2 August 1999

Monday, 2 August 1999. We got out a little late the next morning, after breakfast with Susanne and the kids. We took bus 655 to the Lennep Bahnhof (Train Station). From there, we rode to Oberbarmen (Upper Barmen) and walked along Berlinerstraße to Wertherstraße, and then through the Alter Markt (Old Market). So Laura got to see where her Opa grew up, and now the pedestrian mall that stands there.

We lunched at a little sandwich shop next to the Werther Apotheke (Apothecary). Laura had Rohgehacktes and dad had Lachs.

In the Barmer Rathaus (City Hall), we rode the continuous-elevator named the Pater Noster… after some initial angst, and then we bought some Wuppertal souvenirs.


A little further through the Alter Markt, we picked up some flowers for the Friedhof (cemetary), and then took the Schwebebahn back to Wupperfeld (Laura's first ride on it! The Schwebebahn is the world's oldest operating monorail, having been used for mass transit continuously since 1901). From Wupperfeld it was a short walk up to the Friedhof, where we visited Uhr-Oma and Uhr-Opa Mauelshagen's graves.


Then our first long walk, past the old house at Emilstraße, across Krautstraß to Ackerstraße and Kleestraße. Dad explained to Laura about which houses the Mauelshagens had lived in, where they were during WWII, showed her the wall that had a big hole from an indirect bomb hit, etc.

Continuing the long walk took us back to the Oberbarmen Schwebebahn station. We rode from there all the way to Vowinkel, from one end of the line to the other, and then back to Alter Markt, just in time to meet Sigrid and Wolfgang Dinnendahl at the Wuppertaler Brauhaus. And as Dad had said, Herr Dinnendahl came bounding around the corner with a big smile for us!


The dinner was very nice, and Herr Dinnendahl kept us entertained with his lively stories. In addition, Laura was able to see where her Uhr-Oma dove 2 stories into the indoor swimming pool below.

Unbeknownst to us, Herr Dinnendahl had arranged by email for Michael to pick us up from the Brauhaus. He had won his evening soccer game and met us there, drove us back to his house. Then a bit of conversation, and off to bed.