The Young's Ford Escort Laser parked in Surbourg.
In the fall of 1985, Norbert and Ruth Young, my late cousin and his wife, made a second trip to Europe. Since their first trip, they had learned the location of the town where my great-grandfather Joseph Folzenlogel was born--Surbourg, Alsace, Bas Rhin, France. They were able to contact Annie-Paule Sibler, a relative of our great-grandmother Magdalena Sibler. Annie-Paule had met them during their 1979 visit to Durrenbach. Quite by accident the parish pastor had called on her when he and the Youngs needed an interpreter.
Norb Young kept a diary for the trip. His entry for Friday, September 20, 1985, reads: "Got into Strasbourg this afternoon. Stopped at the I, got a a map of Strasbourg and arranged for a room at the Hotel Esplonade which is close to the University and Annie-Paule Sibler. Contaced Annie and had dinner with her at the Restaurant Voliere that evening and made plans for tomorrow."
Norb's entry for Saturday, September 21, 1985, says: "Beautiful warm fall day. Had our strong coffee and roll at the Hotel Esplonade dining room. Checked out and loaded the car in readiness for our trip with Annie-Paule to Surbourg--it only took an hour as predicted by Annie. It was good to have someone to answer our dumb questions."
Norb continues: "In Surbourg, met the curé (Fr. Ganzer) as prearranged by Annie. Was very lucky to get the marriage records of great-great grandfather, so we also got the names of the parents. It was written in Latin--priest was very pleasant, and of course, Annie did a great job of interpreting for us."
"Was told there were no older records, record-keeping was instituted by Napoleon. Prior to that no marriage or birth records--perhaps not even a ceremony. Trip back to Strasbourg was uneventful." (The priest was wrong. What he says is true of the civil records. The church records in Surbourg date back to 1644, and we have already found the names of four ggggggg grandparents.)
Annie took us up to her apartment for a drink. She said it was owned (like a co-op) by her parents. Her older sister (who lived downstairs), her 2 girls, and Jeremy were introduced. I took a few pictures. About 1PM we took off for the German autobahn toward Basel." (Annie-Paule Sibler is an Associate Professor at the Louis Pasteur University in Strasbourg. I recently found her email address in the faculty directory and sent her a message. So far there has been no reply. Perhaps she is on summer holiday.)