Travel

In the last decades I have visited many countries in the world. Quite often I was in various parts of the United States but visited, too, Puerto Rico, belonging to the American Commonwealth. The island differs to a great deal from the other Caribbean Islands St. Lucia and Barbados. The latter island has a certain resemblance to the island of Mauritius off the African coast. On the American continent I was also in Mexico and several times in Canada (British Columbia and Québec).

My first experiences with the South Pacific I got in Hawaii, the 50th state of the United States. This triggered journeys to Oceania: Fiji in Melanesia and Moorea in French Polynesia.

In Asia I have visited the classical tourist destinations Bali/ Indonesia and Koh Samui/Thailand. Also I was in lesser-known Hua Hin/Thailand. Several times I went to Thailand's capital Bangkok. Interesting were trips to Hongkong and Macau, former colonies, now belonging to China. I personally liked very much trips to the city-state of Singapore.

A special experience was a journey to Australia. The round-trip was highly impressive.

I visited numerous States of Western Europe in my youth and re-started doing so again in recent years.

A special focus of my travel activity has been Ukraine and Russia for several years. I "discovered" both countries through my family research and they fascinated me again and again with new impressions. Unfortunately due to this insane war in Ukraine visits are now in the distant future.

Genealogy

On my father's side my family is originally from Lower Silesia (now Poland) and Bohemia (now Czech Republic) and lived on both sides of the Giant Mountains. In the 1920s they moved to Westphalia in Western Germany.
It's interesting that my grandfather was involved in the construction of the so-called Etrich-Taube (Etrich-Dove) in Liebau/Silesia in 1913. The "dove" was an early form of an airplane.

Since 1990 I have undertaken various trips to the region with a genealogical and touristical background. Due to the difficult source situation and the high mobility of the family, research into the history of the Ullrich's is extremely difficult and complex.

On my mother's side, the family rooted in Westphalia /Western Germany and the Netherlands. Through my research, I found out that the family lines of some Dutch ancestors originated from Westphalia (Tecklenburg region), Franconia (Bad Kissingen region) and the Westerwald (north of the city of Limburg, Lahn).

An archival research trip to Würzburg closed the research gap concerning the history of the Dutch 'Ketzener' family. I found out that the Kötzner family had emigrated from Franconia in Germany to the Dutch province of Drenthe.

For many years I tried to clarify the fate of my maternal grandfather, who was reported missing in Romania in August 1944 as member of the Veterinary Corps. I examined numerous documents, undertook two trips to Eastern Ukraine, spoke with eye-witnesses, and could obviously clarify where my grandfather died.

Research has gotten very intense over the years. In the meantime, I have researched the entire history of the 306th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht, intensively engaged with the German Veterinary Corps, and investigated Russian POW-camps and -hospitals in the Donbass area near today's Donetsk.

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