Our next stop was Ummeln, one of the places the ancestors of these friends lived and worked until about 1820. Volker did some searching and found that the main farm home in Ummeln is still here, still used, now as a teaching farm for school kids. They come here now to learn where things like vegetables and farm animals come from.
From my research report:
Peter Heinrich Bastert was born on Wednesday, 10 April 1833, at 7:00
a.m., and was christened on 14 April at the Evangelische Kirche (Lutheran Church) in Brackwede. He was the youngest of nine children. His parents lived in the village of Ummeln until about 1820, then moved three miles away to Isselhort, where the last four children (including Peter) were born. In that era, it was uncommon to move a family. This confirms that they were not landowners.
Three years later, not far from Ummeln, in the village of Quelle, Hanne Caroline Lübker was born on 25 October 1836. Caroline also came from a family of nine. She was the second child. Her parents were Johann Friedrich
Wilhelm Lübker and Anne Margarethe Luise Kotthoff.
The Lübker family came from Quelle, and the Kotthoff family from
Steinhagen. Quelle lies on the outskirts of Brackwede, and Steinhagen about four miles away. In 1912, Ummeln was a rural government district with a
population of 1,776 people. Isselhorst had even fewer people, with 1,517 inhabitants.
The Bastert children had many relatives living in the area. Inhabitants of
these villages attended church nearby at the Evangelische Kirche in Brackwede, (Ummeln is about three miles from Brackwede, and Isselhorst about six miles).
According to documents, the “Meyer zu Ummeln” farm has been around since the 8th century – however, the current farm building was only built in 1914, after the old building was moved and used as a farmhouse museum. The inscription on the beam reads: “Hermann Heinrich Arnold Maier zu Ummeln and his mother Auguste Karoliene Mathilde Maier zu Ummeln had this house built and erected on May 20, 1914. Two pillars of life never break: prayer and work, they are called.”
You can learn more about this school farm and their programs here.
Here, we teach children and young people about the work areas and cycles of ecologically oriented, sustainable agriculture through school trips, holiday camps and other activities. This includes growing vegetables and fruit, farming, housekeeping and working in the workshop. Working with animals and keeping them in a species-appropriate manner on the farm is of particular importance.
Not far from the Meyer Bauernhof is another home, still standing. This one dates back to 1774, so it was definitely here when the Bastert family was here. Perhaps this is where the landowners lived.
This is the signage at on the road where you turn off onto a dirt road to these old farms.
And these are the farms in that area, perhaps similar to where the Bastert family ancestors worked.
Frog crossing??
Here are the Bastert siblings from America (left to right): Karen, Andy, Becky, Jim, Alice and Mary.
Here with spouses: Karen and Rick Garnett, Andy Bastert, Becky and Terry Reuschel, Jim Bastert, Alice and Ralph Snodgrass, and Mary Lakamp.
And here, joined by Volker Bastert and his wife, Stephanie on the far right.
Not far down the road is this old Bauernhof, another very old home that may have been standing when the family lived and worked in this area.
After visiting Ummeln, we drove back into Bielefeld to Volker’s home. Volker is married to Stephanie (his first wife died of breast cancer about 15 years ago). Volker has 2 sons, Leonhard (Lenny) and Hauke. They live in other places.
From there we walked into town, first to the church they attend now, where Volker is the substitute organist. He climbed right up to the organ loft organ loft and treated us to a fantastic organ rendition of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Nothing fills a church like beautiful music!
Then we walked into the town plaza to a favorite restaurant where we spent the rest of the evening enjoying some great German food.
More local Bastert relations joined us for dinner here.
What a fantastic first day of this reunion. This group will spend about 10 days here in Germany. We will stay with them tomorrow and then head back to Frankfurt. I’m really happy to have been invited to be here today.
Our Frankfurt Germany Mission 