Greetings from Wollmesheim: Where My Father Was Born, and the Flight Home

Germany
Written by Stefan W.
Weingut Bernd Dicker in Wollmesheim with its arched wooden gate covered in red and golden autumn vines
Greetings fromWollmesheim

Wollmesheim · Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany · October 2025

Standing where my father was born, a 5-star lunch at a wine tavern, one last Brotzeit, and the flight home.

Before flying home, Philipp and I spent more time exploring Wollmesheim, the little wine village near Landau where my father was born. It was gray and drizzly, but that didn't matter. This was the most personal part of the whole trip.

Our last days, step by step

  1. Roots The spot where my father was born
  2. Walk Old wine farms and courtyards
  3. Lunch Wiener Schnitzel and Sauerbraten at Weinstube Marienhof
  4. Night One last Brotzeit
  5. Home Frankfurt to Dallas
where it all started

The spot where my father was born

I stood in the spot where my father was born. The house itself is gone; it was demolished in the mid-1990s, and today it's a gravel yard behind an old orange brick wall. There isn't much to see, but standing there meant a lot to me.

Man standing on a gravel yard in front of an old orange brick wall in Wollmesheim, where his father's birth house once stood
Where my father's house once stood
Selfie in front of the Zur Dorfschänke building with the Wollmesheim coat of arms
At the Dorfschänke, with the village coat of arms
a walk through the village

Wine farms and courtyards

Wollmesheim is full of old wine farms, with sandstone gate posts and big wooden gates that open onto cobblestone courtyards. We walked past Weingut Bernd Dicker, where we'd visited old friends, its arched gate covered in red and golden vines, and found a butcher, the Metzgerei Joachim, that has been in the village since 1797.

Winery courtyard with sandstone stairs, an owl figure and the arched gate to the street
Looking out through the old gate
Weingut Bernd Dicker with its sign, painted wall and arched wooden gate covered in autumn vines
Weingut Bernd Dicker
Sandstone gateway with a tiled roof opening onto a cobblestone courtyard and half-timbered buildings in Wollmesheim
An old wine-farm courtyard
White Metzgerei Joachim butcher shop with a red sign reading seit 1797 and a sandstone gate post
A butcher since 1797
The Zur Dorfschänke inn in Wollmesheim with the village coat of arms and big windows
Zur Dorfschänke, the village inn
lunch in the wine country

Weinstube Marienhof

For lunch we drove a few villages north to the Weinstube Marienhof in Venningen, a family-run wine tavern with its own winery. We had a crispy Wiener Schnitzel with fries and lemon, and Sauerbraten, tender slices of beef with potatoes, a creamy sauce, beets, pickled pumpkin and a pickle. Beautifully plated and full of flavor.

Breaded Wiener Schnitzel with a lemon slice and fries on a dark plate at Weinstube Marienhof
Wiener Schnitzel and fries
Sauerbraten with potatoes, a creamy sauce, beets, pickled pumpkin and a pickle at Weinstube Marienhof
Sauerbraten
our verdict

5 / 5

★★★★★
RestaurantWine$$$
Where
Weinstube Marienhof, Venningen (Pfalz)
We had
Wiener Schnitzel and Sauerbraten
Price
$$$ On the higher side, and worth it

Our verdict: 5 out of 5. Classic Pfälzer cooking done really well, in a cozy wine tavern surrounded by vineyards.

the last night

One more Brotzeit

On our last night we kept it simple: a Brotzeit in the room with salami, Emmentaler and the last of the French bread we'd bought in France, plus one more bottle of Holzverwandler Seidla. The next morning the sun finally came out, and the vineyards were glowing gold under a blue sky. A perfect goodbye.

Salami on French bread with Emmentaler cheese and a bottle of Holzverwandler Seidla beer
A last Brotzeit
Holding a slice of airy French bread next to a bottle of Holzverwandler Seidla
The last of the French bread
Golden autumn vineyard under a blue sky with forested hills in the Pfalz
Sunshine on the last morning
Sunny village street with half-timbered houses, green shutters and a church spire
A quiet village street
auf Wiedersehen

Flying home

On October 22, 2025, it was time to go. We dropped off the rental car at Frankfurt Airport, posed one last time under the big departures board, and boarded our Lufthansa flight to Dallas. Three countries and a lot of memories: Franconia, the Alps, München, Lake Constance, Switzerland, Alsace and the Pfalz. What a trip with my son.

Father and teenage son selfie under the departures board at Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt, one last selfie
Lufthansa Airbus at the gate in Frankfurt on a gray morning
Our ride home

Tip: if your family comes from a small German village, go. Walk the streets, talk to people, eat at the local inn. It's the best way to understand where you come from.

Good to know

Where
Wollmesheim, a wine village that's part of Landau in der Pfalz
Eat
Weinstube Marienhof in Venningen: Wiener Schnitzel and Sauerbraten
Shop
Metzgerei Joachim, a village butcher since 1797
Flying home
Frankfurt Airport is about 1.5 hours north of Landau by car
see you on the road

Have you ever stood where your family's story began?

Tell me in the comments, or send me a question if you're planning a trip to the Pfalz.

More travel stories →Ask me a question
Stefan W.

Stefan Weihermueller has loved wood-working from a very young age, but it wasn't until he worked for many years in the manufacturing field and gained experience in programming that the idea for his business Custom Wood Design was born.

www.custom-wood-Design.com
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