Fred Runkel's Home Page
Welcome to my web site. The purpose of the page is to enable a sharing of information with others who share similar interests to mine, or are friends and just curious to what I'm up to. I hope you enjoy it all.
The castle shown in the picture stands above the town of Runkel, on the Lahn River in central Germany, and is most likely the medieval home of many of my ancestors. Many of the links deal with my family's genealogy and there are other topics of interest as well. They are:
One of our most famous relatives is the German artist Lucas Cranach. Click on his name to go to his page on the web site. There are also other links to pages dealing with my ancestry.
In the summer of 2000, I moved to the Nürnberg area and now continue to be involved with children's education at the Franconian International School after 11 years at the International School of Stuttgart. My current school is located in Herzogenaurach, best known for being the headquarters of the adidas-Salomon sporting goods company.
I have added several pages describing all or parts of recent trips I have taken. They are:
A summer trip in1997 to Indonesia and climbing a volcano.
A journal entry describing an exciting train trip in Ecuador, the country where I spent over six weeks during the summer of 1998. For a few weeks there were Spanish lessons in Quito, and then we traveled in the Andes highlands for the rest of the summer. There is also an Ecuador Photo Collage.
In early March of 2000 I was fortunate to be able travel on safari in the country of Tanzania in East Africa. It was an incredible adventure! Follow this link to get to the photo page. A journal entry from the first day can also be read. A page of photos from a second safari to Tanzania in April of 2001 is found here.
Also found on the site is new page with text and pictures from a July 2002 trip to South Africa.
Summer (really year round) whale watching in Monterrey Bay, California. The company we used is called Monterrey Bay Whale Watch and their web page can be found under www.gowhales.com
Further entries on trips to Alaska, China, Indonesia, and the Trans-Siberian Railroad are still being constructed..
Runkel Brothers Chocolate and Cocoa Co.
The Runkel Brothers Chocolate and Cocoa Company was founded in New York in the late 1800s and existed well into the 1900s until it was taken over by the Swiss conglomerate Nestle in 1982. I have started collecting memorabilia from this company, some of which can be viewed by following this link.
One of my favorite artists is Bev Doolittle. Find out about her unique style in her paintings which deal mainly with the theme of western camouflage art. Other artists shown here are Judy Larson and Simon Combes both of whom do wildlife paintings. A sampling of the works of maritime artist John Stobart are also featured on a page.
John Denver's music was always at the top of my list and his death in October of 1997 left an emptiness within me, as his music spanned much of my lifetime. I wrote a short synopsis a few days after his accident and passing, about the effect his music had on my life during those years.
While living in Stuttgart, theatre became a hobby through work done a the Stuttgart Theatre Center at Kelly Barracks. For some pictures follow the link to the Theatre page here on the web site.
Movies
If its movies you enjoy, here is a list of my top 45 movies of all time
Word Science
For something different, I have started researching the derivations of various aspects of the English language. What is found here is a beginning.
If skiing is your thing, the International School of Stuttgart Ski Week still goes to St. Veit, Austria (for 14 years now), where Siegi and Irene Baumgartner put together a great family program from cow milking contests to ice curling to karaoke. All of this is combined with 4 hours of daily ski instruction.
If its just a short Austrian ski weekend you are looking for, then I can recommend the village of Ehrwald, Austria. Nice runs (both red and blue, but no black) which makes it great for a family weekend, and close to most main cities in southern Germany.
Astronomy
There is also a page on astronomy. Some great pictures!
Links to related sites on the World Wide Web
Franconian International School
Concordia University of Seward, NE
The Hills Grammar School in Australia
La Escuela Equinoccial - Spanish Language School in Quito, Ecuador
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