Luncheon at the White House with LBJ

• A Cold War Victory Celebration 

After the Tokyo Olympics, Gary’s time was in high demand.  He received an invitation from President and Mrs. Johnson to attend a luncheon at the White House on December 1, 1964 to honor and recognize the Tokyo Olympic Medal Winners.

Gary’s invitation telegram described how the USOC would reimburse for round trip economy class air plus twenty dollars per diem, plus maximum air insurance. Men were to wear Olympic parade jackets, dark trousers, dark shoes, white shirts, and Olympic blue ties.  The medalists were to stay at the iconic Willard Hotel, which is very close to the White House.

Prior to the White House luncheon Department of Defense officials held a special ceremony in the Pentagon to honor members of the U. S. military that had won medals in Tokyo.  

The Under Secretaryof the Army, Stephenn Ailes congratulates Sgt. Martin Gunnarsson during the Pentagon ceremony.   Gunnarsson won the bronze medal in the 300m rifle event in Tokyo. Mr. Ailes was the President of the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice at the time.
Photo credit:    Gary Anderson

The White House
Photo credit:  Gary Anderson

President Johnson wanted members of the government who were well known athletes to attend.  Guests included Supreme Court Associate Justice Byron White, who was an all-American football star at the University of Colorado; Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, who was a star guard on the 1946 Championship basketball team at the University of Arizona, and Stan Musial, longtime St. Louis Cardinals baseball star who was a special consultant to President Johnson for physical fitness.

At the time, it was common practice in many countries to not only honor Olympic winners, but even to award monetary gifts.  In the USSR, for example, gold medal winners were given lifetime increases in their government stipends, better housing and television sets, perhaps even an automobile.  Gold medals, of course, were worth a lot more than silver or bronze medals.  Gary has often wondered how much he cost Russian shooters in government stipends; in all six of his Olympic and World Championship three-position rifle gold medal wins, the silver medalist was from the USSR.

Until this invitation by President Johnson, Olympic successes by American athletes had been taken for granted by our country’s political leadership.   President Johnson said, “Like most Americans, the Johnson family followed the 1964 Olympics with avid interest and a warm sense of satisfaction.”  The 1964 Olympics actually had exceptional political significance because they took place during the height of the Cold War.  Since the 1952 Olympics, the USSR’s “big red sports machine” had dominated Olympic medal counts and certainly Olympic shooting, but that changed in 1964.  In Tokyo, the USA Team finished first in the official medal table with 36 golds to 30 for the Soviet Union.  Though never stated, this White House reception had the marks of a Cold War victory celebration.

USA Shooting Team contributions to that victorious medal count were a big triumph for the USA shooting program.  USA shooters won two gold and six total medals in Tokyo in only six shooting events.  From the 1920s to today, no USA Olympic Shooting Team has won more that six medals; the USA won six in 1984 when there were 11 events and six again in 2008 in Beijing when there were 15 events.  

The 1964 White House luncheon was held in the State Dining Room for 108 Olympians and USOC officials, including USOC President Kenneth Wilson.  Unfortunately, President Johnson was delayed due to an urgent meeting with his Cabinet and Ambassador Maxwell D. Taylor over the crisis in Viet Nam.  

President Johnson arrived at 3pm, and said, “I haven’t had my lunch yet, but I’m so proud of you that I’d like to shake the hand of everyone here.”  In the receiving line with the President were Mrs. Johnson and their daughter Luci as well as Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

In his remarks at lunch, President Johnson said to the Olympians, “You demonstrated winning without strutting and loosing without whimpering…it is such a privilege to have you here in the first house of the land.    It is equally satisfying to have in this house some of the first of the land.”

Who Got the Bigger Bear Hug?

Ruth Ann’s Grandmother, Frieda Curtin, lived only 30 miles away from Hastings (Nebraska) in a town called Grand Island.   At the time, Grandma was in a wheelchair and when she heard about the plans for a parade in Hastings, nothing was going to keep her from going.

