This specially designed trip by German Heritage Travel for Missouri Germans will tour from Giessen to Bremen and be led by leading German-American historians and the curators of Germany’s traveling exhibit
Utopia – Revisiting a German State in America. The Dawn of Utopia tour will take you back to the homeland where you can retrace your family heritage and your ancestor’s lives as they made plans for a brave new State – Missouri – where they built homes in the land where their “Sun of Freedom” shone so brightly.
We will tour cities and villages, spend the night in a castle, and cruise the beutiful rivers of Germany. Broaden your understanding and appreciation of your German heritage. Truly a trip of a lifetime! Use Missouri Germans Consortium’s promo code and receive 10% off. For more information see our TRAVEL page.
DAY 1 (Wednesday, September 23, 2015) FRANKFURT
We begin with a brief get- together at the hotel for a short city tour. Drive to Sachsenhausen for dinner.
During the city tour, you’ll pass by all the major attractions (Financial District, Fair, Palm Garden, Stock Exchange, The Zeil, the Main Station, Alt-Sachsenhausen, museums, and the Alte Oper. A combined 20-minute-Römerberg and modern city tour will be optional. Transfer to Sachsenhausen, Frankfurt’s beer and Äpplewoi (apple wine) garden district. The evening is at leisure. Enjoy one of the local restaurants in Frankfurt and try Handkäs mit Musik.
DAY 2 (Thursday, September 24, 2015) GIESSEN
Transfer to Gießen and visit of the Old Town city archive
After breakfast, depart to Gießen. There, you ‘ll participate in a 1.5 hour tour of the city archives with special focus on the Giessen Emigration Society. After lunch visit the old town and learn more about 
Paul Follenius’ life. In the afternoon, you visit Nieder-Gemünden and the church where
Friedrich Muench used to work. A pretty Protestant church set in a beautiful landscape, reminiscent of Missouri. Dinner and overnight stay in a castle.
DAY 3 (Friday, September 25, 2015) BREMEN
The Huguenot city of Bad Karlshafen, followed by lunch and tour of castle Hämelschenburg. Arrival in Bremen.
After a hearty breakfast at the hotel, the tour takes us along the Weser to Bremen. In the
morning, you make a stop in the Huguenot and Baroque town of Bad Karlshafen where many members of the Giessen Emigration Society were embarked to get to the port of Bremen. The next stop gives you a glimpse of the noble life of the Renaissance: You will visit one of the most important buildings of the Weser Renaissance, the castle Hämelschenburg, near the city of Hameln. The castle is family-owned and we will have lunch at the Schlosscafé Hämelschenburg. Later, you will be in for a real treat: The lord of the castle will take you personally on a guided tour through the home of his ancestors! Evening arrival in Bremen, dinner and overnight stay at the booked hotel.
DAY 4 (Saturday, September 26, 2015) BREMEN
City tour to the Bremen Town Musicians and to the Schnoor District
After breakfast, join a guided tour to the city’s attractions, inter alia, Marketplace with the Town Hall, part of the UNESCO World Heritage, and the Roland as well as the statue of the Bremen Town Musicians, Böttcherstrasse, Schnoor and St. Peter’s Cathedral, as well as the Bremer Bleikeller. After an individual lunch break, the afternoon is at leisure.
How about a visit to one of the many museums in the city, e.g. the Übersee-Museum or the Universe Museum. We are happy to help you!
DAY 5 (Sunday, September 27, 2015) BREMERHAVEN
Transfer to Bremerhaven’s German Emigration Center
In the heart of the city of Bremerhaven, visit the German Emigration Center, where you can empathize with the lives of many immigrants and can follow directly the traces of the Gießen Emigration Society. The afternoon is at leisure.
Enjoy the cool breeze while taking a walk on the mile-long embankment promenade or a visit to the zoo by the sea. Stroll along the harbor with the traditional ships and a submarine Wilhelm Bauer. Relax on the beach in the heart of the legs dangle or shop adjacent by the new pedestrian area and covered Columbus Center immediately at your hotel. A special treat is certainly also a visit to the Climate House Bremerhaven Eight Degrees East and offers its visitors the possibility of a virtual trip around the world along the 8th degree east longitude.
We are happy to assist you with requests for additional options. Dinner and overnight stay at hotel
DAY 6 (Monday, September 28, 2015) BREMERHAVEN
Harbour Cruise and Maritime Museum – Bunker Valentine.
In the morning, take a harbor tour past the container terminal, the largest in Europe, through the international ports, the ships in the museum harbor with a visit to the Maritime Museum and fishing port with the fish smokehouses, where we will have lunch. In the afternoon, visit the bunker Valentine in Bremen- Farge – Europe’s biggest submarine pen. Dinner and overnight at hotel
DAY 7 (Tuesday, September 29, 2015) HARRIERSAND
Weser Island of Harriersand – Brake:
After breakfast, we will drive to the Weser Island of Harriersand. Here you will explore a whole day on the island and the fishing town of Brake, the place where the wind tells most of the emigrants’ history. On Harriersand, a large part of the Giessen Emigration Society got stuck on their way to the port of Bremen. Here, you can visit the farm where the immigrants found shelter. The romantic little fishing town of Brake opposite can be reached by a ferry and is perfect for some shopping. You will have lunch at the restaurant Strandhalle in Harriersand. Enjoy shrimps with scrambled eggs, a typical meal of the region, and a very special day on the Weser beach.
Peter Roloff, producer and director of the documentary “Dawn of Utopia”, and the author Rolf Schmidt may meet up with us on Harriersand and take us on a personally guided tour. Then, onward journey to Hannover with dinner and overnight stay at the hotel
DAY 8 (Wednesday, September 30, 2015) Hannover
Guided tour of the Old Town of Hannover and returning to Frankfurt.
With a guided walk through the centuries-old town of Hannover, let your journey into the past fade away slowly. Experience the city where Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, the composer Georg Friedrich Händel, the dense Gottfried Benn, who wrote his poems here and the respected philosopher and sociologist Hannah Arendt were born and lived. Visit the Herrenhäuser gardens and the castle Marienburg. At the end of the day we will return to Frankfurt. Dinner in Frankfurt and overnight stay at booked hotel.
DAY 9 (Thursday, October 01, 2015) FRANKFURT
Your adventure travel following the footsteps of the Giessen Emigration Society ends today. Return flight to the USA.
Price of $2899 (based on double occupancy) is reduced from $3,099.00 and when you book your trip through Missouri Germans using our Promo Code Missouri2015 you will save 10% on your trip! Airfare is not included.
This tour of Germany is brought to you by German Heritage Travel
