Sunday in Friedelsheim

Greg Rabus belongs to a car sharing organization and got one big enough for the six of us to drive to the Mennonite Church in Friedelsheim.  

 At the end of the driveway you see the rounded gate which opens onto an old fortress which now houses the Mennonite church, the parsonage and another person's house.  From 1134 till 1571 this was a cloister.  In 1525 (30 yr war) it was badly destroyed.  A count had it rebuilt in 1585.  As of 1665 the Kurfurst Carl Ludwig decreed that the Mennonites, who had moved to this region from Switzerland, could lease the Burg. In 1803, they were allowed to buy it. It is no small irony, that the Mennonites, who so often were thrown into the cellars and tortured in such fortresses, now owned one. The only Mennonite church that does!
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 Inside you see a beautifully sanctuary, renovated in the last 10 years.  Jeni, you would have loved the accoustics!  Oh, I'll try to insert a video of the 16 attendees singing.

 Jack asked to glance down into the basement.  Half the door was amazingly heavy!  They said the temperature in the basement is constant, just like in a cave.  The stairs down are quite steep.

 Here we are leaving and you see the parsonage.  All buildings are attached and around the center yard.

On the right is the sanctuary. We're walking out through a door in the large wooden gate, which can also be opened if needed.

For a delicious lunch of meatball soup, bread and cheesecake dessert we were invited to a family, who live in a neighboring town with their two grown up sons.  A lovely family.  The wife told us that her mother was brought to Paraguay on the Volendam by my parents after WWII.  Renate grew up there but married Gunter (a German) and moved to Germany.