Ruth Ann’s aunt, Francis Waldo, also lived in Grand Island and offered to take grandma to the parade.    I’m sure they had to leave early in order to park, and find a good spot along the parade route.    Grandma wasn’t going to allow anyone to block her view.    They found a good spot along the parade route, and waited with 8000 other people to see the returning Nebraska Olympian hero.

Gary and Ruth Ann were traveling the parade route in an open convertible.    When Gary saw grandma sitting on the sideline and waving furiously, he asked the car driver to stop (which meant stopping the parade), got out and ran over to give grandma a great big hug.    Ruth Ann also stepped out of the car to greet grandma and Aunt Francis.

Gary and Ruth Ann along the parade route, Gary Anderson Day, October 26, 1964.

They hopped back in the car and the parade commenced.  Unfortunately we do not have a picture to commemorate  the moment, but grandma Curtin talked about that for the rest of her life, and Ruth Ann isn’t sure who got the bigger bear hug in that moment.

Frieda Curtin, Ruth Ann's grandmother

GARY ANDERSON DAY, OCTOBER 26, 1964

GARY ANDERSON DAY, OCTOBER 26, 1964

After Gary won his Olympic gold medal and returned home from Tokyo, Hastings College and the City of Hastings (Nebraska) organized a huge welcome home celebration for Gary, with a downtown parade that included dozens of school bands from the surrounding area.    

Gary returned from Tokyo to Denver with some other U. S. Olympic team members.   Hastings College arranged for Ruth Ann to travel by train (Union Pacific Railway) from Hastings to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where Ruth Ann’s parents (Virgil and Helen Bell) lived. They drove to Denver to meet Gary’s plane.

After a weekend in Cheyenne, Gary, Ruth Ann, Virgil and Helen Bell traveled by plane—it was a company plane provided by the Kansas-Nebraska Natural Gas Company--from Cheyenne to Hastings where the big welcome home parade for Nebraska’s Olympic Hero was ready to unfold.   Greeting Gary on his arrival at the Hastings airport were his parents, Roy and Ruby Anderson, his sister Karen Hulce, and step-sister Peggy Erickson, plus close friends, well wishers and the press. 

Ruth Ann and Gary arrive at the airport

Gary meets his parents at the airport 

Gary's father Roy greeted Gary with a firm handshake and asked if it would be all right to take a picture of him (Roy) with Gary and Fred Mayberry and Maurice Knutson, the men he was farming with the day Gary won his medal. 

Ruth Ann wore a blue suit ensemble and hat she made for a 4-H project, and an Olympic pin with a pearl attached.  A reporter asked if Gary had marriage in mind, to which he responded, "One step at a time."

"One Step at a Time"

Pin for Olympic athletes with pearl attached.

At a press conference at the airport, Gary, wearing the official dress uniform of the Olympic Team and with the gold medal around his neck, told reporters he needed a few days to get caught up after missing 30 days of classwork.  He “took some books along to study, but didn’t really get a chance to look at them.”  Gary told reporters the shooting team went to Tokyo fully expecting to win, full of confidence after the 1962 World Shooting Championships in Cairo.  He said the rifle team proved in Cairo that the Russians were not 12 feet tall  (See “1157”).

He said, “When you stand on the gold medal stand and hear the National Anthem, you realize that the sacrifice and hard work was worth the effort; you gain a deeper understanding of yourself and the personal satisfaction of accomplishing an extremely difficult goal.  Then, when you come home, you have another reward – the warmth of the people, your people; their enthusiasm, their responses, that made it all so special.” 

Gary with Danny Olson, personal hometown friend

 

A motorcade took Gary, Ruth Ann and honored guests down the parade route in downtown Hastings and to the reviewing stand.  Eight thousand admirers welcomed the Olympic Hero.    All Hastings schools were dismissed early that day.   The Hastings High School, Central Catholic High School and Hastings College bands, pep clubs and precision drill teams participated in the parade.  Gary's hometown of Axtell also sent their high school band.   Several civic clubs had parade entries, including Gary's Optimist Junior Rifle Club.

