A Trip to Gündelbach

The following letter was written by Ernest Imle on 28 September 1964 following a trip that he had made to Gündelbach, Germany. The letter, originally handwritten, was apparently never sent. It was finally typed up in September 1992, 28 years after it was written.

     September 28, 1964

Dear All:

     On Sunday Sept. 13, 1964 I flew from Rome to Stuttgart, Germany, arriving about 3:30 p.m. I had telephoned Mrs. G. G. Heitland from Zurich, Switzerland about noon that day and arranged to meet her and Dr. Heitland at my hotel in Stuttgart. The Heitlands are very distant relatives. Her mother was an Imle but I don’t know how close she was to Grandpa Imle’s branch of the family. Dr. Heitland is a well-to-do dentist in Ludwigsburg, a suburb of Stuttgart. It was withj these same Heitlands that Uncle Gottlob and Aunt Clara Imle in 1954 and later Uncle Gottlob and Charlotte Imle in 1962 (Edward Imle’s daughter) visited. Both Dr. and Mrs. Heitland speak good English.

     They met me at the beautiful “Hotel am Schlossgarten” for tea and then offered to drive me to Gundelbach, about 20 kilometers away. On arrival in Gundelbach we went first to the old church and went inside. It is not much changed over the years and is believed to be quite old. There on the front wall hangs the large painting given to the church by Grandpa Imle (in 1908 I believe) at the time of his last visit there. The painting is about 5 x 8 feet in size with a heavy oak frame. It carries a brass plaque reading (approximately), “Donated by Frederick Imle in memory of the Imle Family, Clark county, Illinois USA.” The picture hung too high for me to read the plaque exactly without a step ladder! A small facsimile of this oil painting hands on the wall of Uncle Will Imle’s front parlor. It was sent to Grandpa after the painting was completed. He left the money with the church to have this painting made. I don’t know who the artist was. The pastor was not at the church at that hour.

     Then we went to the old Imle residence a few doors away. There still lives Eugen Schillinger, grandson of Jacob Schillinger who bought the house in 1881 from the Imles. Eugen is about 30 more or less. His father Karl, age 65, and his mother both live nearby and came over. Karl says he remembers Grandpa’s last visit very well (but he would have been only 8 years old or so at that time if it was in 1908). We looked over the place in some detail. The barn and barnyard are attached at the back. What had been a garden area is now a paved parking yard for tools, etc. Otherwise the barn itself is little changed. Stone and timber construction and very solid looking.

     The house has been remodeled in recent years inside, but exterior, except for front steps which have been moved to a rear entrance off the parking lot, is little changed. The second story and attic are the same exactly as they were. We sat and drank Gundelbach wine in the dining room, which had been the old bedroom. Much talk went on and not speaking German, I could get but little of it. Mrs. Heitland translated but she had great difficulty understanding all the dialect still being used in that village to this day. They had many questions about the family and life in the USA. The Imles were well thought of according to Karl Schillinger. He seemed to doubt the wisdom of their having moved away leaving a good house, and land, etc.!

     I asked about the land. He took us to see the old wine garden, “Wineberg,” as they call them there. It is one of the best in that valley, way up the hillside on a steep slope. It would only be walked to in those days — a good mile and a half, most of it uphill, but we drove to it easily. The other land they had owned was not known to Schillinger but he says the Wineberg is still known as the Imle Wineberg. Grapes and fine wine are an important crop there as for ages past. They gave me two bottles which I brought home with me.

     The village, farms and the entire valley are most beautiful. I recommend you visit them before change overtakes that area. A little new building is going on now and some consolidation of land holdings. Most houses date to the sixteen hundreds and seventeen hundreds, some older. Cobble stone narrow streets lined with old horse chestnut trees. Manure pits and piles at each house giving a fine, rank odor at times, and the same old pumps and drain tanks to collect the liquid manure which Dad used to describe. Flocks of geese moving about and pens of family size chicken flocks. These things are long gone in the USA.

     Roads are good but narrow, autos are everywhere but people walk and bicycle a lot on special paths provided all over the countryside. Children and adults were all very well dressed in Gundelbach and in fact at least as well as in any U.S. village and far better than in some.

     The Heitlands then drove me after dark to their place, a very nice house indeed, where I met one of their sons age 17. He is champion tennis player of Stuttgart and had just returned from a three-week exchange student visit to England where he practiced his English, which is very good. Their older son was not at home. I then took them all out to eat supper after which they took me to the Hotel and I had to leave Stuttgart the next morning for Paris. Thus, I saw and did a lot in a very few house.

     It would be nice to spend a vacation in that area and look around more.

     Mrs. Heitland told me of the church window about which Uncle Gottlob had written several of us. It is at the town of Heilbronn which I didn’t have time to visit. The town and church were damaged in the war. They have the plan as it was and are trying to rebuild but as yet haven’ completed the job so the window is not yet replaced. The collected funds are still in the church’s bank account for this purpose. It seems the Imle family in Heilbronn at one time was of some prominence and their hold home had historic significance. That is the reason they want to rebuild this home, along with others, to keep the town as it was. the [sic] church is to be restored and along with it, the old Imle window, to which several of us contributed funds in the past.

     Even though it was late p.m. by the time I reached Gundelbach, I took pictures of the house, barn, church, etc. Unfortunately, in London I lost my camera on a train with that roll inside of it! Unless it is turned in I’ll not have these pictures to show you.

Ernest P. Imle

P.S. Oct. 28, ’64 Surprisingly enough, I have received notice that my camera has been found and turned in to the London subway Lost and Found. In due time I may get it and will, I hope, have the pictures after all.

I had hoped to have this scribbling typed up but have not had the chance. Thus I’ll send it on as is and when returned to me I’ll have it typed for others to read.

I did not have time to go to Adelsheim to see Aunt Lena’s brother. It was not possible in the few hours I had. Maybe next time!

The Vineyards of Gündelbach (R. E. Tapscott, 2011).