Trip to Wiliberg,
Switzerland
October 18, 2016
In October of 2016 my wife, Patricia, and I took a trip to
Germany and Switzerland. We extended our
tour by 1 week with the main purpose of locating the Bachman home in Wiliberg.
Our adventure started on October 18, 2016. We had a somewhat limited knowledge on how to
get to Wiliberg. However, with the help
of some very nice train employees in Luzern we were able to map out our final
destination.
From the main train terminal in Lucern we took about a 1
hour train ride to Zofingen and then took a bus from there to Bottenwil (22
minutes).
Once we arrived in Bottenwil we went to the local government
office to find the direction and distance to Wiliberg. A very helpful employee there (who spoke very
good English) printed a map for us. She
questioned us on how we were going to get there. We replied, “We are going to walk.” She informed us it would be a rather
difficult walk as it would be all uphill for many miles. Not having anything else planned for the day
off we went on our journey, and what a journey it turned out to be.
I could tell you all the positive things that helped us
reach our final destination, our goal to reach the original Bachman homestead
in Wiliberg. Let me simply say we were
being watched over from above and people were placed in our journey that helped
and directed us to the Bachman home. (4 in particular)
The original family who purchased the home from the
Bachman’s is still living in it today.
We met the grandmother, the daughter and grandson. They were all very kind and excited we were
there. We didn’t have the opportunity to
go inside as we could not communicate at all.
We just smiled and showed some photos of Jacob and his Hans. They knew what we were saying through
pictures.
Pat and I thoroughly enjoyed our experience. We plan on going back in the near
future. Wiliberg is a remarkable and
beautiful. Pat and I would love to live
there.
J. Scott Handy (Jacob Bachman is my great, great grandfather)