When Susanne Enders was sitting on the front porch at the home of her cousin, Barbara Messinger, on a sunny afternoon in High Hill on May 22, she was amazed with the serene atmosphere around the neighborhood.

It is much different than her home in Cologne, Germany, which has 1.1 million residents.

“I love the peace and quietness of High Hill,” Enders said.

Enders enjoyed her two-week visit to Montgomery County, which ended on May 26. It was the first time she visited the United States.

“They were the most exciting two weeks of my life,” Enders said.

Enders visited numerous places during her first trip to America. She went to St. Louis, Lake of the Ozarks, Hermann and the Amish community of Clark. She even went to a Wal-Mart for the first time.

“I love it so much,” Enders said. “I’m really overwhelmed with kindness and love.”

Enders and Messinger are fourth cousins in the Blaue family. On May 22, they visited the Hugo Cemetery in New Florence, where numerous members of the Blaue family are buried.

“We’re thinking her mother and I are third cousins,” Messinger said. “So we keep telling her she’s once removed.”

Messinger, who lives in the Timmerberg Estates subdivision at High Hill, said she tried to get her cousin to come visit her for about 20 years.

“My daughter and I said to each other, ‘Why doesn’t she come over and see us?’ Then around Christmas time, we invited her again,” Messinger said. “Then, I get this text (from Enders) saying. ‘I’m getting serious about coming over.’”

Enders has been an employee for the German Broadcasting Service in Cologne for 30 years.

“I stand up for the Freedom of the Press, which I find very important,” Enders said.

Enders arrived in St. Louis on May 12 after a 9.5-hour flight from Frankfurt, which is located two hours southeast of Cologne. She said she was influenced by her mother to visit her cousin in the U.S.

“I have only my mom left in my family,” Enders said. “We talked about this. She’s 86. She just wanted me to go quite badly and draw more connections. She’s my only family in Germany. So she asked me to go and she gave this trip to me as a present.”

While visiting St. Louis, Enders got to see the Gateway Arch, Missouri Botanical Garden and the Anheuser-Busch brewery and a production of Jesus Christ Superstar. She said she enjoyed seeing the Mississippi River.

“I live just by the River Rhine,” Enders said. “So we did a cruise on the Mississippi River. They asked me what I would like to do. I said I would like to cruise in the Mississippi River from the books I read when I was young, like Mark Twain. So we did. When I was on this river, I thought it was bigger than the River Rhine, which is the largest river in Germany.”

Messinger said her cousin also went through a creek for the first time when the two were on Bear Creek Road.

“She was so excited about that,” Messinger said.

Enders said she was thrilled that she got to visit her cousin during her trip. They haven’t seen each other since 1995.

“I’m very grateful to know that I have this extended family,” Enders said. “I was always worried that once my mom isn’t here anymore, I’ll be here all by myself. I don’t want it to be like that. But now that I’m here, I know that I’m not alone. I have a lot of people and friends. I’m just blessed.”