Pension Sprachschule Maria Shipley
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Photo credits for this beautiful image go to Gregor Maier, who works at the Kultur und Geschichte des Hochtaunuskreises, and spends some of his free time exploring our local high lights for us couch potatoes.
The photo was taken on 14 March at the Feldberg Mountain.
Unfortunately, I had no chance to go up there myself at all this past winter, which was mostly due to blocked roads. Or some other excuse.
It is always a pleasure to share photos and information with like-minded readers. One of them, Larry Tisch, contributed the following photos and some bits about his life near the Tech Control Center at the Feldberg, Taunus Mountains, in Germany.
“The first photo shows the entrance of the Tech Control Center, and the second one was taken inside. I was stationed there from February, 1969 through May, 1972.”
“I loved it and had a great time. I also made many German friends. They have been here to visit us, and we have been there to visit them several times.
When I first arrived I stayed at the Forsthaus Cafe until I found an apartment, which was on the upper floor of a private home in Arnoldshain. In 1969, the Mark was a quarter ($1.00 = 4.06 DM) and a Bier was 50 Pfennig.”
Thanks, Larry!
For anyone having been stationed at the Kolbenberg in the Taunus, it might be interesting to revisit a couple of the guest houses – the way they used to be, even long before your time there.
These historical postcards are from my personal collection.
This Pension Tannenheim (Tannenheim Inn) is located in Sandplacken, part of Schmitten. The innkeeper at the time was A. Jäger.
On the back of the card, the guest house lists ‘running water’ as part of the amenities. It has no postmark, but based on the cars parked nearby, this might be from the 1940s/1950s.
This postcard shows the Hotel Sandplacken, and the owner at that time was W. Heid. Again, no postmark, but this one also listed running water as well as central heating as one of the amenities.
Another view from the same hotel, and walking the Panoramaweg (Scenic Path) with views onto the Weiße Mauer (White Wall) and the Altkönig at 798m (2,618 ft).
The restaurant name was Wald-Restaurant (forest restaurant).
This past weekend, we drove up towards the Feldberg Mountain. Our usual vendor was closed, but there is always another one to choose from.
I’m not picky about which tree to choose, but my husband is. I usually say yes to each one he picks up, as long as it isn’t so tall. Over the years, he has come down in size (the tree, that is), and our tree this year is ‘only’ 180-210cm (5’9″ – 6’9″) in height.
The sign in the hut says, ‘Who cut one?’ indicating tree theft. We did not mention its other meaning in American slang. 🙂
The vendor lady first approached me to offer assistance, but I pointed to my husband right away as the sole buyer.
Soon after, she was me telling about family feuds, tears, arguments, screaming, and whatever else might happen when families try to decide on a tree. She said, she had seen it all.
Here we are walking away with our 2020 Christmas tree.
From a stateside reader, I got the following pictures as well as permission to publish them. My thanks goes to Donald Engel for his friendly contribution.
This one shows Oberursel and its main cross roads between the Vorstadt and the train station. The road names are Oberhöchstädter Straße and Adenauerallee. The year is 1962.
Now we are heading up to the Kolbenberg and its ‘new tower’ back in 1962.
This was the original memorial plaque, and the photo was taken in 2006.
Not only did Mr. Engel give me permission to use his photos, but he also designed the originial plaque *, which is placed near Sandplacken. The original one was stolen and in 2014, a replacement plaque was put up.
The barracks and other buildings around the Kolbenberg radio relay station.
These are the remains of the Feldberg radio relay station.
Now, even the rubble has been cleared.
The Sandplacken area is a great place to visit also in the winter time. We usually buy our Christmas tree up there from one of the vendors. They usually also serve Bratwurst and Glühwein mulled wine. This will probably be a little different this year…
Also, if you like to join the Kolbenberg former military community, then visit this website: https://spokt.com/
*Edit on 20 November: Mr. Engel kindly pointed out an error on my behalf, and I corrected it within the text.
My name is Maria Shipley. I live in Oberursel, Germany, with my husband, son and daughter. The … Read more
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