Home Again, Home Again; or, Guten Morgen, Prüm

Prüm, Germany 

July 18, 2016

We bid Köln and its gorgeous Dom goodbye early in the morning, and by mid-day, we had made our way to Prüm, Germany, my husband's home for a few years in his early childhood.

Why Prüm? 
Prüm is where my husband spent a few years in the early to mid 1970s as an Air Force Brat. He has some great memories of his childhood there, but has never managed to make the trip back to Europe after leaving his 4th grade year, so while in Germany, why not visit, right?

When we first married, I was excited to be working on a military base where I taught students from all over the world. We had staff members and students who had lived in Germany. Many of my students were half-German, and this was a conversation I repeated several times those two years:

"Oh, you've lived [or were raised] in Germany! My husband has wonderful memories of his childhood from there."
"Where did he live?"
"In Prüm."
"Where??"
"Prüm." Then I'd spell it out, umlaut and all.

"Never heard of it."

Then I'd go into where it's located (in Western Germany, close to Luxembourg and Belgium), and again, "Never heard of it."
Then I'd talk about how it is close to Bitburg.
"Never heard of it."


I had the same with my next door neighbor, who was German.  And then the same with students in Washington and Texas. Also with my friends who spent semesters abroad in Germany, several foreign exchange students from Germany, and my friend's husband who is German.

Dear god, has ANYONE heard of Prüm? And this went on and on since 1993. I knew he hadn't made it up, but I couldn't believe that NOBODY German or who had spent years in Germany had heard of the town.

Then I found ONE person who knew exactly where I was talking about. A lady I worked with briefly in GTMO lived for a while on the Prüm river. She didn't actually live in the town of Prüm, but she had passed through it a few times.

It only took 20+ years and a move to Cuba, but I finally have found someone (an American, incidentally) who has heard of Prüm!

Showing the trip from Vilseck to Prüm.
Our morning trip from Cologne to Prüm was only 1 1/2 hours.

Getting there
Your best bet (at least from the Köln area) is the Autobahn. This section of the Autobahn was MUCH slower. Because of the cold and snowy winters, Germany does most of its road work in the summer, creating Staus, or traffic jams. So you think it's great driving on the Autobahn until you realize that you're going to go through 4-5 one-lane traffic construction areas. Once we got out of Bavaria, we didn't get to enjoy 220 kph (about 140 mph) speeds (while Porsches whizzed by like we were standing still).

The Air Station at Prüm closed in the 90s, and shortly after that, all train service to the area ceased. There are some buses that can travel from nearby towns to Prüm, but car travel is your best bet.


What to do and see
Prüm is a small down---there are only about 5500 people living there---and you exit the Autobahn and go down a twisty road in the forest to get to the town. You go down what seems to be a mini-mountain to reach Prüm in a valley.

sign outside the church

The main attraction and landmark in the town is the beautiful church. You can't miss it, with its unusual salmon color and location right in the middle of town.  The Abbey was built in 720 in the time of Charlemagne, and the church was completed in 1721.

outside the church

In 1801, Prüm and the surrounding area become part of France and the Abbey was secularized and given to the town. Today, the Abbey serves as a school.

Parts of the building complex have been torn down and restored, renovated, and during WWII, destroyed and rebuilt. It is is beautiful condition. The grounds are small but immaculately manicured.

entrance to church

Once inside, you don't find the ornate wood and stone structures like the Medieval marvel of the Dom, or jaw dropping stained glass windows or religious artifacts (even though Jesus' supposed sandals are there somewhere----I read they were there, but we somehow missed them). Instead, you find simple, clean lines, with a small alter at the front, a gorgeous and immense pipe organ in the back, and a very inviting place to sit and rest your weary traveler's feet. 

You can also light a candle, go to confession, and do all those other Catholic things that really confuse me. There are saints, but not as prominent as the Köln Dom. For all that the Dom is in opulence and visual overload, the Prüm church was a nice diversion, with its simple elegance and quiet interior. 

the chapel, a beautiful tapestry in the alter area, and the massive pipe organ in the rear of the building

The other attraction we had to hit was Hotel Zum Goldenen Stern, my husband's family's temporary home for 2 months when they first moved to Germany. My military friends understand the whole "temporary housing" issue when you first PCS to a new location. They were lucky enough to stay in a hotel right in the middle of town with a bar and restaurant downstairs. We sat under an umbrella and ate spaghettieis (of course) while people watching, my all-time favorite European diversion. 

We did attempt to get more information from the Prüm tourism center, which was right across the street from the hotel. There were lots of nice brochures and booklets, but alas, the lady didn't speak a word of English and I've mentioned countless times now that I definitely don't speak German. We didn't get directions to the old base, but you cannot access it, anyway---it's been abandoned and sadly left with derelict buildings. 

