Klaassen Sisters' Thoughts on Tour

We stayed with a very nice host family in Lindsborg's sister-city of Munkfors, Eva-Karen and Lief Nilsson. They have two children - Matilda and Aaron - both of whom knew English. Matilda, we found out quickly, knew a little German, obviously Swedish and a good deal of English. When she talked to us there seemed to be something different about how she spoke. Later, we discovered her language professor was Australian!! That was it. Matilda was a Swede who spoke English with an Australian accent. :-) On a quick ending note, this being the final day in Europe I shall attempt not to dwell too much on the growing anticipation that I have for returning home to family and friends, the different historical churches that we have sung in and worshipped in was a wonderfull experience for all of us. All of the pastors have sent their greetings and well wishes to Lindsborg, especially the Munkfors families and friends whom we visited while in Sweden!!! See ya' all soon.
-Leslie


SWEDEN- Wow! Stockholm is such a beautiful city to tour. There is so much to see and do here. For our first day in Stokholm we walked as a group through the streets shopping at all the souveneir shops we could find. I love that the streets are all cobble stone: Beautiful to look at but the women have a heck of a time walking on it with their heels:) For lunch that day we were a little homesick and a little tight on money so where did we go? Good 'ol Mcdonalds! That same afternoon the graduating students of Stolkhom's Gymnasium (our version of Highschool) paraded down town in vehicles for over an hour making a lot of noise.
Our second day in Stockholm was our FREE day! We were all glad to have the chance to relax and run our own schedules! The group I was with went to.........the amusement park! It was much needed. After sitting several hours on a plane, in a bus, and on a ferry and standing through hours of guided tours we needed to let loose. It was a blast and a great way to spend time with friends.
-Hillary

Sweden pictures

Chock H. and Michael K. on the ferry to Sweden.

Concert at the Kalmar Domkyrka.

Mary S., Stacey H. and Heather O. outside Kalmar Castle.
Concert at Dalaro:

Outside Munkfors Kyrka.

Concert this evening at Fryksa:nde Kyrka in Torsby.

Special Guest and Location Change

Composer Eskil Hemberg´s widow, Birgit Hemberg, was able to attend our concert in Dalarö the night before last. She was very pleased with the sound of the choir and was so glad the chamber choir sang some of Eskil´s pieces. It was wonderful to see her again.'

Also, our concert tonight has been moved from Ransäter Kyrka to Munkfors Kyrka, still at 6pm

Ben Helmers-Germany Tour Highlights

Hallo! Well, it has definitely been an interesting week here in Germany. The trip was long and hard but we made it and have been all over Eastern Germany. The most interesting experiences that I've had here has been the visits to Wartburg Castle and the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Wartburg was amazing! We were so fortunate to have a tour guide that could answer random questions and could go into interesting detail concerning the origins and nature of the german landmark. One of the most interesting rooms consisted of the Ladies Hall which was an entire mosaic consisting of over 2 million pieces, some including gold leaf adding up to over 5 g of gold (not much, but for mosaics, wow!). We learned of the singing contests between minstrils and bards that have extended to become a world-wide legend. The concert hall in which the performers sang is so incredible and profound that one Lord replicated the hall for his own mansion. It was such and experience to sing in that hall (even though I'd say that our first performance's location had much better acoustics). I was also very captivated by the heraldry and medieval history concerning the times. In all it was a great tour and day, which ended with some excellent ice cream on the castles drawbridge.

Bergen-Belsen was also an interesting location, but also provoked a different response. The site alone I thought was nothing special. The site lacked all of the original buildings with the mass graves (thought-stirring) and monuments all that was present. While this sounds disheartening, I was by no means unaffected as the site atmosphere still brought forth a very solemn feeling followed with continual silent contemplation. However, the documentary exhibition affect for me was much more profound and present. Artifacts, photographs, journals and literally hours of interviews from survivors and resistance members gave visitors an insight into the times and lives of those involved with such a traumatic period. It was by far one of the most sobering experiences I have ever had in my lifetime.

