GERMAN GUESTS in New Ulm, Hans Weisshaupt and Ehrentraud Brugger, enjoyed doing some cooking during their stay here. Hans, who is majoring in home economics at a German University, included kartoffelsalate (potato salad) in the menu the final day of their visit. (Photo by Ron Grieser)

Leaving today to return to school in West Germany are two German students loaded down with film and memories of four weeks in Minnesota.

Ehrentraud Brugger and Hans Peter Weisshaupt, both seniors at a university in Weingarten, flew to Minnesota Sept.2 to visit Mary Tomaschko and her family.

Ehrentraud and Mary met two years ago in Germany when they both worked as messengers for the press during the Olympic games held in Munich. At the time Mary was a college student majoring in German. A spring graduate of Southwest State in Marshall, Mary started graduate study this fall at the University of Minnesota.

While in Germany Mary often accompanied Ehrentraud to her home for the weekend. So Mary’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Tomaschko, an aunt, Mrs. Leo Wild and other members of her family were happy to repay the courtesy.

The first part of their visit was spent in the Twin Cities area where the pair were guests of Mary’s sister and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Larry Petterson of Burnsville and her brother Herbert’s family in Apple Valley.

The university the pair attend in Weingarten has about 2,000 students, all training to become teachers. Ehrentraud,22,is studying mathematics and geography and will teach in an elementary school upon graduation.

As part of her course requirement, she chose to do a paper on “New Ulm, American city,” inspired, of course, by her American friend. Her professor also said she must bring back slides taken in Minnesota cities.

The Tomaschkos arranged for her to meet and visit here with the city manager, city engineer and to hear about the Chamber of Commerce downtown restoration project.

The two had a double interest in the new Madsen’s store. Ehrentraud will include a supermarket report in her paper while her fiance, Hans, who is 24, was more interested in the food items and delicatessen. His major in college is home economics. He plans to teach the subject in a middle school, he explained.

“It is quite new for boys to study home economics in Germany,”he added. Courses in cooking and sewing are now included there for boys as well as girls, he said.

Hans himself sews many of his own clothes. Mrs. Tomaschko added, “And he’s a real good cook, too.”

Although both Hans and Ehrentraud said they have enjoyed American food they agree that many things are too sweet for their tastes.

“They scraped the frosting off their cake,” their hostess said.

Also included in their visit was a plane trip over the area, a visit to Dannheim Dairy, Supersweet and Redstone Quarry along with side trips to Pipestone and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.