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It is the middle of summer in Weiskirchen in the Hunsrück mountains. Teacher Karl Schiffer is harvesting red-currants. His heavily pregnant wife, Traudchen, suddenly has to stop making jam. Next day, little Gertrud, Trudchen, sleeps in a cradle.
It's summer in Vussem, a hamlet near Mechernich in the Eifel hills. All the windows of the schoolhouse are open. From the upstairs apartment, the little girl listens to her father’s singing and that of the school children. She knows all these songs even before she runs down the stairs to attend class as a pupil herself.
However, getting to school does not remain this easy. To get to and from high school in Euskirchen they had to cover 20 kilometers twice a day. At 6:30am, the bus stops near the schoolhouse in Vussem. During the last years of the war, 1943-45, it is better to rely on one's own feet to cover the distance of seven kilometers to the train station in Mechernich, because too often the bus does not come because of gasoline shortages. By contrast, the railway to Euskirchen is more reliable as it runs on coal. If only there were no enemy fighter planes shooting at anything that moved!
It's a bitter cold winter at the end of the war. The school in Euskirchen is destroyed by bombs. The infrastructure has collapsed. There is no electricity nor running water. Everywhere military is pulled together for a last major battle on the Western Wall. School and schoolyard in Vussem are full of soldiers. In the middle of it lives the mother with five daughters and a dying grandmother.
The war comes to an end in the first days of March 1945 under bombardment by grenades. In the school’s basement, women and children seek shelter from the invading American army. "Trudsche, you speak English," says the old mayor. Waiving a bedsheet as a white flag she walks with two boys towards the invading American soldiers and explains in her basic English that in this place there were no German soldiers. The Americans move on.
It is wonderful spring weather in March 1945. After the shelling and the loud tanks of the last months, an unusual silence settles in. The girls try to repair the damage done by a grenade to the West side of the schoolhouse. They move roof tiles that remained intact from an outbuilding to the schoolhouse roof. They remove broken window glass and replace it with pages out of a tattered bible because they fit so neatly into the wooden window frames.
It is early summer. Her father comes back from the war. The family finds a new home in the Mosel area near Wittlich. School attendance and vocational training are attainable again. The Hufschmidt farm offers an internship with boarding during the first difficult year after the war. In the Kröv vineyards overlooking the Mosel river, the young apprentice of rural home economics learns how to cultivate the vines and to appreciate their juice. A diploma from the gardening school in Balduinstein (Lahn) opens the possibility for higher education.
It's early summer. Far away in Wilhelmshaven, the farmer's son Karl Büscher from the Bergisches Land watches the piano accompanist at a concert in the College of Agricultural Education. He invites her to a ball. Three years later, she becomes his wife.
It is summer and St. John's Day. Three little grandsons soon belong to the large band of well-wishers to Grandpa Büscher's Saint’s day celebration. There are strawberry tarts and pies in abundance. Chairs and benches placed in a circle under the birch tree invite you to sing, even to politicize and philosophize.
It's a hot summer in the Wittlich valley. Three little grandsons jump around in the grandparents’ house and garden. Someone falls into Lüxem creek. "The Büschers build a Pöttgen [ed: a potty] in Röttgen" rhymes the grandfather.
It is late summer in 1960. The house in Bonn-Röttgen, Heidgesallee 5, has been moved in. Three little boys look from the terrace into the dining room. Their heads are shorn except for a small crown. A game of question and answer begins:
Mama, are you playing catch with us? Nah. Please, I don’t have time. Pretty please. Wait, I'll get you! Quick out the front door. The children run over the terrace to the front. Great cheers when meeting at the garage corner.
There are children in almost every house of Röttgen’s new sub-division. There is no kindergarten. The mothers are not working. Garden doors are open everywhere with opportunities for play, at Kluges, Schmitz and Dohrmanns. The Büscher property has only low hedges. The girls play at Nicolins and Grundmanns. At Bürfents, the children are sometimes allowed to watch TV. There are also enough construction pits with water to jump over with poles, build a raft or fall into the water.
It is late noon. Dad picked up his sons at the Collegium Josephinum high school. The family sits down for lunch together at the dining table. Everyone has a good appetite. There are some fresh salads, vegetables and potatoes from the garden. Sometimes there are potato cakes with meat sauce and apple compote a la Forkscheidt. But the highlight of the meal is and remains the dessert: a semolina pudding with raspberry juice, a chocolate pudding with whipping cream, caramel apples and custards, and the quark dessert "Stippmilch" with shredded chocolate from the Mackintosh tin can and canned cherries from the glass. And who is allowed to empty the dessert bowl with a big spoon? The Dad!
It is summer. Family gatherings are celebrated, such as weddings with the large family, neighbors, and friends. If the house and the terrace are not enough, a tent will be set up. New friends from abroad are our guests. They also invite us to Switzerland, Norway, France, England, and Czechoslovakia.
It is a farmhouse in Vorarlberg in Austria, not far from the German border near Oberstaufen in the Allgäu. For fifteen years it offers a stay for family and friends, during winter holidays in the mountains and for a heartfelt Christmas Eve with church, fondue and "Doppelkopp" [ed: card game]. "There you are," says the landlord in his local dialect. He had already lit up the wood-burning stove a few days earlier. "And then I would like to greet our guests," says the pastor of Krumbach on Christmas Eve in the church.
It's Monday night. A rehearsal of the chamber choir of Röttgen takes place in the parish hall at the church "Christi Auferstehung". They practice for two performances a year, usually together with the local chamber orchestra. There are also choir events, with excursions and rides. At home in the living room is now a Steinway grand piano. There is a lot of music with flute, cello and harpsichord. The Junge Kammerorchester also rehearses there sometimes. Then there is pizza.