I wish that you readers could have shared these times with us. I'll make sure to leave some remarks concerning Sweden at a later date. Until then- Tchous!

Benjamin Mordecai, thoughts on Bergen-Belsen

My time spent at the memorial for those who died at Bergen-Belsen can barely be described. The hardest initial part of my journey through the camp was when I came to the first mass grave. All I felt in me was hollowness. I was surrounded by the terror, dread, and the sorrow of my brothers and sisters before me. The hollow became filled with heaviness. I cried as I walked through the rest of the camp, grateful my Dad was not far, and wondering what my Mother was doing, feelings not strange for these grounds. I was never holding back in any one else´s presence, be it my family, or my classmates, or others in the experience, but it wasn`t until I was alone on the grounds for a few moments that I was able to weep. I cried out, but words failed me, for none could come, and I am amazed that they have now, but they also seem to be simultaneously elusive. At the same time, I would`ve stayed longer, but couldn`t leave soon enough. The heaviness remains, and I don`t think it will leave me any time soon. However, this heaviness will help me cling to that which I hold dear, the same that they held dear: My God, my Faith, and my Family. As the inscription on the boulder placed by Chaim Herzog, President of israel reads, "... My sorrow is continually before me." Psalms 38:18. But it is with and through these three things that I will have strength.
May you be blessed by God as I have been,
Benjamin Samuel Mordecai

Stacey Horn, Bergen-Belsen

Hi everyone! Well, so far we have had a great trip with many experiences to remember. Today we were able to visit the concentration of Bergen-Belsen. This was a unbelievable experience for every member of the choir. It is hard to explain the experience I had while there, but I will try. Starting out on the tour it was not what I had expected to see. Many of the buildings were no longer up, as they were burned to prevent disease after the liberation. So what we saw at first were many ruins of different barracks. We were also able to see the orignal main entrance to the camp. On the other side of the camp we saw many mass burial graves. These were unbelievable. Walking through the camp was difficult. It is hard to believe something like this could happen and being in the place it occured made it an learning experience that you cannot learn from a textbook. We also saw the stone marking the spot where Anne Frank was memorialized, as this is the final camp she lived in. Throughout the outdoor scenary at the camp I felt myself feeling angry and sad at the same time. As I said it was hard to believe something like this could acutally happen. We were no longer reading it in a textbook, but seeing it in real life.

After walking through the remains of the camp we were able to go into a museum. This was full of pictures and survivors talking about their experiences in the camps. This is when the experience really hit home. Seeing the pictures taken on the very spot we had just been actually made my stomach turn. To me this was an experience many people should take part in because it was a very humbling experience. It really hit home on how we should cherish the life we often take for granted. Everyone should also experience this so it will never happen again.

Well, I hope this wasnt to depressing, but it was a very hard but touching experience for me. I look forward to tomorrow when we be heading to Sweden by a ferry, although it is early in the morning. To my family and friends I miss you and love you all!

Take care in the USA everyone, we will see you soon!