The reviewing stand included Major General Lyle Welch, Adjutant General of the State of Nebraska and Commanding General of the Nebraska National Guard, who was the featured speaker (Gary was a Lieutenant in the National Guard and Executive Officer of C Company, 128^th Engineer Battalion in Grand Island, NE); Hastings Mayor Lyle Schuster, who proclaimed the day in Gary’s honor; Dr. Harrold Shiffler a Hastings College professor, who served as Master of Ceremonies, and Hastings College President Dr. Theron Maxson, who welcomed Gary back to the campus and called him Hastings College’s “favorite son.”

Gary and Ruth Ann on the reviewing stand.

Gary spoke briefly to the crowd, "someone said American youth are soft.  Our Olympic Team proved in Tokyo that American youth can work to conquer the highest challenges.  As a young boy, I dreamed of standing on an Olympic victory stand and hearing ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ played in honor of an American victory.   On October 15th, by the grace of God, my dream came true."

Gary was overwhelmed by the turnout in his honor.   The greatest praise, however, came from hundreds of youngsters who swarmed around the reviewing stand after the ceremony eager to clutch his hand, touch his medal and get his autograph.  He said “now is not the time for words, it is a time for deep emotional feeling that cannot be expressed in any way but to say Thank You.”

"Mrs. Pratt Takes the Call"

"MRS. PRATT TAKES THE CALL"

In 1964 there were no cell phones or individual telephones in college dormitory rooms at Hastings College NE where Gary and Ruth Ann were students.  In order to receive a call at Ruth Ann’s residence, Taylor Hall, an operator/student would answer the incoming call at the main desk and then "buzz" the student on her floor to alert her to an incoming call.   Each woman had a bell signal (for example, two longs and one short, like Morse Code).  Then the student would go to the hall phone on the floor to accept the call.   This was the procedure for campus calls, long distance calls, or local calls.   If the call came in before or after hours, the dorm mother, Mrs. Pratt, would have to take the call, usually to her displeasure. 

On October 15, at 6:15 AM local time in Hastings, Nebraska, Ruth Ann’s dorm mother, Mrs. Pratt, accepted an incoming call and “buzzed” Ruth Ann.    The call was from the Sports Editor of the Hastings Tribune, Hank Lowenkron, who told Ruth Ann that Gary had won the gold medal in Tokyo!    At approximately 6:30 AM, everyone on Ruth Ann’s floor knew of his victory, because Ruth Ann raced down the hall and pounded on every door, saying, “Get up!   He did it!  Gary has the gold!”

At 7:30 AM, Ruth Ann placed a call to her parents in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and at 8:10AM a call to her grandmother, Frieda Curtin, in Grand Island, Nebraska.   Gary’s parents had heard the news from the same Hastings Tribune reporter. 

A sign appeared at the breakfast line announcing Gary’s victory.    The word was passing quickly!

Ruth Ann received a call in the dormitory at 1:30 PM from Don Matthews, Hastings College Director of Public Relations.   He wanted Ruth Ann to come to his office to help compose a telegram (yes, telegram!) of congratulations.    

While in his office, the Omaha World Herald called and wanted to talk to “Gary Anderson’s girl friend.”  Gary's win was a major story in Nebraska because no one from that state had ever won an individual Olympic gold medal before.

At 3PM, Ruth Ann went to the Tribune office to meet the Sports Editor who had called her at 6:15AM with the news of Gary’s victory.   The editor of the paper was there and showed Ruth Ann the copy for the full page ads the Tribune would print, offering congratulations.  

At 4PM, Ruth Ann received a call in the dorm from a local TV station, KHAS.  They recorded a broadcast for the 6pm news, asking Ruth Ann if they were engaged.  The answer was “no," but the newscast introduction of Ruth Ann was as Gary Anderson’s “unofficial fiancée!”

