European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 3, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Jean huge the people of Rique Wihr Welcome the american troops. Today vintner Hugel presents bottles of wine teen Ager Andre Hugel is at right in Long coat. To . Veterans who return to visit his town. World War ii survivor toasts . Liberators a amps photos by Jim Derheim Jean Hugel shows the proper Way to Sample the bouquet of a gewurztraminer. People making Large purchases at a local wine shop can have their names etched in the bottles. Anecdotes technical data and tips for oenophile. He Speaks proudly about Rique Wihr and its win making tradition. Quot for 12 centuries this soil has produced nothing but at the end of each tour visitors Are allowed to Sample several varieties of wine. Hugel advises them not to be afraid to Trust their taste buds and Quot Don t open a Book on wine before you have drunk 300 during the tasting he is also careful to Point out to guests that they should compare a lower and a higher Grade wine. Always Start with a sniff and a sip of the lower Grade he says and make use of the nearby Spittoon. Quot tasting is not asked to name his favorite wine Hugel answers without hesitation. Quot riesling is a fantastic variety because it can be very very Ripe and it never gets heavy. But nothing is worse than an unripe the Hugel winery has a retail shop on Rique Wihr s main Street the Rue do general de gauge its brochures claim its nearby cellars Are Quot always open to Welcome passing the winery s Telephone number is 89-47 92-15. If calling from outside France be sure to add proper country code most of the office Stan Speaks englishby Norm Zeigler travel outdoor writer Rique Wihr s history has been shaped by two major factors wine and War. The former has brought Fame and Prosperity. The latter has brought death and destruction something vintner Andre Hugel Calls Quot the tragedy of a Border Hugel was not yet a teen Ager when Rique Wihr was swept up in the firestorm of world War ii. In 1940, after a period of stalemate called the Quot phony War Quot Adolf Hitler lashed out Westward in a Blitzkrieg that destroyed the vaunted French army in six weeks. Soon thereafter Alsace and Lorraine were officially swallowed up by the Quot thousand year the twisted fortunes of War produced some absurd situations in the Border Region. One of Hugel s Brothers served As a French Soldier. The other was drafted into the wehrmacht and fought for the germans. More than four years after the German invasion . Troops including the 3rd inf div stormed into Alsace and Lorraine to drive out the nazis. Hugel remembers it Well. For nearly two months in october and september 1944, the Hugel family lived in a cellar. In the surrounding Countryside fighting raged Between the advancing americans and the desperate but not yet beaten germans. At the end of november the germans abandoned Rique Wihr but the americans had not yet arrived. Quot sunday december 3,.we were drinking Coffee with my parents. We Hugel and his Cousin went for a walk in the Woods and we heard a lot of shots Quot Hugel says. They talked of turning Back but for two teen age boys the excitement was too much. A Short while later they spotted american tanks in the Forest. When one of them swung its Turret in their direction they changed their minds. Quot now i know it s time to go Home Quot was his Cousin s comment Hugel says. When the americans still had not entered the town two Days later a group of local men went into the Forest with a White Flag to Tell them the germans had left. On dec. 5, the americans moved in. A week later the germans under orders from is chief Heinrich Himmler mounted a counterattack code named Habicht Hawk. After initially catching the . Troops in Rique Wihr by Surprise the germans came under withering fire. Quot the americans were in the buildings and the germans were in the streets. And they were killed we say like rabbits Quot Hugel says. It was a brutal lesson for a 15-year-old boy. Quot i saw a minimum of 10 germans killed Quot he says. He remembers the bodies lying in the streets 40 or 50 of them when it was Over. On the orders of the american commander it fell to the older boys and men in Rique Wihr to Bury the dead germans. On the burial detail Hugel Learned More about them. Most had been freshman cadets at a wehrmacht officers school. They had been pressed into combat As part of the nazi leadership s desperate search for manpower. Quot All these boys were 18 and they came from the Region of Frankfurt Quot Hugel says. Hugel keeps a Box of mementos from that time a 3rd inf div news bulletin dated Jan. 27, 1945 a worn English language Bible a spoon from a mess kit a Metal Box of sulfa Diamine tablets. But perhaps his most treasured memento is a color photo taken dec. 5, 1944. It shows him standing with other townspeople and . Soldiers beside a Sherman tank in front of his family s House. Now every dec. 5 to commemorate the liberation Hugel hoists the stars and stripes together with the French Tricolour outside his House. Quot i have not forgotten that people died for us Quot he says. Occasionally . Veterans return Unnar mounted to the scene of the Battle. Quot every time i see someone looking around like he knows the place ask were you there Quot Hugel says. Quot and if he was he gets two bottles of he has found Quot six or eight Quot people this Way. It is a Small Token of thanks for those who risked their lives for others Freedom. January i 1992 stripes Magazine 7