Britney Walter-Erfurt

Hi everyone! Well, we have had a long, tiring, but amazing trip so far. I feel very fortunate to have been able to experience all that I have so far...and we are only 6 days into the trip!
Yesturday we had a day of a quite a bit of driving with fun stops along the way. Our final destination (before our hotel) was Erfurt. As soon as I got off of the bus I knew that this was going to be a great tour! Only a slight chance of rain, partly cloudy and cool. Off in the distance were two enormous churches that were breath-taking! And, once it was pointed out to us, there were church steeples in every direction! On this day we followed Luther´s footsteps. We saw St. Mary´s church that Luther was a huge part of, the old monastery, and the Old University where Luther attended. Did you know that Luther did not plan to be a monk until he was caught in a bad storm and prayed that if St. Anne (saint of miners) saved him he would become one? How cool. Well, as you can tell this tour was going grand until...the earlier forcast was right. It started pouring, lightning and thundering! Needless to say, I was glad Sara Bland had an umbrella!
We finally found refuge with our dinner reservation at a trendy restaurant. We had a very traditional German meal-Brats, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. And, everyone at my table (including me) tried our sauerkraut and enjoyed it! (in small doses anyway :) But, the best part of the evening was yet to come! We had a random request from the restaurant manager to sing for a bridal shower that was going on in that very restaurant. Well, we jumped at the chance and headed that direction. It was really quite funny if you all could have seen it. We were jammed into a small little hallway in between tables..all 30 of us. From our first few notes we had people crying. I don´t think that they understood a single English word we said but, the bride especially was very very touched. It was amazing to see how our music could affect someone so personally.
Well, right after supper it was off to concert #2 to continue to share our music. I just love singing in these churches! For those of you who have heard us in Presser Hall...it doesn`t even compare! We drew more of a crowd than our first night and I feel that our performances are getting better every time! We were all pretty exhausted and wanting to take a real shower (with soap, not just rain!)
Back to our hotel for showers, bed, and to start all over again!
Well, it is 11:00 and my wake up call is set for 5:45 am..I better be off! Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers!
Britney

Radio Broadcast

Assuming I (Dr. Mahraun) understood the station representative who was at church this morning, a recording of this morning's service may be available for streaming on the web. Check this address in the coming days: http://www.wartburgradio.org/.

More Pictures

Restaurant in Halle--Handel's birthplace.

Outside Andreaskirche in Eisleben.

Our first concert...at Andreaskirche.

Second concert...at Lutherkirche in Erfurt (where Luther lived as a monk).

Annenkirche in Eisenach, where we sang for Sunday service.

Sara B., Mary S., Ashley C., Marianne M., Ann L., Stacey H., Britney W. at Wartburg Castle.

Singing in the Great Hall at Die Wartburg.

First Pictures

Kaiser Wilhelm Gedaechtnis Kirche...driving through Berlin.

Sean B. and Katie Luther...at her house in Wittenberg.

At THE door in Wittenberg.

Mary S., Chock H., Jay C., Heather O., Sean B., Britney W., Ann L. at Luther's Grave.

Singing outside Thomaskirche in Leipzig...under JSB's gaze.

Lindsay Grivetti- My German Experience (so far)

We are now a few days into our trip and it has been pretty fun so far. We have done so much that it is hard to keep track of some of the things that have gone on. Our first two concerts have been very good. Our first concert was in the beautiful church, St. Andrew's. It is the church where Luther preached, so for me it had some meaning.

Aside from singing, we have done A LOT of touring. There are so many things to see and not enough time to see them. My highlights of the trip have been seeing the history that engulfs all of the cities. It is so neat to me that the history here goes back thousands of years.

I am fascinated with the culture and the living styles over here. It is neat to me to see the small, country towns with perfect little houses and then see the larger cities with the tall buildings all right in a row. When I thought of Europe I always pictured the cute little streets with the cobblestone rodes and so far, that is what I have experienced. Some of the areas in Leipzig, and Erfurt were truley picture perfect.

The food has been surprisingly good. I was a bit nervous coming over here because I did not know what to expect when it came to dining. So far we have been eating excellent meals. The breakfasts are fantastic (and they are all in the hotels) and the dinners have all been superb. I enjoy being able to do lunch on our own because it gives us the opportunity to be emersed in the culture. Although not all of us speak German we do our best when ordering food. I feel much more cultured because of the lunch experiences I have had. I find it most entertaining to read the menu and try to figure out what I should (or shouldn't) order.

In all, my experiences so far have been wonderful. I've been writing down all the pictures I have been taking, so as to not get all of the churches and castle's confused. Otherwise, I have had many experiences that I will not soon forget. I know in the coming week as we make our way to
Sweden there will be many more things that will excite me and make me enjoy my trip even more.