Schaumburg contingent visits its German sister
Editor's Note: Daily Herald columnist Joanmarie Wermes is among 15 people visiting Schaumburg County, Germany, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the sisterhood between the two Schaumburgs. Wermes is a past officer of the original Schaumburg Sister Cities and now serves on the board of the Schaumburg Sister Cities Association.
APELERN, Germany -- As the veil lifted from the 8-foot monument, a surge of applause rippled through a crowd of 200 gathered outdoors in the nippy air Saturday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the sisterhood of Schaumburg, Germany, and Schaumburg, Illinois.
Schaumburg Sister Cities representatives presented the gift to the Germans in the courtyard of an historic church in the picturesque town of Apelern. In the mid 1800s, 17 families who worshipped at this church left their homes to sail to America, eventually settling in Schaumburg Township, Illinois.
The families, whose names are engraved in the monument, are the Families Gieseke, Winkelhake, Nerge, Salge, Lichthardt, Pfingsten, Biesterfeld, Huenerberg, Boeger, Redecker, Rohlwing, Vette, Hartmann, Bartels, Hattendorf, Hansing and Mensching. Many of these families now have streets named in their honor.
The gift sculpture is a companion piece to a one-ton friendship stone given to Schaumburg, Illinois two years ago by the Schaumburger Deutsch Amerikanischen Geseltschaft for the village of Schaumburg's 50th anniversary.
The gift presented to German officials Saturday was made by German sculptor Dr. Karsen Fischer using stone quarried from the world-renowned Obernkirchen sandstone quarry. It matches the companion sculpture, which is now housed in the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center, and serves as a concrete sign of the two cities' friendship.
The sculpture - unveiled by the German organization president Dr. Egon Crombach, vice president Juergen Watermann and American representatives Jean Tucknott, chairman of the Schaumburg Sister Cities Commission, and Mary Nagy, chair of the Schaumburg subcommittee - depicts two sails, the two villages' coats of arms, and the engraved names of those who arrived here to settle in the Schaumburg area known as Sarah's Grove.
At Saturday's ceremony, speakers told the story of how Schaumburg Township got its name. Leader Friedrich Nerge at an 1851 township meeting rose to his feet to end the bickering and uttered his famous words, "Schaumburg schall et heiten" or "Schaumburg it shall be."
Saturday evening's festivities warmed the crowd with good tidings, music, costumed dancers, a celebratory dinner and proclamations from Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson, Sister Cities International, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Lynfred Winery and Schaumburg Township.
Today's activities will include a meeting with county government officials, and tours of Stadtkirche (the town church) and Castle Bueckeburg. Before leaving, the contingent of local residents will tour Schaumburg Castle, the Steinhuder Meer lake, and Hameln, the home of the Pied Piper.
American Consul General Karen Johnson, whose is based in Hamburg and was present for both major ceremonies, summed up the day by mentioning the important value of relationships.
"It's those personal relationships that you form that honestly make the real difference," she said.