At 10:45 PM local time, Mrs. Pratt once again had to accept an incoming call for Ruth Ann.    GARY CALLED FROM TOKYO.     Just 15 minutes prior to the phone conversation, Gary received his medal and he still had it around his neck.    Ruth Ann also talked to Martin Gunnarsson, Bronze Medal Winner, and offered congratulations.

The telephone call receipt from the Call Center.   The three minute call cost 4,320 Yen ($43 in today's conversion rate - September 5, 2013).

Hastings College and the city of Hastings planned a terrific welcome home for Gary, with a downtown parade that included dozens of school bands from the surrounding area.    Gary was to return from Tokyo to Denver with some of the Olympians.   Hastings College arranged for Ruth Ann to travel by train (Union Pacific Railway) from Hastings to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where Ruth Ann’s parents (Virgil and Helen Bell) lived.  They drove to Denver to meet Gary’s plane.

After a weekend in Cheyenne, Gary, Ruth Ann, Virgil and Helen Bell traveled by plane, a company plane provided by Kansas-Nebraska Natural Gas Co., from Cheyenne to Hastings where the big welcome home parade for Nebraska’s Olympic Hero was ready to unfold.

Gary's First Olympic Gold Medal 1964

GARY'S FIRST OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL

The Olympic Gold Medal, Tokyo 1964

"The First Record Shot was an Eight"

In the 1960s, the 300 Meter Free Rifle event was the king of the Olympic shooting events and the United States had not won this event since Morris Fisher's gold medal victory in 1924.  Gary won this event in both the 1962 World Championship (see "1157") and the 1963 Pan American Games (see "The Range Was a Dump") so he was certainly one of the favorites in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.  He remembers that on the long bus ride from the Olympic Village to the range on the morning of the match, a group of reporters surrounded him in the back of the bus.  In those days, media and athletes rode the same buses to the shooting venue.  Their most important question was naturally, "who will win today?"  When Gary answered, "I should win," that became the headline for several international stories.  They must have been amazed that he dared to predict his own victory.  

In those days, the 300 Meter Free Rifle event took 6.5 hours to complete, which worked out to be about one shot every three minutes.  Sometimes a single sighting might take more than a minute with a rifle weighing 17 pounds.   Gary’s 300m rifle was built around a Remington action by Army Marksmanship Unit gunsmiths.  The stock was the same one Gary used in Cairo at the 1962 World Championships.  He still has that stock today and has talked about trying to reconstruct this entire rifle.  After the Tokyo Olympics, Gary had to turn in the rifle and the USAMU shop tore the gun apart, apparently oblivious to the historic significance of this rifle.    (See “1157”).

Shooters' clothing included a leather shooting jacket, under that a thick wool shirt and normal cloth pants.  Shoes for prone were normal athletic running shoes, but for kneeling and standing, Gary wore military combat boots.  Special shooting trousers and shoes had not been invented then.   In addition, Gary fashioned blinders from anything he could find to fit under his baseball cap.  

Gary was described as having "nerves of steel" by the press.    But in his diary entries for the Tokyo competition, he mentions his nervousness twice.   He said that to keep calm the night before his match, he focused on the score he was going to shoot.

The course of fire is 40 shots each in prone, kneeling and standing at distance of 300 meters (or almost three and one-half football fields in length).    No telescopic sights are allowed; coping with the wind is a major success factor.  The center of the target is a 10-ring that is about the size of a tea cup (10 cm).

At that time, shooters could choose the order in which they shot the three positions.    Gary shot kneeling first, but he got off on a bad start.  He discovered a loose rear sight aperture after the seventh shot that probably contributed to his errant shots.    Wind gusts were challenging too.  Gary lost eight points during that first 10-shot series.  That was a disastrous start, but he settled down for the next 30 shots.  His final kneeling score was 384 with 92, 97, 97, 98, but the USSR’s Shota Kveliashvili, the eventual silver medalist, had a 389 to give him a big 5-point advantage over Gary in that position.

