Dates: Sunday, June 5, 2011 to Friday, June 17, 2011 Join friends and family and meet new cousins on the 9th annual Germanna Foundation tour of our ancestral villages in Germany. Deposit: $100 will hold your place on the tour. Register now on Germanna's secure website: Click here to make your deposit. Departure: from Washington-Dulles Airport on Icelandair Airlines at 8:40 p.m. (check-in time 6:00 p.m.) and arrive in Frankfurt on Monday, June 6 around noon (with a brief stopover in Keflavik, Iceland) We start the trip in the Siegerland region of the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen and visit the villages surrounding the city of Siegen from which the 1714 First Colony families originated. We stay in a historic hotel in the charming 17th century town of Freudenberg, usually for four nights, traveling out each day to 2 or 3 villages, and touring Siegen itself one day. We are warmly welcomed by the local Heimatvereine (history and civic clubs) and given special tours of the churches, villages, and sometimes even houses. Next we head south. If we have members of the Yager and Chrisler families on the tour, we visit the Palatinate-the German state of Rheinland-Pfalz, particularly the villages of Falkenstein, Marienthal, Winnweiler, and Lambsheim. We will have two days just for "tourist" fun that is not Germanna related. One of these we will spend in the wonderful historic city of Heidelberg with its romantic castle and super shopping opportunities. We have not yet selected the second opportunity, but we guarantee you it will be lovely and interesting. Cost: We have kept the price the same as the past two years, yet have added an extra day. The price is $3,995 per person sharing a double room. We will make every effort to find a room mate for single persons wishing one, but we cannot guarantee that we can do so. European hotels charge more for a single room, so we must charge an additional $400 for a single room to cover that cost. Payment due dates: First payment of one-half the total on March 1. Second payment of the balance is due on May 1. A partial refund is possible if you cancel between March 1 and May 1, but not after May 1. We advise trip cancellation insurance. Information will be available from the office. Return flight: Departure from Frankfurt on Friday, June 17 via Iceland. A stop-over of one or two nights is available in Iceland if you indicate at the time you book the trip that you would like to do so. The photos and descriptions below will give you a small taste of what you will experience in this delightful adventure to Germany, with an itinerary that can not be matched in any other way. Previous Germanna trips to Germany left each traveler delighted with their experience. Some highlights of prior trips to Germany with Germanna: A people is nothing without the memory of its history and its roots. -- Harry Klein Among the most significant places visited in village after village are the churches. Here the immigrant ancestors worshiped before leaving for "When my daughter Sara Allegood and I got off the tour bus in Trupach, we were greeted as long lost cousins. Everyone asked our names and our ancestors's names. They were eager to connect with us. We still remember the graciousness and warm welcome from everyone there. We shared family histories and Trupach memories over the coffee and pastries that were delicious and beautifully presented on personal family linens. All of our stops were wonderful, but to us, Trupach will always be our best memory." -- Karen Titus "There was a special feeling in seeing one of my ancestor's name in the church book in Oberfischbach. Walking through the same villages that my ancestors walked near Siegen and seeing where my ancestor Hans Jacob Holtzclaw taught school before coming to America was simply indescribable."
Germanna Trip to Germany! 
Our itinerary in Germany always is tailored to the persons who sign up for the trip and the families from which they are descended. So, we cannot give the exact itinerary until we have the registrant list. 
The remainder of the trip is devoted to the Kraichgau region of the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. Here we are based at Villa Waldeck, a family-run hotel on the edge of the medieval town of Eppingen. We generally visit 2 or 3 villages a day, depending which of the 1717 Second Colony families are represented in the group. Again, churches, charming villages, an occasional castle, and a friendly welcome await us.
Hotels and Meals: We stay in four-star hotels and we eat at outstanding restaurants that feature local cuisine. You have a wonderful breakfast buffet every morning at our hotels. We always work in either a brewery visit or a wine tasting and vineyard visit. The cost of the trip includes the round-trip flight, land transportation in Germany, the hotels, all meals except two lunches, and all admissions to places the group visits.
Churches
-- Dorothy J. Burgess
"We heard the bell ringing from the church our direct ancestors worshiped in, we held the communion cup they drank from, we viewed the houses they lived in, we touched the water from the stream named after our Fischbach ancestors. My father, brother and I finally made a connection with our past."
-- Steven Fishback
Village Walking The Germanna Foundation’s travelers receive a red carpet welcome in the villages from which Germanna settlers emigrated. The local Heimatverein (local history and civic improvement society) often greets us and offers us a sample of favored local beverages. (Yes, they are delicious!) Frequently, the mayor welcomes us and leads us on a walking tour of the village. We almost feel like celebrities. In some villages, the very houses in which the emigrant families lived still survive. "I will always remember the outdoor church services in Otisheim, home of the Broyles family, where a German woman helpfully pointed out the hymn's words for me as we sang. Also, the visit to Schwaigern, home of Johann Michael Willheit, was another memorable time for me." Castles There is nothing like visiting an ancient castle to sense the power and wealth of the ruling elite when modest peasant farmers and village craftsmen and their families chose to leave their home for a better life in "Our tour guides, Katharine and Madison Brown, were WONDERFUl! THANK YOU!! I was impressed with the beauty of Germany, the rich history, the friendly people and their love of history. Also, the great tour bus drivers and nice clean hotels made the trip even better." Hotels and Great Food We stay in gracious four-star hotels, where we sleep on featherbeds at night and breakfast on wonderful wursts and cheeses and fresh breads in the morning. We enjoy a superb range of regional and seasonal specialties at excellent restaurants where the owner-chefs take pride in their cooking and service—no chain restaurants or rubber-chicken circuit group dinners typical of many tours. Can you smell the inviting food and savor the fresh beverages by looking at these photos? If not, plan on joining us on the next trip so you can experience these delights first hand. We laugh and sing and lift a toast or two and have a great time with our new-found cousins in the group and in
-- Jeannette Emerson
-- Martha & Charles Cummings
The all-inclusive cost is only $3,995 per person. This includes roundtrip airfare Washington, D.C. to Frankfurt, Germany, luxury motorcoach travel in Germany, a double room at four-star hotels in Freudenberg and Eppingen, all breakfasts and dinners and all but one or two lunches, all admissions to sites the group visits, and the services of bi-lingual guides. If you want a single room instead of a double there is a supplemental charge of $400. A great deal for the trip of a lifetime!
"The Germanna Tour is unlike anything else I know of for really getting to know the local folks. There is such a personal touch by the locals in each village. There is just something about the Germanna Tour that keeps drawing one back to Siegerland and der Kraichgau."
-- Cary Anderson
Your time in Germany will create treasured memories that will enrich your life and help you connect with your roots.
Start making your plans to go to Germany with Germanna in June 2011. Germanna Trip to Germany 2011:
Dates: Sunday, June 5, 2011 to Friday, June 17, 2011
Join friends and family and meet new cousins on the 9th annual Germanna Foundation tour of our ancestral villages in Germany.
Deposit: $100 will hold your place on the tour. Click here to make your deposit.
Departure: from Washington-Dulles Airport on Icelandair Airlines at 8:40 p.m. (check-in time 6:00 p.m.) and arrive in Frankfurt on Monday, June 6 around noon (with a brief stopover in Keflavik, Iceland)
Reserve your seat now as seats are limited.