Instead, we walked around and noticed that for a small town and for a Monday morning, there were quite a few tourists and people walking about. It was a beautiful day and some people come in the summer as part of a religious pilgrimage to visit the church.

I am sure there are probably other things to do in Prüm; I was just along for the ride while my husband took a walk down memory lane. It is a pretty little village and has been maintained beautifully---there were flowers and parks, with every store on the main drag open for business. If you speak German, I'm sure the tourist enter can tell you even more; otherwise, just a little drive through the town (and a stop at the Goldenen Stern for ice cream) isn't a bad way to spend an hour or so. 

We spent a few hours walking around and reminiscing, and then headed to Metz, France for the evening.

What I learned
I learned that you never forget places you consider home, no matter how small a part of your life you live there, and you never forget the things you love. My husband was telling the kids stories and showing them places he remembered---it's like stories were coming back to him as we were walking the streets. Over there is the park I lost a tooth (ironically, H lost a tooth in the car a few hours later). They found an unexploded WWII bomb under the road right here and had to dig it up and divert traffic for several weeks. 

But this was the best---and my favorite----story of Prüm. I came here in 2012 with my friends---we just drove up and down the main street and stopped to eat ice cream at the Goldenen Stern---and it just didn't feel right being in my husband's town without him. I wanted him there next to me telling me these sorts of stories, so I wasn't really up for walking around. It was just another anonymous village to me. With his narration, it came alive. The funniest thing he did when I returned from Europe in 2012 was ask if I saw his favorite toy store in Prüm. Seriously, dude, we just drove through town, ate ice cream, and spent less than an hour there. I didn't know where to look or to even look for it.

But walking down the streets again, he's telling our sons the story about his favorite toy store. We actually still have legos and little matchbox type cars from there. Our youngest spoke up and said, "Dad, can you show me where it used to be?" And that thing happened---you've probably had this experience before----where your internal radar turns on and you find yourself walking exactly to somewhere you haven't been in many years (40, in his case).

And guess what?

It was still there, although closed for the day, and looked exactly as he remembered it.

Saints, Martyrs, Treasures, and Beer; or, Day-tripping in Köln

More summer on the road. . . This time: 
Köln, Germany

July 17-18, 2016

After venturing for a few days trips on our own, including our maiden voyage on the Autobahn, we decided to go big AND go home. We rented an Audi A3 and drove like a bat out of hell across Germany, including to a place my husband sent a few years as a child. Before we got there, we first made a pit stop in Köln for the night.

What to know

First, in America it's Cologne, but now that you are in Germany, it's Köln. My German pronunciation is absolutely atrocious, so I just say it the American way but spell it the German way. . .

I visited Köln and its Dom, or Cathedral,  4 years ago, and my husband visited it, well. . . about 40 years ago. But that's okay. It's was the first trip for both the kids, and it never ceases to amaze, whether it's your first, second, or tenth trip.

We came in during the afternoon and stayed until about noon the next day, so we did not get the few days-long experience I had a few years ago. With our main goal to get to Prüm, where my husband lived a few years during the glorious 1970s as a wee lad, we were okay with a little less than 24 hours in the city as a pit stop on the way. I would recommend 2-3 days if you want to experience all there is to do and see in Köln.

Köln has beautiful public artworks (and some very whimsical ones, like a giant upside-down ice cream cone on the corner of a building). If you walk along the Rhine river, you'll find a chocolate museum. There are outdoor cafés and fine dining, and a shopping district with everything you can imagine you'd want to buy.

Cultural stuff and what to see 

The first thing you notice when you drive into town is the Dom---the Cologne Cathedral. It defines the skyline and really symbolizes the city. The Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (boy, we seem to pick a lot of those for this vacation), noted for being "an exceptional work of human creative genius" and "a powerful testimony to the strength and persistence of the Christian belief in medieval and modern Europe."

I've heard two stories about Köln during WWII. The undisputed fact is the city was completely flattened, save the Dom. And even it was heavily damaged in areas. One story goes that the Allied forces were told not to destroy the beautiful and historical church and out of respect, tried not to bomb it. The other story is the Dom, with its enormous size and distinctive footprint, made an easy-to-spot landmark for raids and bombings, so it was spared for its navigational use.

It's sort of like Life of Pi. Do you want to believe a more cynical or a more benevolent version of the story? The truth is probably a lot more complicated, and being neither German nor a historian, I'm not going to weigh in on this one.

You walk up and notice how massive it is. You also notice that it seems to be in a constant state of renovation. There is always scaffolding somewhere around the building.