Next came standing where he dominated the competition and built up an insurmountable lead.    He dry fired about 15 shots before he started to get his hold to settle down.     It was his strategy to deliberately shoot a 9 on his last sighting shot; it was kind of a superstition.  He held off on what he thought should be a 9.   It was a 10.  He tried shooting another sighter as a 9, but it too was a 10.  He decided to go for record thinking he couldn't miss, but his first record shot was an 8.    After that he was able to “hold and pull smoothly well enough for good nines or tens on every shot.    Only the 37th shot was just outside the 9 ring.”   (Quotes from Gary’s Shooting Diary, see “Gold Medal Diary Entries”).      He ended with series scores of 94, 97, 94, 92.  His 377 standing total exceeded the existing world mark (Hollenstein, SUI) by one point.  It was the highest 300m standing score ever fired in competition and was eleven points over Kveliashvili's standing score.

Next came prone.  The wind was costing everyone points, but Gary knew that any kind of reasonable score would assure him of the gold medal.  He finished with 97, 99, 97, 99 for a total of 392.  His sores of 384 kneeling, 377 standing and 392 prone totaled 1153 -- a New Olympic and World Record.  

This is the preliminary scorecard from the free rifle match.  His final kneeling score was actually 384 and the aggregate was 1153.     The final scoring is done by a Jury and final scores are posted on a scoreboard.

The Free Rifle Scoreboard -- final scores could take as long as 30 to 45 minutes after a shooter finished the competition to be posted. 

Gary with his target pullers and the disc they used to signal his shots.    After they presented this historic scoring disc to him, Gary had to cut its length down so he could get in on the plane and bring it back to the States.    

The target scorers signed the bamboo handle of the disc "Yashiro" and "Saito" (not shown)

 Gary's score of 1153 in Tokyo bettered the existing World Record by three points (Hollenstein) and the Olympic Record set by the USSR’s Borisov in the 1956 Melbourne Games by 15 points.  The silver medal winner was Shota Kveliashvili, USSR, who finished with an 1144, 9 points behind Gary.   The biggest drama for the USA team was waiting for Martin Gunnarsson's final score to be posted to determine whether he would finish third.  When his final score of 1136 came up, it became clear the bronze medal was his; this was a huge surprise and the cause for another USA celebration.  After the match, Kveliashvili offered Gary the mirage band from his rifle as a gesture of friendship.     

Gary with Silver Medal Winner Shota Kveliashvili

With Gunnarsson having been born in Sweden and Gary having grandparents who were born in Sweden, the Swedish press made a big deal out of their Swedish heritage and how "two Swedes won shooting medals for the United States."

To celebrate the two Olympic medals, USA Shooting Team Captain Col. Tom Sharpe took Gary and Gunnarsson to the most expensive restaurant he could find in Tokyo to buy them Kobe Beef steaks.  

The 300m event was the first shooting event in 1964 and their gold and bronze medals set the stage for USA shooters to win six medals in the six shooting events that were on the Olympic program then.  These USA Tokyo shooting victories ended a period of Soviet Union (USSR) domination that began with the 1952 Olympics.  The USA has won six Olympic medals twice since, in 1984 and 2008, but there were 11 shooting events on the 1984 program and 15 in 2008.

In 1964, the Award Ceremony took place the next day after the competition.    Women in Japanese kimonos carried the medals to the award area.  An IOC member presented the medals.  The national anthem was played live, by a band.    The medal winners wore their national warmup suits for the medal ceremony.

Heading for the victory ceremony (Gary is in the center)

Presentation of the Gold Medal by a IOC official (scoreboard in background)

Silver Medal Winner Shota Kveliashvili, receives his medal

Congratulations to Martin Gunnarsson for the Bronze

The flag ceremony begins

(L. USSR Silver; C. USA Gold, R. USA Bronze)

Gary was surrounded by photograph and autograph seekers after the competition.    One family wanted a photo with their little girl:

Gary is holding the presentation box for the medal.

