Travels to Europe
Already soon after the end of the war, the Hindemiths were considering a trip to Europe, but all their plans at first came to nought due to the high costs. In the spring of 1947 there was finally a sufficient number of concert dates to finance the trip.
In mid-April 1947 the Hindemiths again set foot on European soil in Genoa. Gertrud Hindemith wrote to Willy Strecker on 22 April: «We are infinitely happy to be here again and is terribly moving with what cordiality we are greeted everywhere.» A concert tour first took Hindemith through Italy, before arriving in Frankfurt on 28 May via Amsterdam, Den Haag and Brussels. The visit to his old home town was of a purely private nature: Hindemith visited his mother and sister in the neighbouring town of Butzbach and celebrated his reunion with old friends, including his publisher Willy Strecker. After concerts and lectures in London and Vienna, as well as a relaxing holiday in Switzerland, the couple travelled back to the USA in September 1947 and Hindemith resumed his teaching at Yale University.
In August 1948 they embarked on a second European tour, this time taking them to Switzerland and Germany via England and Paris. The Hindemiths spent November and December, as well as the New Year 1948/49, in Italy and Sicily. On order of the American military authorities, Hindemith then visited various German cities for two months, where he gave concerts and lectures. The Hindemiths returned to the USA in late March 1949.