Here are some experiences of my previous guests who booked one of my emigration-themed tours with me as their guide.
Feedback from the emigration-themed weekend tour in Bremen and northern Germany:
Lizzy from Kentucky says:
“Connect with your ancestors, understand their journey and your history!”
“Sonja was an excellent guide, she made our visit easy and fun. She was very knowledgeable and organized, setting us up with guides in our native language whenever she wasn’t the expert.
Would recommend to anyone who wants to better understand their ancestors’ journey to America.”
Lizzy Franks from Kentucky, USA
Lizzy and her parents booked my travel consultation, the Ancestral Germany Hometown Tour Package as well as a private, emigration-themed multi-day tour in northern Germany.
They traveled to Bremen, Bremerhaven (Emigration Museum), Cloppenburg (open-air museum) and their ancestral hometowns Haselünne (living history open-air museum) and Löningen (Lower Saxony) in April 2025.
Was there anything you particularly liked or didn’t like?
Hotels were all very nice, comfortable, and conveniently located. Museum guides were great, the whole experience was really positive.
Why did you decide to book this tour?
Understand my ancestors’ journey to America from Germany, see the places they lived and how they lived (open air museum in Cloppenburg and Haselunne were excellent for this!)
Maria from Kentucky says:
“This tour took me back in time to one of the places of my origin.”
“We visited the immigration museum at Bremen which was very impressive. It gave me a real hands-on experience of what it would have been like for those immigrants.
Then on to Haselünne and walking through the town where my ancestors lived for many years. From there we visited the church in Löningen where many of them attended. It gave me a new perspective.”
Maria Franks from Kentucky, USA
Maria traveled with her husband and daughter. They booked my travel consultation, the Ancestral Germany Hometown Tour Package, as well as a private, emigration-themed multi-day tour in northern Germany.
They traveled to Bremen, Bremerhaven (Emigration Museum), Cloppenburg (open-air museum) and their ancestral hometowns Haselünne (living history open-air museum) and Löningen (Lower Saxony) in April 2025.
Why did you decide to book this tour?
I wanted to learn more about my ancestors and the area they were from.
What did you learn and experience during the tour?
I learned how some of the German people lived in different time periods. Getting to learn about barrel making (what my ancestors did for a living) was very interesting and enlightening. It made me feel connected to them in a way I haven’t before.
Which activity or site visit did you enjoy the most and why?
I enjoyed being in Haselünne and the church in Löningen.
Would you recommend this tour to others? If so, who do you think could benefit from it and why?
I would recommend this tour to anyone who is interested in learning about their German ancestors.
Christianne from California says:
“This ancestor journey brought alive for me how grateful I am that my ancestor took a chance in 1834 to leave his hometown and cross the vast ocean.”
“I would highly recommend this tour for anyone that loves history and wants to learn about the experience an ancestor may have had leaving Bremen and Bremerhaven for the U.S.
One can read in the books about it, but to pass by the city square, the Roland statue, travel up the Weser river, breathe in the sea air, and walk in the steps of this ancestor – one can’t put it into words.
One has to be there and it is a place where one can make a deep connection to one’s past.
Sonja was a very informative guide and brought history to life.
She had a nice way of documenting the journey suggesting the best photo opportunities and always including me in the photos.
The English tour guide in Cloppenburg was very detailed and gave an excellent view of farm life in the past.
A surprise visit by genealogist Elisabeth Irani and her emigration book was a highlight as well.
I would recommend this tour to any American who wants to walk in the shoes of their ancestor and relive the timeline of how they left Germany to make a new life in America.
One cannot get this from reading a book or online research. A tour guide brings life to the ancestor and answers questions as they arise.
Christianne Rottenberg from California, USA
Emigration-themed weekend tour in Bremen and northern Germany in August and early September 2024
Deb from Ohio says:
“It was a bucket list trip for me and ended up being one of the most incredible experiences of my life.”
“What an amazing experience! If you are interested in your German ancestry, emigration, or just want go on a fantastic weekend, sign up for Sonja’s three-day emigration themed weekend tour in Bremen.
I always wanted to find out more about my grandparents’ emigration from Germany to the US.
The weekend gave me a true sense of how their journey was and what they experienced.
Sonja has thought of every possible detail from the wonderful hotel, to the daily agenda, to the delicious dinners.
It was a bucket list trip for me and ended up being one of the most incredible experiences of my life.
