Puderbach


Modern town of Puderbach, largest of those with Epgert records.
As I passed near the famous Rhine towns of Mainz, Rudesheim, and the Lorelei, I pondered why Johannes and his friends would ever have left such a beautiful and bountiful area for unknown Philadelphia. The riverbanks are thick with vineyards. Germany’s greatest poets, painters, and other artists were attracted to this area. Even then, the “Father Rhine” served as Europe’s principle commercial waterway — the main river trade artery between the heart of the continent and the North Sea.

Crossing the Rhine at Koblenz, I approached the industrial city of Neuwied, important because of its position on the Rhine and the beginning of the region of Apgard ancestry. I then looked for Puderbach, site of the earliest (1701) church record of a family member. Easy to find and possessing a large new church, the town is typical of a modern German city with shops, homes, and schools. One building near the church displayed a marker indicating it was originally built in 1703.