mishpokhe means ‘my people’ in yiddish.. I’m in Ettlingen right now.. where many of my relatives on my dad’s mom side came from. My grandfather her was an Ettilinger.  (one who comes from Ettlingen ) it was my mom’s maiden name and my brothers middle name.. it’s also been my email password a few times (but not now :0)

Ettlingen  is  a suburb of Karlsruhe. and that was my first stop today./ I took the train from Munich and got to Karlsruhe about 1. Here’s the train-station 

 

 

id use the train ride to reasearch the area and a few family trees. I left the trainstation and headed to Kriegestrasse (war streees).. to see what was still tehre.. on the way I went throught he Karlsruhe zoo.. includng the exhibit they have of very old elepants. 

 

 

Karlsruhe is a pretty enough city.. but it’s much more urban than Munich.. the ink on the walls was pretty much everywhere 

 

my first stop was the old Hebrew cemetery and our old family homestead.. there’s now a tattoo place right between those two . 

 

I had found the cemetery online .. but didn’t expect it to be accessible.. I was right .. it was heavily locked

I walked around the place a couple of times .. looking at how far i’d have ot climb.. and the state of the barbed wire.. 

I was able to slip into a small paring lot for a party equip,ent place thaht backed up to the cemetary.. wouldn’t you kwo.. they had a stacl of pallets in the corner.. that al.lowed me to scale the fence.. and there was a broke gravestone on the other that allowed me to sort of jump down wiht out hurting myself.. andwthout getting locked in. 

 

 

it looked liek no one had been there in soemtime.. I took my time checkign out the residents. 

 

most of them had   .. po nikbar.. ‘here lies’ .. 

 

I started finding soem family names… I remember on fa,ily member marrying a ‘siegelman’ 

 

among other thigns it says that men have ot have their heads cover4d to vist.. I found a scarf and complied.

 

the p;ace was really still and beautiful despite being in the middle of a largish city /

 

I read online that the ancient cemetery had been dug up to make room for building.. and many of the buried had been brought there.. and their gravestones lined up by the wall. 

 

 

erosion had done a number here. 

 

 

these hands mean this was a Cohan./. the same prest cast that I am. 

 

at last.. our last name ‘ Ettlinger’.. 

 

antoehr \

 

and another.. .. thos guy ws defintely related t me. 

 

afterwards I was on a geneology website.. and soemone was lookign for a picture of this gravestone. I logged in and posted it !

]]

 

a little irony here. .. it says my unforgettable… ” .. who  ? 

 

 

I put a samstone on sigmonds. grave.. 

 

here’s me .. I have my head cover4d as they requst. 

 

ok.. back over the fence and out.. .. 

 

I was heading back to the address where great great unce moritz lived.. and came across the tablet.. iut says this is the site of the old cemetayr]]]]]]]]].

now htheres a middle eastern food, shisha place where g 

 

here’s uncle moritz’s house.. .. (about 100 years after he wrote this note to my grandfather)

 

 

 

its now a couputer store with apartments upstairs 

 

here’s the vie my great great uncle might have seen 

 

and here’s our family name all over everythign !

 

here’s the house form across the streent 

 

from there I grabbed a strassenbahn and headed out to the suburb of Ettlingen.. where we must have originates. 

 

ettlingen. it turns out is really beautiful.. !n here are some views of it 

 

 

thsi was the old jewish quarter of twon.. no jes left here since the holocost.. .. hard to imagine.. but true 

 

here’s hebrew id’s on teh houses. 

 

I saught out these ‘stuble stones’ to mark a family murdered in the holocaust.. its near the site of the old synagogue that was destryed in the Kristal Nackt pograms in  1938

 

 

I chec ked nto my nice hotel..then spent the evening walkign around town.. there was a little festival going which cherred the place up even more 

 

even ettlinger bratwurst !

 

here’s ettlingen castle.. note all the details are tromp d ouile .. 

 

 

see ? 

 

 

I ended up in a very weird.. but tasty Mexican restaurant.. it was just what I needed.. jalapeños and all 

 

then a sow pleasant walk bacl to the hotel 

\]\]

 

it was amazing to think that an importnatn part of family lived here less than 100 years ago.. 

it’s chillign to know that many of them di d not get out.. 

 

I can say.. that time can give distance.. and I’m happy to be here now

 

nite all. nite sam

-me

 

Greetings from Munich . Had a very quiet, slow day here.. went for a good run.. then at 3  my very good friend Rafe came by with his former post-grad Tatiana. Rafe ..who was my college suite-mate.. and one of my oldest and closest friends.. is visiting for a math conference.. and Tatiana came up from Austria to spend a few hours with him. 

I took them by t see my work.. 

 

we got Tatiana to her train..t he rae and I spent the rest of the day hangin out in bars, eating and drinking..   it was so good catching up 

 

we ended up downtown strolling around Mariensplatz

 

last stop was the Hoffbrau house… it was so humid in there. that our glasses instantly fogged.. up

just dropped  rafe of at his hotel.. he leaves for the  US early tomorrow morning.. I e;ave for Karlshwru tomorrow as well

more from there !

 

nite all. nite sam

-me

Ok.. im kinda in shock.. diane and I just finished watching a show.. Madmen… 7 seasons..  end to end.  Now were done.. what do we do ?,?,

i gotta say .. its only the 2nd tv show I’ve watched end to end in my grown up life ( he other was breaking bad)

 im am bill lost .. I got so involved in the story that I cant quite let go.. madmen was my childhood 

My dayd worked as a madmen in the 50s and 60s.. he worked at ag ncies lke mcCann and gerstner .. henhed 4 martini lunches ,,my mom used to take us to dobbs ferry to pick him up..

this show reminds me about facts  around my childhood in ardsley ny.. that I never knew

i remeber enough.. 

he had 3 martini lunches

he loved us my dad was SO happy to hang out with us and let off steam ., he loved our westchester suburban life

He created things…

he shaped (then) modern culture

 my dad was Don draper…

actually he was Harry Crane… the media tv guy.. but I didnt like harry all that much.. my dad was admerable.. he had values

im a product of all that.. I remember the ads  .. I appreciate them 

 

watchingnthisnshiw helped me.

the righting was amazing…

it caotured the age..,

it caotured my youth

It was tru, fun and uncomfortable 

I loved it

 

 

nite all, nite sam,

 -me

 

Happy International Women’s day.. I am glad we have such a thing.. though I’m really wondering  who created it ? 

 

My day started with this picture of all the wonderful women I work with in our Munich center.. 

also saw this greta picture of my friend and former boss Harriet with her female possee

I was grateful to get outside to celebrate the day with my favorite international woman 

 

also want to shout out to my mom, sister my late mother in law.. and all the wonderful women  have and have had in my life whom i’v elearned fdrom and love. 

(do my dogs count ? I think so !)

 you go girls !

nite all, nite sam

-me