From the outside, the detail of the stonework is amazing. You want a Gothic cathedral, you've got one here. You've got your flying buttresses. You've got your towers. There are gargoyles and downspouts, and everywhere you look, there seem to be saints hiding in many nooks and crannies.

The gargoyles are downspouts are animals, demons, and demonic chimeras---seriously creepy stuff going on. As cute as the dog is above, he's probably supposed to be some hound of hell.

As you get closer, the detail is mind-blowing. Over the doorways, and even the door handles, all have some sort of decorative nature, mostly of some saint I don't know or some symbolism I don't understand. Not being Catholic has its disadvantages when you decide to go cathedral-hoping through Europe. 

The Dom is a working church, so there are scheduled services. You see people lighting candles and there are confessional booths all over (although I didn't see anyone entering or exiting). I was here in 2012, so I knew what to expect walking in, but still. . . when I entered, I literally gasped and clasped my hands to my heart, because it is such a beautiful space and it truly takes my breath away. Being neither Catholic nor particularly religious, I can't really explain how I feel about this place, but it's definitely somewhere that touches my heart and makes me feel honored to be in such a sacred space.

You can pay to view the tombs below or climb the towers, but we didn't choose either. However, we did go on a self-tour of the treasures of the Dom. We took an elevator to what seemed to be a basement---the walls were hundreds of years old, and there were gorgeous tunics embroidered with gold, crowns, scepters, and many pieces made of precious metals and encrusted with stones. Many belonged to famous archbishops and there were artifacts from various saints. 

We were good little tourists and did not take pictures (because that's what the sign clearly said---a camera with a line through it is pretty clear), so you'll just have to use your imagination.  I found the artifacts beautiful, but I prefer what's inside the Dom over the treasure underneath. 

Being non-Catholic and not really understand who all the saints are (that appears to be the ongoing theme of this story) didn't deter me from recognizing this guy: 

St. Christopher! Patron Saint of Travelers

Also at the feet of many tombs in effigy there are angels, lions, and dogs. I heard a guide tell a group that lions and dogs at the feet of the tombs symbolize loyalty. 

cute little cherub

dogs and lions at the feet

Who are buried in these tombs? Crusaders, archbishops. Many religious martyrs. Important Catholic people. Did I mention that I'm not Catholic??? And that it all sort of confuses me? But that's okay, too. We saw people from all over the world, speaking several languages, taking in the beauty of the Dom. I'm guess many were not Catholic, either, but you don't have to be of that faith (or any faith, really) to enjoy a beautiful building that has survived war, political turmoil, and even the elements. 

tomb of the Three Wise Men---I do know who they are, thankyouverymuch.

Tapestries, tombs, mosaics, and monuments---that's just one small part of what you see at the Dom. I strongly suggest paying the 1€ donation and getting a brochure. There's a map and enough info that you can do a self-guided tour. I prefer the walking-around-and-gawking method of visiting cathedrals, but if you are truly into the symbolism, mythology, and stories behind all the artifacts, I know they have English language tours available for a small fee.

I love the stained glass windows, the mosaic floors, and the different materials used throughout to create religious tributes and monuments---fabric, wood, metals, and stone. 

Other Diversions

Other than the Dom, I suggest you find a bar that serves Kölsch. (First church, then beer. That's definitely not something you are taught to do in the Baptist church). It's a barley pale-ale served in short, thin glasses. The waiters bring them around in a carrier that has anywhere from 5-20 in it. They keep the beer coming until you tell them to stop. It's not like drinking a dark stout out of a large stein, so it's okay (at least for a little while) to keep them coming. Kölsch tastes light and refreshing, especially since it's HOT during the afternoons in July in Köln (and very few buildings, especially the older ones, are air conditioned).

Being Sunday, many of the stores were closed (this is very common throughout Germany), so we did a little window shopping and checked in early to rest up for our next day's adventure to Prüm and then Metz, France.

What I learned

When I was here in 2012, I was with a group of adults who were ready to eat, shop, and drink. We also took in the Dom, but we walked, walked, walked, and stayed a few days in the process. In addition, it was Gay Pride weekend. I have managed to somehow catch several cities during Gay Pride during vacation (no complaints---definitely entertaining), but that was one of the wildest and craziest ones I've ever witnessed.

So a few years later, here I am with my little family. It's a quiet Sunday and we walked around a little, window shopping, church visiting, ice cream eating (of course) and enjoying a little bar grub and Kölsch.

Köln is a place I'd love to visit again because I think it's whatever city you want it to be. It can be a days-long party with a group of friends, a romantic getaway, a family-friendly get away. I think the Dom is always somewhere in that mix, no matter your motivation or reason to visit. It's a city of ever-changing faces, and I can't wait to see which one I will encounter next time I visit.