The first grandchildren are born. How nice to be with them in Euskirchen, Staufen, Bottrop, and Houston in Texas! Soon they climb into the cherry tree in Röttgen or build a house in the yew tree. In the basement and with Opa's help, they turn leftover wood into "weapons" and then go pillaging through the Kottenforst forest. The girls dress up with clothes from the closet in the loft.
One or two afternoon lessons at the Ursulinenschule in Hersel are on the schedule. The grandparents in Lüxem are getting old and need attention. A young family seeks help after the birth of a fourth child. She gets there by bike through the Kottenforst. But the strength abates. Some things have to be patched up and cured in the hospital.
It is February 2001. An eightieth birthday is celebrated in the Altenberg Cathedral with a festive service, organ and choral singing. Afterwards there will be a banquet with families and friends. Half a year later everyone is surprised and sad at Karl Büscher's grave.
It is the height of summer in Bonn-Röttgen. Franz Waltermann is sitting on the terrace of the house for the first time. He asks the son, "What would you and your brothers say to your mother and I getting married and moving to the Augustinum?" Answer: "What could be better?" This is followed by six good years together, with full support by both families even beyond his death.
It is breakfast time. The old couple sits opposite to each other at the dining table. They pray together: "Honoring my God, at work, at rest ...". He gets up, takes his glasses off pensively, comes around the corner of the table, gestures to his wife with a smile in his eyes: "Trud, sit down" and gives her a kiss. He sits down again while making eye contact. Their hands meet for a solemn wish: "Good appetite".
It is high summer in the Eifel near Schleiden in July of 2006. The Büscher, Waltermann, and Schiffer families meet in the Hollerather Hof hotel for a family reunion under the motto of "celebrate happy and relaxed", as coined by Fr. Gerd Birk of the Büscher family, who is one of the guests. Other guests are friends from the time in Röttgen. A pleasant atmosphere quickly turns into an unusually beautiful summer evening out in the front yard. The singing, the playing of games, the theatrical performances, and the drinking didn't want to stop. But next morning, after breakfast, most are on their way to church service in the local village.
It is midsummer on the Rhine river. In July of 2011, the Büscher, Waltermann, and Schiffer families meet for lunch in the Augustinum in Bonn. Unfortunately, Doris Waltermann, Liesel Kolvenbach, and Franz Waltermann are no longer there. But brother-in-law Raimund Waltermann is able to come from Münster, together with daughter Mary.
The newlywed couples Johannes/Sarah and Katharina/Michael are radiating like the roses that the birthday girl had received.
In the afternoon, girlfriends, nieces, and nephews from the Bonn-Cologne area are joined by guest of honor, cousin Margret Jüssen, 90 years old. There are especially good home-baked cakes.
It is November, and in Germany it is already cold and miserable. In Houston, however, it is warm and summer-like. Especially in Galveston on the Gulf of Mexico, where the American Buscher family and their German visitors frolic on the beach. Denise and Christoph accompanied Trude on the long journey - it would be the last time that she takes on these hardships. The physical checks at the airports alone have become a major burden. But now it is so nice here together with Heather, Martin, Charles, and Alexandra! All enjoy the beach and watch the pelicans, which plunge for fish so spectacularly off the coast.
It's spring in Davos. For a first time, part of the family meets in March 2013 for a winter holiday in Davos, Switzerland. Denise and Christoph have invited to a large house that offers space for many older and younger winter sports enthusiasts. Charles and Alexandra are on skis for the first time and find the best guidance from Christoph as lifesaver. In the evening you sit at a large table and everyone pounces on the food after a long eventful day. How relaxed and funny everything is! Everyone helps a bit - so everything is done quickly. We even manage a horse-drawn carriage ride in the Sertig Valley.
It's a wedding in June 2015. Felicitas and Christian marry in Wangen im Allgäu. There is a big party in the garden of the Stoffel family in Gebrazhofen. A radiant bridal couple and wonderful weather with a wide view of the Allgäu mountains and surroundings. These days are also unforgotten, because Trude makes a trip to Krumbach with Christoph. The "Villa Waldhügel", in which the Büschers had spent their holidays in the 60s and 70s, is newly renovated but essentially unchanged at the edge of the forest above the village in the Bregenz Forest.
It is July 2016 and a 90th birthday! Trude called and everyone came to Ittenbach in the Hotel im Hagen. At noon, we started with an extensive buffet, which was interrupted by musical contributions by the Büscher and Waltermann families. Trude in the midst of a company of 75 dear relatives and friends from near and far - an unforgettable feast!
It is January 2019. The end of the earthly journey is now reached after a long and peaceful time between the worlds. Those left behind will have precious memories and, above all, her love.
Locations and Events
1926 Weiskirchen, Birth
1928-1946 Early years and high school in Vussem and Euskirchen
1939-1945 War at the Western front
1945 Apprenticeship
1950 Higher education
1952 Teaching gardening as part of home economics in Boppard
1953 Marriage to Karl Büscher
1954 +1955 Birth of Karl-Georg und Christoph in Düsseldorf
1958 Birth of Martin in Rinkerode
1959/1960 Building a home in Bonn-Röttgen
1964 Friends from Norway and Czechoslovakia
1969 Catholic community at Christi Auferstehung
1969-2004 Chamber Choir of Röttgen
1969-1984 Ursulinenschule Hersel
1969-1984 Krumbach (Vorarlberg)
1970 Work at home and in the garden
1982 Euskirchen
1983 Staufen
1998 Houston, Texas
2001 Bonn-Röttgen, Death of Karl Büscher, 80 years old
2003 Convent St. Gabriel, Bischofshofen (Österreich)
2004 Bonn, Wohnstift Augustinum
2009 Bonn, Death of Franz Waltermann, 85 years old
2019 Bonn, Death
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