Shortly after the award ceremony, Gary called Ruth Ann at Hastings College from the International Call Center at the range.  He had to order the call the day before immediately after he won the medal.

Lones Wigger and Gary Anderson
Gold Medal Winners Tokyo 1964

"I'll be Looking for the Gold One"

“I’ll be Looking for the Gold One"

• Trans-Pacific Pep Rally

In the fall of 1964, Gary was a senior at Hastings College (Nebraska).  He was also the student body president and had taken leave from school in order compete in the 300 meter rifle event in the Tokyo Olympics.

On October 9, 1964 East met West as the students at Hastings College talked "people to person" to Gary in Tokyo, Japan. The special pep rally was the brainchild of senior Pete Koontz, who headed the project. The ten minute call cost $80 which the students financed with donations.

The students gathered in the Calvin H. French Memorial Chapel at 4:30 PM and were briefed by Koontz. The HC cheerleaders led the students in the cheers they would use when Gary got on the phone. A special loud speaker had been set up so the students could hear Gary speak and he could hear their program.

There is a nine hour time difference between Tokyo and Hastings.  The call was placed in the afternoon in Hastings, so it would have been early in the morning on the next day in Tokyo.  Gary had to get up early and be at the call center at 6:30 or 7:00 AM to take the call in the Olympic Village call center.

At 5:20 pm in Hastings, the overseas operator in Oakland, California relayed the call to the college switchboard with these words, "Here is your party, United States."

"Hello, Gary Anderson, please" said student body Vice President Jim Woods. 

"This is Gary Anderson."

Half way around the world at the Olympic Village in Tokyo, Japan, Gary listened to the world's first trans-Pacific pep rally. Jim Woods offered encouragement from the students, Dean Melvin G. Scarlett spoke on behalf of the administration and faculty and the cheerleaders led cheers and the school fight song with a wildly enthusiastic student body.

Rounding out the call, Ruth Ann wished Gary a Happy Birthday (his birthday was the day before the call) and told him to bring back the gold medal.

Gary told the students he had been practicing four to five hours a day on the range and that he and a Russian marksman were leading the 300m competition. Gary added that he was going to "wipe out" the Olympic record (then held by Vassili Borisov, USSR).

Gary also commented about the experience of living with 7000 athletes from all over the world in the Olympic Village. He added, "It's really great. The spirit is tremendous. These people are fantastic! I've never seen anything like it!"  

Gary closed the call by thanking everyone "from the bottom of my heart." And then he said, "I'll be looking for the gold one."

(left) Student Body Vice President Jim Woods
(center) Dean Melvin D. Scarlett
(right) Ruth Ann
on the phone with Gary in Tokyo

Meeting a Prince and Princess

Meeting a Prince and a Princess

For a number of years, Gary and Ruth Ann have actively studied the Reformation and Martin Luther, especially during our trips to Germany. We are very familiar with how Elector Prince Frederick the Wise, his brother Johann and Johann's son Johann Friedrich, provided political and government protection for the Reformation during Martin Luther’s time in the German area known as Saxony.

Saxony or parts of Saxony have been ruled by members of this family, the Wettins, for roughly one thousand years from the 10th century until the end of World War I. After the Reformation time when the Wettins ensured that the Reformation would survive, our personal interest in this family reemerges in the mid-19th century with the brothers Ernst and Albert, who were descendants of those Saxon rulers.

Albert, known as Duke Albert of Saxon-Coburg-Gotha, was chosen to become the husband of Queen Victoria (the great, great grandmother of Queen Elizabeth). They were married in 1840, and he became Queen Victoria’s “Prince Consort.”

