Historical Trivia Photo #2

I went to Germany in 2003(?) and we took the Rhein from Frankfurt (maybe it was Mainz) to Cologne. It was awesome. We passed the ruins of this bridge.

My mother is German. Born in Stettin, Western Pomerania in 1938 (now Szczecin, Poland. Germany lost it after the war). During the war, when the Russians started advancing on Germany, my Grandfather (Opa) sent my Grandmother (Oma), mother, and aunt to Bremerhaven. He was a railway worker and stayed behind. He was captured, but thankfully was not one of the many that the Russians killed out of vengeance and he found his family eventually. My mother has a lot of sad tales of her childhood.
Anyway, my Dad was stationed in Germany in '54(?) and met her, married her, and brought her home. I am almost as proud of my German heritage as I am of America.
That why we were there. I went with my mother so she could go back and visit and show me around and tell me about the history of all these places. We did a big circle of Germany over 3 weeks. Started in Frankfurt. Went to Mainz, Cologne, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Hamburg, Lubeck, Stettin, Berlin, Konigsburg, and Munich. It was great.