Michael M. Miller, director and bibliographer of the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, NDSU Libraries, will lead the 17th Journey to the Homeland Tour group to Ukraine and Germany May 18-28. The tour includes stops at Odessa, Ukraine; the former Bessarabian and Black Sea German villages; Stuttgart, Germany; and Alsace, France.
John and Janet (Miller) Henke of rural Gackle, N.D., will visit their ancestral villages of Bergdorf and Neudorf (Glueckstal District) and Hoffnungstal, Bessarabia. “We want to bring back history to share with our grandchildren so they will always know what our ancestors went through to come to America as Germans from Russia. We want to see the remains of the churches, homes and cemeteries. Being able to walk where our ancestors did and see the landscape where they called home will be very exciting,” the Henkes said.
Marlys (Ruff) Nickisch of Utah, a tour member and native of Lehr, N.D., writes, “To think that I will put my feet in the Bessarabian German villages where my grandparents learned to take their first steps makes me very excited. Many of the customs, language and food of my grow-up days are very much a part of me today.”
Charles Eckroth, St. Cloud, Minn., and his brother, Rev. Leonard Eckroth from Bowbells, N.D., both natives of Mandan, will join the tour group. “While I have visited the ancestral home of my mother’s family in Switzerland, I never expected until now that I would do the same for my father’s birthplace,” Charles Eckroth said. The Eckroths will visit the former Catholic Black Sea German village of Karlsruhe.
Rev. DarEll Weist of Pasadena, Calif., a native of Jamestown, will travel with his wife, sister, niece and five Kleingartner cousins with Gackle, N.D., roots to visit Hoffnungstal, Bessarabia. “I always remember some of my mother’s stories which she heard from her mother who was born in Hoffnungstal which no longer exists, but being where the village once stood will be special enough,” Weist said. “This is a wonderful opportunity to go with family and other German-Russian friends.”
While in Stuttgart, Germany, the tour group will visit the Germans from Russia museums and libraries. Following the tour, Miller will stay additional days in Germany to meet with colleagues for German-Russian projects.
The 18th Journey to the Homeland Tour is scheduled for May 17-27, 2012. For more information, contact Miller at (701) 231-8416, michael.miller@ndsu.edu or visit www.ndsu.edu/grhc.