The older brother of Price Albert and heir to the Saxon-Coburg-Gotha Duchy was Ernst. Known as Duke Ernst II, he founded the German Shooting Federation (Deutscher Schuetzenbund) on July 11, 1861. Duke Ernst was an idealistic supporter of full German unification at a time when Germany was totally disunited. He saw the unification of all German shooting, gymnastic and singing clubs as a way to promote German unification. 

The brothers Albert (l) and Ernst (r)
photo credit:   Gary Anderson at Callenburg Castle

The German Shooting Federation celebrated the 150th anniversary of their founding in 2011. A descendant of Duke Ernst, today’s Prince Andreas of Saxon-Coburg-Gotha, was an important part of the celebration. Prince Andreas also provided space in his family castle (Callenberg Castle) near Coburg, Germany for the German Shooting Museum.  

Gary Anderson (l), Prince Andreas (c) and Franz Schreiber, ISSF  Secretary General
at the German Shooting Museum, Callenburg Castle, Coburg

Prince Andreas and his noble predecessors have been “Protectors” of the German Shooting Federation since its founding. In today's usage, a Protector means a prominent member of the nobility who allows his name and status to be used to endorse an organization.    www.http://www.schloss-callenberg.com

Prince Hubertus, who is the son of Prince Andreas, is the great great, grandson of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. Prince Leopold was the 8th child (of nine children) and 4th son of Queen Victoria and Prince Consort Albert. During the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Ruth Ann and Gary met Prince Hubertus and his wife, Princess Kelly, who is the daughter of a U. S. Naval Officer, at the German House, where International Sport Shooting Federation officers attended a reception hosted by the German Shooting Federation.

In February of this year, the ISSF loaned its World Championship challenge trophies to the German Shooting Museum so they could become part of a special exhibition at the CALLENBURG  Castle. Gary was present for the dedication ceremony and again met Prince Hubertus and Princess Kelly. They invited Gary and Ruth Ann to meet them in Coburg on their next visit to Germany.

Gary and Ruth Ann enjoyed a private dinner with the Prince and Princess in Coburg on June 10, 2013. On the next day, June 11, the Prince and Princess gave them a private tour of their CALLENBURG castle. 

The Prince Hubertus and Princess Kelly with Gary and Ruth Ann

The castle includes a chapel, today used for weddings and other ceremonies. It was consecrated in 1618 as the first Protestant sanctuary in the Coburg Duchy. The pulpit is centered directly behind the altar. Interestingly, there is a door into the upper floor of the chapel from the outside for town people to use. 

The Castle in the Callenburg Castle
Photo credit:    Gary Anderson at the Callenburg Castle

The public rooms of the castle are well organized with artwork, porcelain, instruments, furniture and family portraits. Every portrait in the castle tells another important story about the members of this influential and important noble family. The top floor of the castle has large, airy rooms that were previously used as an apartment for the family until 1945, but today are used for gatherings and receptions. Prince Hubertus’ and Princess Kelly's civil marriage ceremony was in one of these rooms.

The Prince and Princess thrilled us with an opportunity to see one room in the castle that is currently used to store family treasures that are yet to be documented, organized, and publicly displayed. There is a dazzling collection of unusual, ornate and fascinating clocks. Hanging on the wall are two paintings by Cranach (verified by an art historian as being authentic) and another "possible" Cranach. These pieces of art are unknown to the art world. At this time, the Prince and Princess do not know how these valuable works of art came to be owned by their family.

The Cranach paintings are especially meaningful to us because Cranach was a personal friend and supporter of Martin Luther and the Reformation.  Cranach was also an esteemed portrait artist and court painter for the Wettin rulers of Saxony who were ancestors of Prince Andreas and his son Hubertus who now own the Callenberg Castle. And for Gary and Ruth Ann, Cranach is also important because he and his wife Barbara were witnesses at the marriage of Martin Luther and Katarina von Bora that took place on June 13, 1525, 440 years before Ruth Ann and Gary were married on June 13, 1965.