From our blog entries, you can see that we have had some very special days, trips and seen wonderful things. However for me, the most emotional part of the journey so far was on a day spent with my mum’s maternal cousin Christa Farr and her husband Hermann who live in Bielefeld.
As we both have an interest in the same branch of the family tree, we travelled a short distance to area from where my maternal grandmother’s family hailed. Christa had organised a visit to the Vogelsang house (birthplace of my great great grandfather) and the beautiful church where my great grandparents Heinrich and Marie Husemann were married and my grandmother Marie Husemann was christened. To stand at the christening font and sit in the pews imagining their presence in the years before was very special for me.
At the Vogelsang house the present incumbents showed us the beautifully painted family tree (carefully photographed by Ross for future transcription) and gave us some insight into the family fortunes. We also saw the house where my grandmother lived in her early years and the 'Kamphof' house from where my great grandmother came. So, my family tree now has some more branches and my curiosity will be further satisfied when we travel to Silesia the former German state, now in Poland, to see the area where some of these German people moved in search of farming land. My parents were both born in that area, then as refugees, moved back to the west during the time called the ‘Vertreibung’, when German families were moved out of the area.
Meanwhile we have also been spending time with my cousins and their terrific kids, Patrick, Emilia and Alicia. As you can see, our baby rocking skills have been challenged.
In Germany we have not seen much sun – typical October weather, we understand and our photos reflect this. However, we have had great times and as Ross would say “I love Bielefeld”