Sign up as soon as you can. Thank you, Sonja!”
Deb Landig from Columbus, Ohio, USA
Emigration-themed weekend tour in Bremen and northern Germany in June and early July 2024
Kathy from Illinois says:
“Sonja’s outstanding tour provided an honest look at the lives of our German ancestors. I have a new respect for all that they sacrificed.”
“I would not have been able to plan for so many with confidence without Sonja’s help and expertise.
Being able to entrust her to create a memorable and meaningful experience for all of us with our short time together and limited resources was priceless and very appreciated.
This was a once in a lifetime trip for me. Experiencing it with not only my husband and children, but also my siblings and in-laws made it all the more incredible.
The challenges that we faced in traveling to Germany were minuscule compared to what our ancestors faced in coming to the USA.
Their months of travel on foot and on a ship were only hours on a plane for us.
Food, medicine, and comforts are now plentiful, and the internet allows everything to be researched and vetted before the journey.
We all thought the Cloppenburg outdoor museum was the most educational and interesting.
Learning what day to day life was like and truly experiencing the environments in which our ancestors lived was so poignant — it brought life to their stories and to their decisions.
Visiting Cloppenburg before we visited our ancestral hometowns was also crucial to putting the farm visits into perspective.
I have a new respect for all that my ancestors sacrificed.
The faith, hope, courage, strength, and perseverance it took for them to leave their families and all they knew of your beautiful country for a new, often very difficult, life in the early days of the United States.
I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to put it all into perspective.”
Kathy Timmermann (née Kluemke) from Illinois, USA
Private 3-day emigration-themed tour in Bremen. Plus 2 days of visiting several of their ancestral hometowns and farms around Ankum in Lower Saxony and Ostbevern in North Rhine-Westphalia in June 2024.
Several months before their visit, they had Zoom Calls with me, Sonja Irani, to discuss their itinerary and any questions that they had about their upcoming ancestry-inspired trip to Germany.
Besides Bremen and their hometown region, they also visited Munich and Neuschwanstein in Bavaria as well as Cologne and a wine-growing region on the river Rhine.
Kathy travelled to Germany with her husband, two adult children, her sister, her brother and her in-laws. Altogether, they were 8 people.
Dana from Illinois says:
“To meet some of the relations and to see the original Kluemke farm was absolutely a dream come true.”
“We were pretty excited to be going even though we weren’t entirely sure what to expect. Once we got to Bremen, Sonja had everything lined up at wonderful, local restaurants and hotels.
And then museums and experiences to really show us what it was like for our ancestors: their life in the Ankum area and why they needed to leave and what was involved for them to get to Bremerhaven.
To meet some of the relations and to see the original Kluemke farm was absolutely a dream come true.
The hospitality of the all the many people who welcomed us went above and beyond.
I really can’t say enough about how wonderful and how quickly the entire trip went by.
I am so glad I documented all of this on Facebook with pictures and descriptions as we went because I could never remember all of it now.
This was a fantastic tour and we definitely want to come back and learn more about not only Germany, but the particular area we are from.”
Dana Barmes-Kluemke from Illinois, USA
Private 3-day emigration-themed tour in Bremen. Plus two days of visiting several of their ancestral hometowns and farms around Ankum in Lower Saxony and Ostbevern in North Rhine-Westphalia in June 2024.
Dana travelled to Germany with her husband and in-laws. Altogether, they were 8 people.
Ian from Illinois says:
“One of the best experiences in my life”
“When mom first suggested a trip like this and we went through a map to find places our ancestors were from I was skeptical that there wouldn’t be anything to see and it would be boring.
But nothing could be further from the truth, it was incredibly interesting and something I will keep with me for the rest of my life.”
Ian Timmermann from Illinois, USA
Private 3-day emigration-themed tour in Bremen. Plus two days of visiting several of their ancestral hometowns and farms around Ankum in Lower Saxony and Ostbevern in North Rhine-Westphalia in June 2024.
Ian travelled to Germany with his parents, sister, uncle, aunts and in-laws. Altogether, they were 8 people.
Feedback from the 2-hour walking tour in Bremen:
Sherri from Edmonton, Canada says:
“It was a quick, but enjoyable visit with an engaging guide.”
“I joined Sonja for her one-day combo tour. We had a detailed tour of Bremen highlighting many of the sites that stood when my ancestors passed through on their way to Bremerhaven to emigrate to the United States and Canada.
