We had booked a room in a private home with the Heller family. Originally we had planned to walk the mile to their house, but Frau Heller offered to pick us up. She was waiting for us at the train station. She brought us to the house and then drove us around Eisenach to introduce us to the city, showed us a great view of Wartburg Castle, 
and dropped us off at the Bachhaus.
On one of the roads something was blocking the traffic ,and the roads were starting to pile up with traffic, so she quickly turned left the wrong way on a one way street and took it to the end, much more like Russian driving than German driving. St Mary's Church, first built in 1246, was the largest church in Eisenach. In 1525 it was so badly damaged during the Peasant's Revolt that it was left in ruins. The last stones were taken away during Bach's childhood in 1693 for the construction of the Church of the Holy Cross where Bach's parents are buried. On the100th anniversary ofBach's death,28 July 1850, it was decided to construct amonument for him. Money was raised,and Adolf von Donndorf was chosento sculpt the monument. "I am immensely delighted about my commissionto sculpt a real pig-headed Thuringian again."It was unveiled in 1884 outside St.George's Churchbut moved to its current site outside Bach's house in 1938 and survived WWII more or less intact. 
.We toured the Bachhaus hearing music played on original instruments 
and seeing how Bach lived
.
Bach House, opened in 1907, is the oldest museum dedicated to Bach At the end we sat in listening booths listening to his music. 
He was born and grew up here.
Then we walked around Eisenach,
buying a book at the Lutherhaus 
and some Plauen Lace at the Spitzen shop. We saw Georgiankirche (St. George Church)
, the city center, 
and the city wall.
We had a very nice dinner in Eisenach—Jägerschnitzel (breaded meat with a creamy mushroom sauce) for me and vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, and peas, and mashed potato) with a Hollandaise sauce for Kristen. 
For dessert we had Apfelstrudel and cherry-blueberry compote with nut-filled-crepes on top. Yum!
Outside the restaurant we saw a "Detroit Eagles" T-shirt for sale which Kristen bought. 
We walked back up a fairly steep hill to their house really thankful that Frau Heller had come to pick us up
. 
It would have been pure torture to carry our backpacks from the main train station uphill to their house. On the way up to their house was a street of mansions which had mostly been owned by Jews before WWII. 
Hitler had deported them and taken over their houses. We went out on the balcony and talked to Frau Heller in German. Her husband is a civil engineer who had been involved in building houses and factories as well as renovation. Her parents had not allowed her to join the Young Pioneers (age 6 to 14) or Young German Workers group (age 14 to adult), nor were she and her husband members of the communist party. She was one of the very few students who did join the youth group although she said that she joined for a while because she really wanted to sing and was not allowed to sing unless she joined. She loved gardening and had incredibly beautiful flowers—begonias, orchids, geraniums, hibiscus, and much more. We had a very interesting conversation almost completely in German. Her husband didn’t know any English at all and was much less talkative. While Frau Heller and I chatted, Kristen took a nap. 
and dropped us off at the Bachhaus.
On one of the roads something was blocking the traffic ,and the roads were starting to pile up with traffic, so she quickly turned left the wrong way on a one way street and took it to the end, much more like Russian driving than German driving. St Mary's Church, first built in 1246, was the largest church in Eisenach. In 1525 it was so badly damaged during the Peasant's Revolt that it was left in ruins. The last stones were taken away during Bach's childhood in 1693 for the construction of the Church of the Holy Cross where Bach's parents are buried. On the100th anniversary ofBach's death,28 July 1850, it was decided to construct amonument for him. Money was raised,and Adolf von Donndorf was chosento sculpt the monument. "I am immensely delighted about my commissionto sculpt a real pig-headed Thuringian again."It was unveiled in 1884 outside St.George's Churchbut moved to its current site outside Bach's house in 1938 and survived WWII more or less intact. 
.We toured the Bachhaus hearing music played on original instruments 
and seeing how Bach lived
.
Bach House, opened in 1907, is the oldest museum dedicated to Bach At the end we sat in listening booths listening to his music. 
He was born and grew up here.
Then we walked around Eisenach,
buying a book at the Lutherhaus 
and some Plauen Lace at the Spitzen shop. We saw Georgiankirche (St. George Church)
, the city center, 
and the city wall.
We had a very nice dinner in Eisenach—Jägerschnitzel (breaded meat with a creamy mushroom sauce) for me and vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, and peas, and mashed potato) with a Hollandaise sauce for Kristen. 
For dessert we had Apfelstrudel and cherry-blueberry compote with nut-filled-crepes on top. Yum!
Outside the restaurant we saw a "Detroit Eagles" T-shirt for sale which Kristen bought. 
We walked back up a fairly steep hill to their house really thankful that Frau Heller had come to pick us up
. 
It would have been pure torture to carry our backpacks from the main train station uphill to their house. On the way up to their house was a street of mansions which had mostly been owned by Jews before WWII. 
Hitler had deported them and taken over their houses. We went out on the balcony and talked to Frau Heller in German. Her husband is a civil engineer who had been involved in building houses and factories as well as renovation. Her parents had not allowed her to join the Young Pioneers (age 6 to 14) or Young German Workers group (age 14 to adult), nor were she and her husband members of the communist party. She was one of the very few students who did join the youth group although she said that she joined for a while because she really wanted to sing and was not allowed to sing unless she joined. She loved gardening and had incredibly beautiful flowers—begonias, orchids, geraniums, hibiscus, and much more. We had a very interesting conversation almost completely in German. Her husband didn’t know any English at all and was much less talkative. While Frau Heller and I chatted, Kristen took a nap. 
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