The Germans from Russia Heritage Collection at the NDSU Libraries has announced its 21st Journey to the Homeland, scheduled for May 18-28, 2017. Director Michael M. Miller will lead next year’s tour.

The tentative itinerary includes the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin Wall, Odessa Opera House, Potemkin Steps, Black Sea and Bessarabian German villages, shores of the Black Sea, outdoor markets. a German-Russian museum, historic churches and Alsatian architecture.

“The Homeland Tours began in May 1996 and have been a rewarding, amazing and unforgettable experience,” Miller said. “I have met wonderful people who have become friends in Odessa and the former German villages. Tour members often become lifetime friends with each other and the collection.”

Fargoans James and Alice (Zimmerman) Ackerman, natives of Eureka, South Dakota, and Venturia, North Dakota, said, “These memories nobody will ever be able to take from us. In our wildest dreams we never thought we’d walk on the soil that our ancestors came from.”

Participants can register online. A non-refundable check deposit is required per person, made payable to the NDSU Libraries.

For more information, contact Jeremy Kopp, special collections associate, at 701-231-6596 or jeremy.kopp@ndsu.edu. Dates for the tour are tentative and will be confirmed in July.

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