RESEARCH BEGINS

From 1988 until 1996 we had moved from Louisiana to Tennessee to Virginia and then down to Arkansas. The children had grown up and finished high school and college. Three of the boys were married and all of them were living away from home. We were adapting to a quiet house and empty nest. Although I had never made time to research into the castle and its connection with World War II, it was not until Linda came over one night ion 2006 that I was motivated to actually begin research.

Our first step was to see if we could determine who the artist was. The picture looked like a print from a distance but upon closer look it was a very detailed pencil sketch that covered about a 16 x 20 surface. The lines were drawn with precision and I was amazed at the amount of time it must have required to actually focus on such detail. There was no signature anywhere but at the bottom of the picture were the words “Schloss Furstenau mit Torbogen (Odenn)”. Somewhere there had to be information on the castle and the part it played in the war. My friend Linda had been in Germany with her husband while he was in the military and she gave me a couple of possible insights and some direction in my search.