The Loop Family in America
Click here for help searching.
A Trip to the Westerwald
In the summer or 1994, when the paper version of The Loop Family in America went to press, I was finally able to make a pilgrimage to the Westerwald region of Germany where the Loop's originated. My daughter Emily came with me. My wife and daughter Sarah were unable to be with us for this part of the trip, but joined us later in Paris. We met a German friend of mine at the Frankfurt airport, who served as our guide and interpreter for our two days in Germany. The Westerwald is a region of beautiful hilly farmlands and forests about 50 miles north of Frankfurt. We drove through the very small village of Vielbach, where Gerlach Lupp lived, and on to nearby Nordhofen, the parish town where all of Gerlach's children were christened. There we visited the Evangelical Church where we happened on the pastor and his wife. He was mowing the lawn and she was vacuuming inside. They took us up into the tower, showed us the bell controls and the newly refurbished organ. She is the historian for the village, and she bought a copy of The Loop Family in America (I gave her a special price).
Next we went on to Emmerichenhain. There we were unable to go in the church because the elders were holding a meeting to select a new pastor. Then we traveled on to Bad Marienberg. Bad Marienberg is a lovely town. As the name suggests, the town contains curative baths, and is a resort town with many hotels and restaurants. It was not crowded even though it is a small town. We found rooms in the Westerwalder Hof before traveling to the top of the hill to visit the church. The church that our Lupp's would have known was destroyed by a fire resulting from a lightning strike in 1813. The current church was built on the same site in 1819. But still, this is the site where Anthony Lupp's children were married, where they christened all their children, and where they were buried. And so too their children and their children's children, before families started moving away. There were still a few people of the name Lupp living in Bad Marienberg. I did not try to locate them, for I had very little time. Everyone we talked to seemed to have an interest in their family history. That evening we ate on a low terrace overlooking a square where a traditional German brass band played old favorites while groups of white-haired women in the audience sang, held hands, and swayed rhythmically to the music. As the band played, the daylight faded and was replaced by strings of incandescent lights. The next day we left early, driving through nearby Langenbach, where Jacob Lupp, the ancestor of the majority of American Loop's, lived and farmed and died. After his death, five of his children would come to America. We then left the Westerwald and spent a day touring the Rhine by car. This included an unexpected surprise. When we reached St. Goar we discovered that they were just then having a big parade with bands and groups of people dressed in the old-time costumes of kings, queens, cavaliers, merchants, and peasants.
Back to Table of Contents. Proceed to Introduction
Copyright © 1994-2012 Victor L. Bennison