We next had lunch in the Schnoor district followed by a visit to Bremerhaven where we explored the harbour and the emigration museum.
Sonja is knowledgeable about Bremen’s history and was happy to show me around Bremerhaven. It was a quick, but enjoyable visit with an engaging guide. I would definitely recommend Sonja.”
Sherri Tomiak (Genealogist) from Family Connect Genealogical Services, Edmonton, Canada
2-hour emigration-themed Bremen walking tour in Bremen and a visit to the Emigration Museum in Bremerhaven in October 2023
If you need assistance to trace your emigrant family in North America, please contact Sherri for additional information. Her website is:
Thomas from Prague says:
“While I had been to Bremen before, I had not seen it through a local’s eyes, and certainly I had not seen the many hidden gems that Bremen has to offer.”
“As a professional family historian and guide in the Czech Lands, I traveled to Bremen with a family whose ancestry was from Bohemia. They had left for America from Bremen.
We stayed close to the city’s historic center, so Sonja was able to meet us at our hotel. She was prompt, courteous, and very well informed. Not only did she show us all the highlights of the town’s main square, along with the more important interiors she also asked questions and engaged with us in a sincere and friendly manner.
Ultimately, she led us through charming small lanes where she recommended a restaurant that I know we would not have found on our own. There were so many small details that we would certainly have overlooked, but beyond all else it was her keen awareness of the interests that are very specific to family historians. For example, the last bridge before America…
Thank you, Sonja Irani. I hope to visit Bremen and have you as a guide again soon.”
Thomas Zahn, Owner P.A.T.H. FINDERS Intl., from Prague, Czech Republic
2-hour emigration-themed Bremen walking tour in September 2023
Through his agency “P.A.T.H. FINDERS Intl.”, Thomas organizes custom family heritage tours in and around Prague, Czech Republic for Americans with European roots. If you have ancestors from this area, have a look at what he has to offer on his website:
Debbie from Illinois says:
“We had always dreamed of visiting our German ancestors’ homeland, and Sonja’s expert guidance and planning made our bucket list trip a reality.”
“Sonja’s walking tour of Bremen, Germany was one of the highlights of our trip. She gave us invaluable insight into the emigration process of our ancestors and had a deep knowledge of the history of the city and surrounding areas.
With Sonja’s help, we were even able to visit our ancestors’ hometown in the Ankum/Merzen area and connect with a few distant relatives – an experience we will never forget. This part of northern Germany was beautiful. Sonja organized a tour guide for us for the day in Ankum, which made it all SO special.
Our 10 day trip also included visits to Munich, Dusseldorf, Paris, and Austria. We mostly used the train system to move between countries but we drove a rental car from Munich to Austria. Overall, our European adventure was absolutely amazing!
We are so grateful for Sonja’s expertise and professionalism, and we would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a knowledgeable and dedicated tour guide. Thanks Sonja, so making our trip so memorable!”
The Vonder Haars from Illinois, USA exploring Bremen and their ancestral homes in Lower Saxony with tour guides Sonja Irani (first two pictures) and my mom, hobby genealogist Elisabeth Irani (third picture). Photos: © Courtesy of Debbie Vonder Haar
Debbie and Duane Vonder Haar & Bernice and Doug Vonder Haar from Illinois, USA
Ancestry-inspired trip to their hometowns in (northern) Germany and 2-hour emigration-themed Bremen walking tour in September 2022
Olivier from Massachusetts says:
“Our ancestry-themed tour of Bremen with Sonja was extremely memorable, personalized and a highlight of our Germany trip”.
“A couple of years ago we got our DNA sequenced with Ancestry.com. In the summer of 2022 we decided to take a 10-day trip to Germany to find ancestors and distant cousins. We traveled over 3,000 km from the South to the North and it was a grand adventure.
The highlight was our visit of Bremen, since this city was free and the gateway to emigration and freedom for many German immigrants. We met Sonja Irani at the famous Roland statue, and were transported back many centuries during an amazing personalized visit of the city and its history.
The old neighborhoods, and the history of commerce, politics, and emigration were all co-mingled in an interesting and clear way. Bremen was probably our favorite city. Afterwards we went to the German Emigration Museum in Bremerhaven which is also highly recommended”.
Olivier and Lynn de Weck from Boston, Massachusetts, USA
2-hour emigration-themed Bremen walking tour in July 2022
