Stephen and Elaine Biddulph: Cochem in Mosel Valley

24 - 30 AUGUST 2015

Cochem along Mosel River

We had a lot of missionary calls this week and several new missionaries added to our list. I was able to also complete working with some missionaries. There has been several cases of depression and anxiety among elders and sisters. Mission presidents are working hard and we seem to make a good team.
This Saturday we took a drive along the Mosel River Valley with Elder and Sister Greenwood. He is the Area Medical Adviser from American Fork, Utah. They complete 23 months in October and return home. It turned out to be a beautiful day, clear and not very hot, a perfect drive along a beautiful river valley of Germany.
The Mosel River begins somewhere along the German, French, Belgium border, perhaps south of Luxembourg-Strassbourg, and runs north-northeast until it joins the Rhein River at Koblenz just north of Frankfurt. The Mosel is an important river way in Germany, almost a large and impressive as the Rhein, and the valley

Reichberg Castle above Cochem

through which it runs is the primary area of vineyards where Germany's wine industry is located.
Beautiful highways traverse both sides of the Mosel River from Trier in the south to Koblenz in the north. It is a heavily wooded area, mostly deciduous trees and a few pine trees. The sides of the valley are typically pretty steep and rocky, but hundreds of vineyards have been terraced across the sides of this valley. August and September seem to be the days of the wine festival when all the grapes are harvested and juiced to begin the wine-making process. It is unfortunate that good grapes have to turn into unhealthy alcoholic beverages. In October, of course, is

Vineyards and Cochem on Mosel River

the bier festivals where they get together and drink their precious beer. What would Germans do without their beer and wine and cigarettes? Probably live a much longer and healthier life!
We spent most of Saturday in the little village of Cochem, a famous tourist attraction. The village sits right on the banks of the Mosel River and is quaint and attractive. Streets off the main drag along the river are tiny, narrow gasses filled with little shops and people. The Reichberg Castle sits imposingly on the hills above Cochem on the west side of the Mosel River. It was begun sometime about 1000 A.D. and over periods of time was built up by kings and clergy. We took a tour through the castle. It was not nearly as splendid in structure or in furnishings as others we've visited, notably the Neuenschwanstein Castles in Füssen (southern Bavaria). Nevertheless, it was interesting to see. I've included pictures of our trip herein.
The Castle had some old animal heads and horns mounted, such as this boar and elk (deer). They

wine decanters

also had large decanters that held their wine. Each decanter must have held 2 gallons of wine. That was their daily quota of wine to drink. The door leading out of the wine-drinking room had a metallic guide on the door that guided the men as to find the keyhole to let themselves out of the room after they were drunken into a stupor.
We drove south up the Mosel until we were able to drive east out of the valley and back across to Mainz, Wiesebaden, and back into Frankfurt.
Tomorrow it appears that I will be the only member of the branch presidency at church; the other two are on vacation (Urlaub). Missionaries don't get Urlaubs, so I get to conduct the meetings again. We are unsure if one of the Aaronic Priesthood boys will come to give his talk at church, so I have prepared a talk in German just in case. During the third

Boar's Head

hour (it being the 5th Sunday), I get to conduct our joint meeting of adults. Our theme (Thema) is on making the Sabbath Day (Sabbat) a delight (eine Wonne). We are using President Nelson's conference talk and another article on the subject. I am going to introduce the theme and then have a married couple lead a discussion on how we as individuals (Einselne), families (Familie), and ward family (Gemeindefamilie) can honor our Father in Heaven through our Sabbath observances (Verhalten). So, I've had a lot to prepare in German. It helps me improve my language for which I am grateful.