 |
| Germanna
"Returns to Germany"
Forty Germanna Descendants took a "Trip of a Lifetime" this past Spring. We returned to the Fatherland to visit the towns and villages of our ancestors. We saw sights that we could never have imagined. We enjoyed a beautiful country and ate wonderful food. But best of all was the warm, and loving reception we received in every town we visited. We were treated like visiting royalty and made to feel like part of the family. It was very easy for all of us to say "Ich bin Siegerlander", because we truly felt at home. Read all about the 2003 trip here The tremendous success of our three trips to Germany has convinced us to repeat the trip next Spring. We will travel to Germany from June 4, through June 14, 2007. As with all our trips we will schedule visits to all the towns of the ancestors represented on the trip. The trip is limited to 40 people on a first come first served basis. The price for the trip, which includes round trip airfare from Dulles, 4-Star hotels, meals, buses, museum admissions, taxes and transfers is $3500.00 double occupancy. The single occupancy supplement is $300. If you wish to join us on our fifth trip to Germany, send an e-mail to the office at the e-mail address below. Please include your name exactly as it appears on your passport, address, telephone numbers and ancestor names. We will notify you if space is still available and send you instructions on making your deposit. This trip is selling out fast so make your reservation NOW. For those fortunate enough to be going with us to Germany next June, you may make your deposit here on the website using your credit card. Just click on the link below. The deposit is, $100.00 and is due by December 1, 2006. Your next payment, $1700.00 for double occupancy will be due March 15, 2007, with final payment of $1700.00 due on May 15, 2007. Single occupancy is two payments of $1850 due on the same dates. For security reasons exact flight details will be sent via U.S. Mail. For those arriving in the Culpeper area early you may park your cars at Salubria and we will have a van to take us to the airport and back. The Memorial Garden at Germanna Summer 2002 saw the construction and dedication of the new Memorial Garden at Germanna. Phase 1 included Irrigation, Landscaping, and Erection of five beautiful granite monuments that memorialize the Germanna Settlers of 1714 and 1717, the founders of The Germanna Foundation, the Trustees and Officers who have served since 1956, and John Spotswood, son of Governor Alexander Spotswood. In June 2002, the remains of John Spotswood were removed from his burial site at New Post near Massaponix in Spotsylvania County. He was re-buried at Germanna and now rests in the Memorial Circle.
Phase two is now underway and will include more plantings, monolithic granite benches, and paving the circle with granite pavers. Members of five Germanna families donated $2000 each for the purchase of the monolithic benches which will engraved in honor of those families. Members are also donating $100 each for engraved Granite paving stones which will cover the floor of the Memorial Circle. These 9" X 16" radial pavers may be engraved with up to three lines of text to honor your ancestors. If you would like to purchase a Granite Paving Stone to honor an ancestor please click here. We will contact you via e-mail for the text for your stone.
Salubria
Donated to Germanna Foundation October 10, 2000 
Salubria, among the oldest and finest 18th century
plantation houses in Virginia, has become the property of the Memorial Foundation
of the Germanna Colonies, an international, non-profit organization headquartered
near Salubria in Orange County, Virginia. In donating Salubria, Mrs. Gordon
Grayson fulfills the wishes of her late husband Gordon Grayson, "that the
Georgian mansion where his forbears have lived since before the
Civil War be perpetually preserved for the education and enjoyment of the
public." The
Directors of the Germanna Foundation are deeply grateful to Laura Grayson
for her generous gift of Salubria. In addition to its colorful 18th century
history, Salubria was also the birthplace in 1878 of Mrs. Grayson's
father-in-law, Admiral Cary T. Grayson, White House physician and confidante
of President Woodrow Wilson. We at Germanna are mindful of our stewardship
of this significant part of Virginia's heritage.Links between the Germanna Colony and Salubria are strong. The builder of Salubria, the Reverend John Thompson, married the widow of Virginia's lieutenant governor, Alexander Spotswood, who elected to remain in Virginia rather than returning to England. In 1714, the governor established a colony of German craftsmen and farmers at Germanna with hopes of developing silver mines in the area. In about 1722 Spotswood began building a palatial home, which he called Porto Bello, but which William Byrd dubbed "an Enchanted Castle" at Germanna overlooking the Rapidan River. The Germanna Colony of 1714 was the first permanent German settlement in Virginia. Historic Salubria, never modernized with either plumbing or wiring, is rare among American houses of its age for the untouched state of its architecture. "Salubria is pure indeed," said Calder Loth, Virginia Dept. of Historic Resources, and a noted expert on Virginia houses. "The more we study it, the more it tells us about 18th century' building and life." Loth further commends the 1950s repair work ordered by Gordon Grayson's mother, then Mrs. George L Harrison, and completed by noted architect and engineer Washington Reed, who at the same time was re-constructing the White House under President Harry S. Truman, that saved the old house from eventual ruin, without "invading" the "historic fabric." The Germanna Foundation, which has an active international membership plans to open Salubria to the public. The foundation operates the Brawdus Martin Germanna Visitor Center on Route 3, the Germanna Highway, in Orange County, Virginia adjacent to the Germanna Community College. Tours of Salubria, Germanna, and the archaeological site of the 1714 Fort Germanna and Enchanted Castle will begin here. Salubria was placed on the Virginia Historic landmarks Register in 1969 and on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. Read more about Salubria |
