Schoenecken

My grandparents, Kathy (Irsfeld) and Herb Friedman arrived in Germany on Friday afternoon, and we immediately set off to visit our German cousins in Schoenecken, Germany. Schoenecken was home to the Irsfeld family for at least three generations until Lambert Irsfeld (my great-great-great-grandfather) immigrated to America in 1853, first settling in Wisconsin and later in Minnesota. As this was our first time visiting and we were dutifully following the GPS, we weren't quite sure if we were in the right spot, but when we looked up, the "Irsfeld" mill was all the confirmation we needed...It was really neat for me to see, but especially for my grandma to see her maiden name up on the building like this!

Located right across the street from the Irsfeld home


Cousins Hans (who shares a common great-grandfather with my grandmother, Kathy) and Roswith Irsfeld generously invited us to stay with them in their beautiful home. We had a lovely time- and I left with 6 bottles of wine named after this village!

View through the house

Sitting room

Garden/Couryard in the rear of the house

Beautiful hydrangea in October!

Schoenecken castle ruins- an Irsfeld married into the family that owed the castle around the 1700's.

View of Schönecken (schön = beautiful) from the castle

It was a really great experience to meet spend time with our native German relatives and to see the place where the Irsfeld family originated.