Worms, Germany



We did not overnight in Worms. (No, no, pronounce it "Vumz".) It was a day trip from Baden-Baden.

Marty had a genealogical mission for our trip to Germany: locate the grave of her great-great-great... grandfather, Job Miller, who was reported to be buried in Worms about 1790. So our visit here was different than the more touristy towns of the rest of our trip. We have already told you all we knew about Job Miller, so we knew finding anything else was a long shot. Internet searches only turn up the famous Jewish cemetery (oldest in Europe).




We started at the TI. From our parking lot a short distance away we had this view (left) of the well-known Cathedral of Worms, aka der Dom. As were many of the old structures, it was in rehab.

Here is another view (right) from yesteryear.




The lady at the TI directed us to the only Protestant cemetery in Worms. On the map it is called "Hochheimer Höhe" hauptfriedhof. The latter word just means "main cemetery". It is in the Worms suburb named Hochheim, the name of the cemetery might translate to something like "Hochheim Heights". Anyhow, we found an administrative office there (pictured) and a friendly, some-English-speaking gentleman in attendance. He was willing to help and had computer access to a database, but it only dated from 1902. For lack of anything else, this kindly person directed us to a Jewish Museum and Archival called "Rashi Haus" across town.



The museum was closed from 12:00 to 14:00 so we decided we should eat lunch first. So we strolled around for a while in light rain showers and finally found a bakery that made sandwiches and had drinks and tables. While we were enjoying our sandwiches and watching the rain come down harder outside, we were both startled by a great rumbling and shaking starting up beside us. We turned to look and saw a customer standing next to and watching a machine that we hadn't paid attention to before and it was doing the rumbling and shaking. We were consumed with curiosity. Then the shaking and rumbling stopped and the lady opened a hatch and took out a loaf of newly sliced bread. We laughed to ourselves. Neither of us had ever seen a bread slicing machine before. During our lunch two other customers amused us by slicing their fresh loaf of bread and, as a bonus, the rain stopped.



We still had time to kill so we went shopping and then back to the car, took a couple of pictures, and read for a while.



Our trusty Garmin got us to the Jewish Museum OK but couldn't tell us how to use the parking meter. At the reception desk in the Museum, the receptionist of course spoke good English and was very interested in helping us. We think she was bored. Anyhow she explained to Don how to use the parking meter and said it was important to keep it legal. While Don was tending to the meter a block away she introduced Marty to the archivist. He was also interested and helpful and anglophonic.

He first pointed out that Job's surname was probably "Müeller" which was one of the most common surnames in Germany, but that Job was not at all common and maybe it was worth scanning some listings he had. The contents of listings varied but often included census-like entries such as wife's and children's names, occupation, place and date of birth.

The only thing listed under "Miller" was "see Müeller" so Marty scanned through listings in antique bindings for an hour or so looking for a Job around 1790. Don helped for twenty minutes. Alas, no luck. With no more ideas from any quarter, we broke camp and departed Worms.


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