Great Grandfather's House by the Bridge

Amalie told me where to look for the houses of my grandfather and great grandfather. Go to the "unterdorf", or lower village. There is a small bridge across the road where there was a well where they used to fetch water. From there you can see the houses.

I asked our history teacher tour guide where the bridges were in Rohrbach. There are two, both in the unterdorf. The distinction between oberdorf and unterdorf was very clear, there being a definite change in elevation, with the unterdorf being at the far end of the village. By the first bridge stands an old German house which Galina referred to as the "Zimbelman" house. That name immediately rouses my interest. Johann's wife - the Johann that moved to Nebraska, then Texas (let's call him "Texas" Johann and let's call my great grandfather "Rohrbach" Johann to make this distinction easier in the future) - married a John Zimbleman in Keenesburg, Colorado after Texas Johann died. I remember visiting them as a young boy. Her name was Katerina. I also remember the Zimbelman name in Rohrbach.

When we arrive at the bridge, I find it divides two sides of a small pond. There are people fishing and kids swimming here. This is not on the main road. We had to make a right turn off the main road and travel a few hundred yards. This photo is looking back towards the village and main road.








The Zimbelman house is on the right side standing in the line of travel as we progressed through the village. It has been nicely re-furbished and the owner comes out and waves.

The Zimbelman House

The scene from the bridge is not as Amalie described it. She said to stand on the bridge looking along the direction of travel, then turn back to the left to view the houses. Unfortunately, back to the left is where the pond is, with no houses. Forward to the left, there is one house, and just beyond that, the remaining foundation of another house. I get pictures of these two.

Still further up the hill on the left is yet another house, but that doesn't look like a German house. The German houses stand out due to their long rectangular shape. Both of the houses on the left appear to be rather square. I continue shooting pictures. The lady in the house further up the hill is not thrilled with me taking pictures. She is a bit far away to make out what she is saying, had I been able to understand her at all. I am not well versed in Ukrainian cursing, but I must have gotten a good dose. She wouldn't stop yelling until I was clear back across the road near the van. I was warned that a few of the villagers were a bit sensitive to us high-heeled Americans snooping around their houses (like we would want them back?). On up the road from the Zimbelman house was another old building with only the walls still standing. Inside there were some men butchering a cow.

I am suspicious that this is not the correct bridge. The layout of the houses has changed over the years. Im not certain. I ask our guide and the other tour members if we can visit the other bridge, and they agree.

The next bridge holds a bit more promise. It lies on the main road, serving to drain water from the village underneath the road into the pond. I fully expected to see a running stream, but such is not the case. It contains several round concrete drain pipes instead. I get out of our van and stand on the bridge abutment and begin to scan the view. Looking towards the end of the village and turning left, there is a hospital and communal home for mentally retarded people. They live in a small complex which also houses some animals, farm implements and gardens. The idea is that, with the help of the employees of the hospital, the residents form a self-sufficient communal community. Our guide tells us that the ratio of workers to patients is roughly one to one, making this probably the largest employer in the village.

Amalie said that grandfather's and great-grandfathers houses were adjacent to a school building. Could this be the former site of the school? The closest house is now beyond the hospital grounds on the side of the street where the houses I'm looking for should be located. Is it possible this could be it?

On the other side of the street stands another house. Amalie said her Uncle Heinrich (my grandfather's brother) lived on the other side of the street. Could this house be his? Here is a view from the bridge:

When I got back home to Colorado I sat down with my father to review the photos and movies I had taken. I stood in the spot where my father's cousin had said to look and started taking pictures. The house between the road and the pond was the one my father identified as looking "exactly like my (his) grandfather's". Ok, this could be it. But his house was on the other side of the pond, about a mile away. More confusion.

I tried to get him to pinpoint the location. He brought up an old survey from the basement that showed the location of the houses in the village. "Here's the pond. We lived here." We're looking at it upside down, south is up. Turn it over. I show him the road we drove down. The creek (pond) we visited is on the right, west of the main road. Now I realize that "pond" I was focussing on is really a widening of the creek flowing from north to south through the town. The survey, which has topographical lines on it, supports this. The pond my father was talking about is to the east and to the north, not the one I was taking photos of, but clearly shown on his map. He locates his house, I color it in with my pencil. Then I see some writing on the map, very light and faded. I ask mom for the magnifying glass. There it was: "Eduard" was penciled in to indicate my dad's house, right where he showed me. "Johann" was penciled in on the house across the street - right where my dad and Amalie had said it was.

Next thing was to locate this house on my photographs. The house which my dad said "looks like grandfather's" corresponded to the location Amalie had told me to look, and is in the perfect relationship with the creek (pond) behind. Dad's house was across the street. He said it was in very poor condition and was being used as a pig stable when he left Rohrbach in 1932, and the fact its no longer there is not surprising. It appears that the home for the retarded stands where that house used to stand.