Karl Heinrich Buchmiller - Part Two

     Christmas was a joyous time and the family always had a nice tree. The custom of Christmas trees originated in Germany. The children were told to go to bed and the Christ Child would come in the night and bring presents. It was hard for the youngsters to go to sleep. Later they would be awakened by the jingle of bells and they were soon up and around the tree looking for gifts.

     On Sundays the family would take a walk through part of the city. The family was Lutheran but attended church only on Easter and Christmas. One Sunday they noticed many people looking with awe-stricken faces at different windows in a building. They thought they saw crosses and that it meant the end of the world was coming. Johann explained the phenomenon to his children. In the manufacture of glass, imperfections sometimes caused strange reflections, and that's what the people were seeing. Part of it was their superstitions as they had heard someone preaching about the end of the world.

     While the family was living in Freiburg in 1870, the French-Prussian War broke out. The oldest son, Leonhart, then about 17, had already been called into the service. The fighting was going on near their home and the family often had to scurry to the cellar to avoid the cannon balls.

     The year before, while they were still living in Bischoffingen, the family had been out walking near the ruins of a castle where people could buy lunch, drink a little, and relax. The Buchmiller family was doing this, too. On the way home one Sunday they met a group of young men with guns. They learned from them that shells had been fired across the Rhine River into the castle area they had left just a half hour earlier. Later it was learned that French soldiers, who had just arrived from Morocco, had fired the cannons while drinking. War was declared about two weeks later.

     

Lois and Mark in Black Forest Area

Karl's father developed consumption, or tuberculosis as it is called today. It was decided that the clear air in the Schwarzwald or the Black Forest area would be better for him than that of the city. By this time the war was over, but Konrad was called into the army anyway. Karl, with his brother, Emil, and sister, Mary, and their parents traveled by stagecoach up the narrow dugway to the town of Bonndorf. The road led through pine forests, then around a beautiful lake. Emil was scared the coach would drop down the steep embankment and into the lake. Beautiful forests surrounded the town in all directions. Several abandoned castles added to the view, A few areas had been cleared.

     The people of Bonndorf were all Catholic. At first the Buchmillers were the only Protestants in the town. Later a few more moved in and a pastor from the nearby town of Waldshur came every two weeks to preach. However, at school the boys had to go twice a week to the Catholic Church.

     Grandmother Christine Buchmiller, Johann's mother, came to visit while the family was in Bonndorf, She stayed about three weeks, Karl and Emil remembered her being above average in height, well proportioned, and with blue eyes. She had been a professional cook most of her life. 

Black Forest Area

     The Black Forest is one of the most beautiful areas of the world that I have ever been in.  I had always wanted to get a cuckoo clock from the Black Forest as this is where my great grandparents lived.  Finally it was a dream come true to be able to go there, visit the places they lived, and yes, get my cuckoo clock.