WWII history comes alive in Round Top this weekend

ROUND TOP—The thunder of blank cannon fire, the rumble of World War II Jeeps and the barking of a service dog sniffing out bullets on the forest floor will once again echo through Round Top this weekend.

Crystal Brook Resort & Mountain Brauhaus will host its annual World War II Living History Weekend this Saturday, October 17.

The event, free and open to the public, is designed to bring history to life, through displays of historical military equipment, brief reenactments, memorabilia and plenty of great food.

Resort owners Wendy and Eddie Hasenkopf encourage people of all ages, especially students, to attend and experience a unique glimpse into history firsthand.

But World War II also stands as one of the darkest periods in human history, claiming an estimated 60 to 80 million lives, including six million Jewish people murdered in the Holocaust, and leaving much of the world devastated by unimaginable atrocities and widespread destruction.

Saturday’s event is not intended to glorify or absolve the horrors, but rather to educate visitors about the daily routines, living conditions, equipment and uniforms of those who served during World War II.

“This is purely educational,” emphasized Wendy.

"We had a lot of mean phone calls when we first started doing this 11 years ago with people who asked if this was going to include ‘people sized ovens’ at the demonstrations and we would tell them that was not what we were doing," she said. "That part of Germany's history is not something that my parents liked, it was not something that my grandparents liked.”

Grossdeutschland, the group putting on the event, has been doing reenactments for 50 years, taking information directly from living German veterans so others might understand the era in which they fought. One of their objectives is to dispel misconceptions concerning the German Army that fought during the 1930s and 40s.

As a non-political organization, they stress that they do not support or condone the politics that directed those soldiers and condemn all radical or subversive groups.

"This is meant to be a tribute to the vets with many vets in attendance from surrounding legions and VFWs,” said Dan Alberg, a member of the Grossdeutschland.

Demonstrations throughout the day will include a service dog that locates bullets, a battle charge out of the woods, real American, Russian, Chinese, Japanese and German historical actors, and a Jeep chase with motorcycles that have the easily identifiable sidecar of the time.

"As far as World War II reenactments go, to be around as long as they have and to be as recognized is a rare thing compared to Civil War reenactments,” said Alberg.

Saturday's schedule begins with a prayer ceremony at 9 a.m. Reenactments of famous battles and demonstrations will continue until 4 p.m., concluding with a parade featuring all of the participants. Two specific battle reenactments are scheduled for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

"We have done this event in snow, rain and beautiful weather in the past,” said Alberg.

Following the parade, reenactors gather for a traditional German dinner, prepared by Eddie.

“He makes soups and salads, liverwurst and blutwurst, sauerkraut and jägerwurst, spätzle and goulash, sauerbraten, potato salad, plum cake and black forest cake for guests―and all by memory," said Wendy.

After dinner comes a German tradition known as the Schlachtfest. It celebrates the slaughter of the pig, a staple of the German diet, by honoring the life of the animal.

The highlight of Schlachtfest is the pig parade, where the whole pig― already slaughtered―is ceremonially carried out on a large tray for a parade through the restaurant led by a master of ceremonies. The public is welcome and there will be music, along with authentic German food and drink.

Parts of the pig are then raffled off for guests to take home to their own kitchens, with proceeds benefitting the Round Top Fire Department.