1975 October

The place? Abtswind – a beautiful small village located in the Steigerwald, about 20 minutes east of Wuerzburg, Germany. This village, renowned for its Franken wine, is also known for its many fests, tourist trade and focal point for international meetings such as the BMWMOA Abtswind Treffen.

The time? 20 and 21 August. At the suggestion of Stew Ives, we visited his long-time friend, Georg Eckoff, and after a few samples of his wine from his own vineyards, set the stage for one of the most successful rallies we’ve had in Europe. Camping was situated behind Georg’s farmhouse on an open field with all necessary facilities provided. Then Georg, being very friendly and pro American, made various arrangements with some of the local populace.

By noon on Saturday, most of the members and guests arrived to participate in the first of Georg’s surprises. Off we went on a three and a half hour tour of the surrounding countryside with Georg’s friend, Walther Kaufous leading the way in his Porsche. Walther owns and operates one of the largest tea and spice distributorships in Germany.

We travelled through small villages with names like Ebrach where we saw a beautiful old church, Volkach, Vogelsburg, Escherndorf where we crossed the Main river with the Bundeswehr (German Army) make-shift ferry, Dettelbach and then back to Abtswind. Despite the damp weather, the countryside was beautiful to behold. Vineyards could be seen covering the hillsides and one was reminded that here was an area seemingly untouched by modern industry. Farmers were using old hand tools to till their soil and villagers appeared relaxed and at peace with the world, only stopping to stare at the procession of twelve quiet but big BMW machines (one being my new four-wheeled BMW – but that’s another story) slowly winding through the quaint villages and winding along hilly, twisting roads. What pleasure! It’s as though those roads were especially made for the likes of us motorcyclists.

That evening we all joined Georg for dinner at the Steigerwald followed by sipping wine till the wee hours in an atmosphere of laughter and comradeship at the Winzerkeller. We were joined there by some of Georg’s friends as well, which lent to a festive evening.

We awoke to a sunny Sunday, and after breakfast, Georg led us to a restaurant up on the Friedrichsberg for Fruehschoppen (early morning toasting). A toast was made to Walther Kaufous for providing such nice weather, but it seemed that his influence over the weather only covered the local area. For not further than fifteen kilometers away on our way home, it started to rain – but hard!

To Georg, Walther and their friends, we will always remember their friendship. Here’s to a return engagement next August!

Auf Wiedersehen

Pat Thomas