My little Yorkshire ;)

[toodlepip]

I can´t compete against you, Terry, and I don´t want to, but I also took a few photos on a little stroll around our neighbourhood today. It´s very windy and more and more clouds are coming, but it´s also very warm and just right today.



The first one is my little turtle Willi, having a summer holiday on my balcony

 

[maltrab]

****

Do German sheep still go Baaaa

Terry

 

[toodlepip]

LOL, actually in Germany they say "määäh"!

 

[Hey-Up]

LOL.....Good pics!!

 

[Adanor]

Lovely pictures!! Incidentally, my grandfather came from the German part of Switzerland. But I'm not sure where.

 

[WesleyRocks]

Great pictures!!!! My Grandparents came from Germany however they wouldn't talk about it in front of us grandchildren.
They ended up in western Pennsylvania, very similar countryside.
He had a very hard disposition and the accent. Us kids would ask Grandpa, teach us German, he would say "no, we are Americans now". He seemed a bit bitter about it. We didn't ask much, because he would let us have it if we kept pestering him.
He changed our name as well when he came over and our family tree stops there. No need for Ancestry.com for us.
I always wanted to know more, but they are all gone now.
Nice pictures! Didn't mean to ramble on.

 

[toodlepip]

Great pictures!!!! My Grandparents came from Germany however they wouldn't talk about it in front of us grandchildren.
They ended up in western Pennsylvania, very similar countryside.
He had a very hard disposition and the accent. Us kids would ask Grandpa, teach us German, he would say "no, we are Americans now". He seemed a bit bitter about it. We didn't ask much, because he would let us have it if we kept pestering him.
He changed our name as well when he came over and our family tree stops there. No need for Ancestry.com for us.
I always wanted to know more, but they are all gone now.
Nice pictures! Didn't mean to ramble on.

I don´t blame your grandparents, lots of folk of that generation here don´t want to talk about the war time. It was very bad, not just because of the war, but also because of the danger you were in permanently anyway, neighbours were spying on each other, reporting people who were against Hitler and such stuff, it must have been horrible. Still there were many very brave ones who stood up against it, but there was no real solidarity amongst the country. Some were against Hitler, some were not, and some were just apathetic or opportunists. People didn´t dare to speak their minds, except in their families, as Cleggy said: "You never know who´s listening!"
Your grandparents probably had very bad times here, but I can also understand your desire to know about your roots.

 

[WesleyRocks]

Great pictures!!!! My Grandparents came from Germany however they wouldn't talk about it in front of us grandchildren.
They ended up in western Pennsylvania, very similar countryside.
He had a very hard disposition and the accent. Us kids would ask Grandpa, teach us German, he would say "no, we are Americans now". He seemed a bit bitter about it. We didn't ask much, because he would let us have it if we kept pestering him.
He changed our name as well when he came over and our family tree stops there. No need for Ancestry.com for us.
I always wanted to know more, but they are all gone now.
Nice pictures! Didn't mean to ramble on.

I don´t blame your grandparents, lots of folk of that generation here don´t want to talk about the war time. It was very bad, not just because of the war, but also because of the danger you were in permanently anyway, neighbours were spying on each other, reporting people who were against Hitler and such stuff, it must have been horrible. Still there were many very brave ones who stood up against it, but there was no real solidarity amongst the country. Some were against Hitler, some were not, and some were just apathetic or opportunists. People didn´t dare to speak their minds, except in their families, as Cleggy said: "You never know who´s listening!"
Your grandparents probably had very bad times here, but I can also understand your desire to know about your roots.

Yes, agree. My father used to tell me, "if you think I'm mean you should have had your Grandpa as a father", Now that you said that, I can see why he might have been so harsh. He died when I was 9, but my siblings are much older than I and I heard some rough stories. I think he took it easier on me
The only thing we ever found was from his brother and we found our original last name was Eisgruber. That's all we know. I did a look up on one of those surname deals at a fair once and it said stuff about the meaning. It means iron worker??? Not sure if that is correct, however it would make sense since he and his brother worked in the steel mills in Pittsburgh.
I always thought maybe someday of changing it back, but now I have kids and a wife and it would be a hassle with the government side of it.
I watch a PBS program called Rick Steves' Europe, I enjoy the countryside in Germany and all. I would love to visit sometime.
Thank you for the insight, I would love to talk with you more on the emotional impact side of the war.

 

[toodlepip]

Yes, a lot of people of that generation were rather harsh, more to their children than grandchildren. But we grew up with more of a flair for it, living here, so I can understand it was all a bit of a mystery for you.
Eisgruber sounds South German to me, probably Bavarian, perhaps you have relatives here!
It is not easy to tell where it derives from, it could derive from Eisen (iron) as you say, could also derive from Eis (ice, pronounciation is identical). Gruber may derive from Grube, meaning pit, cavern or mine. A wild guess of mine could be that some ancestor of his possibly worked in an iron mine a few centuries ago (no idea how you actually get iron).
Of course you can ask me stuff, feel free to send me a message .

 

[Big Unc]

Eisgruber sounds South German to me, probably Bavarian, perhaps you have relatives here!

My mind goes to Franz Xaver Gruber, composer of the music to Silent Night, Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht. He was Austrian.

Reminded me to check why I had got a crossword clue right. I did know correct answer but not why. It just fitted. Clue was "To eat in German city" Answer I knew was Essen. Just checked. Essen is eat in German.

 

[toodlepip]

Correct, Essen isn´t even very far from me, it is in the Ruhr valley.

Gruber is a very common name in Germany, probably as well as other German speaking countries like Austria. A prefix to a name like that (like "Beckenschneider", Schneider being a very, very common name across the whole country) automatically makes me think of the South. I have found a useful site which hints that I´m correct about the spreading of Eisgruber, my feeling of Bavaria was correct:
http://www.verwandt.de/karten/absolut/eisgruber.html