September 11th – 25th, 2024
September 11th – 25th, 2024
by Richard Bergmann
No alarm clock was needed today as I woke up to the church bells down the street full out at 6am. We have an earlier start today with more windshield time and miles to cover. There’s a spontaneous break-out of some hymn singing without Ayold’s prompt which much be a sign that the group has more energy today.
Our first stop is the Anabaptist cave near Baretswil, Switzerland. We’re back in some lovely rural farming land here and Avart our bus driver can only take us so far as the road becomes inaccessible for our big rig. On our walk up to the cave, there are pastures with milking cows and heifers grazing and serenading us with their cow bells that sound like steady ring of wind chimes. Some of us discover that the white fencing line that looks harmless carries a little electrical current zap if you lean up against it trying to pet the cattle! More startling than anything else but we won’t be touching that fence again!
The Anabaptist cave is an incredibly special place, where early “radical” Anabaptist followers met in secret and worshipped. There is a light waterfall trickle coming over the front of the cave and some benches have been set up for worshippers. Ayold has brought the song books, and we sing a few numbers from it as well as some other popular hymns by request. We also share and reflect on what our thoughts have been on the trip. Some share stories about how little they understood of the Anabaptists and now have a much greater appreciation. Some have discovered where their ancestors have originated from, and some share how meaningful it was to hear about the statement of regret 20 years ago from the Reform church reaching out to the Anabaptists.
As I reflect, I think about what we can learn from history, what does it mean now in the present and what can we carry toward in the future? How can I advocate for others in need, like these ancestors who advocated for freedom to express their religious beliefs? This is a special time for our group to reflect and listen to the waterfall in this quiet sanctuary.
We are now headed to Neuschwanstein castle in the Bavarian mountains of Southern Germany. This is the castle that inspired Disney for it’s magic kingdom castle that everyone knows about and is one of the most famous European castle attractions. Apparently, we aren’t the only ones to have discovered this as we pull into the bus parking lot with another 12 buses that are already there. It’s a busy town and attraction but the scenery looking down at the castle does feel a little surreal and magical.
This magical castle has a sad story to it though. The builder, King Ludvig II, started building it in 1867 and it was completed in 1886. His motivation was to build a proper medieval castle and outdo his parents’ castle next door. The 19th century is well past the medieval period and Ludvig was extremely eccentric. He had a failed romance relationship and ends up in this castle alone with no known guests to visit. It is said that he lost his mind, was arrested by the government because he was incapable of ruling only to have committed suicide the day after his arrest, although the cause of death is not known to this day. We got an actual castle tour, and it is crazy at the lavish furnishings and artwork that he had gone into having it designed. His story is tragic but at the same time, his wealth came from the people’s money and taxes so I’m not feeling too sorry for him when you see the excess. Absolutely stunning views of the valley, pastureland, and Bavarian hill country.
We are hit with a good downpour of rain on our way to our hotel. Evert expertly handles the trickier road conditions and reprimands poor drivers with a unique tongue click like what a mother may do when disapproving of their child’s behavior. Evert is like a parent on the highways as he’s been at it for many years.
Time for a good night's rest before our last day tomorrow.
