe, where Bridget is going to be the new dance company director, as announced in the press. 
 
Brother Tim and I went to Bundenthal, Germany, in 2001 to see the home town where our great-grandfather, Mathew or Mathaeus Breiner, was born 7 April 1851. He and his wife, Magdalena (born 1855, family name Deis), and two sons, Peter and Frederick, arrived in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1885. Our grandfather, Ferdinand, and older brother, Matthew, were born in New York. Their German roots were something of a mystery among us because our grandfather never talked much about that part of his life--his first 16 years in Brooklyn and his immigrant parents.

In Bundenthal, he was a hufschmied, or farrier, someone who made shoes for horses. We met several people named Breiner and visited a cemetery. Here are some photos from that visit.

At Zur Krone guest house in Bundenthal: Tim Breiner, right, with Ulrike and Klaus Lutz, and their son, 2001.

Tim Breiner, widow of Theo Breiner, and Jim Breiner at Zur Krone

Jim, above, with Roland Breiner in Dahn, Germany, and below, with the regulars at Zur Krone

Jim, left, and Tim, with Helmut Breiner in Dahn, Germany

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Bundenthal is a small place, around 1,100 people.

Bundenthal used to be a farming town at one time. It is located in the heart of one of Germany's most important wine growing regions and near a big national forest. It's rural. Now it is a bedroom community for cities like Pirmasens and Saarbrucken.

On the main street.

Sts. Peter and Paul Church, where our greatgrandparents were married, 23 Feb. 1876.