Little song of memories page 10 to 11

The Ackershof was an old half-timbered building with tapped beams, branch seam and clay filling. Dated back to the 14^th century, this church loan was probably the oldest farm in Linden-Neusen. After the war, Oper's wife lived here for a while, having a grocery store (im Beiß/Weber-Haus) from the Pützgracht to Broicher Straße until the end of the war. Now she lived in the field, together with her brother Peter Graf. "Jroeve Pitt" was a so-called "Oodrücher" who traded with everything and everyone, a real original in this time not really poor of originals.

Hacking lived in an outbuilding of the Farm. The old Hacking with its original full beard knew to tell legendary Stories. From Russia, for example, where he had been as a soldier. Once, the cold Siberia he met a huge man who had only one eye and that in the middle of his forehead.

When asked, the giant had always said only: "Hacking, eiß Bärefleesch"Hacking eats the meat of a bear.

Ackersweiher, Ackershof and Hacking have disappeared. At the end of the 1960s, the quite dilapidated building hosted a pig-breeding farm. The area belonged at that time, as far as I know, to the church, partly also Kurt Kellenter. The buildings went up in flames during a firefighting exercise around 1970 and were then levelled.

The Dell belonged to the Ackersweiher, like the Ackersweiher belonged to the Dell. From the point of view of the structure, the Dell and “das End” contained the oldest remaining parts of the village, besides Broich also the most original. Because only in these three parts of the village there were cattle potions from ancient times, an important prerequisite for an originally purely agriculturally oriented population.

The Dell was a village in the village, as further up Auf Weiden to the “Sösse Eck”, like the “End” and partly also the “Sträßche”. All have lost much of old flair. the Fama of The Dell in particular stayed alive in the "Amaröllchere" (little stories). About the old Mohren perhaps when he (who was an excellent rabbit breeder) elegantly ran his hand over his beautiful mustache during the annual rabbit exhibition at "Wirtz auf dem Saal".

About the old Fritz von Bracht, perhaps, who had created a beautiful aviary in his garden facing the street  and who knew how to tell so interesting stories. About the old saber, perhaps, and about the old Jung who built roof trusses and who was the well-heeled husband of the midwife of our village. About the old Theissen, perhaps, in the church choir a good Bass voice, or about the Steffens, who was called "Steffens Hännesje" because there were so man Steffens around. About "Sturme Wienes", perhaps, the indestructible roofer with the big thirst (which many others in the village also had) or “Jrömmesche Hännes” and “Essesch Wisse” …

Certainly, you could hear a lot of "Amaröllche"little stories, about which one could smile.

Maybe, maybe.

Next to our house began the Neue Weg, which was moved there in 1924 as a footpath at the request of the farmer Wilhelm Beckers, after it had previously passed across several plots west of Rathausstraße. In my youth it was a dirt road, as an extension of the former school alley way the short village-to-village connection towards Euchen. Today it is called Mozartstraße. In the Pützgracht this path ran past some gardens. Between the lower house meadow of Martin Dittmann and the Neue Weg, there where today the houses of Windelschmidt and Bontenackels are, there was a long and narrow garden, which Hubert Maaßen worked on. Above, the garden behind the meadow of Wilhelm Beckers began. The steep slope of the terrain and parts of the old hedge can still be seen from Mozartstraße between the houses of Rudi Mohren and Marianne Windelschmidt.

The parental Maaßen-Haus stood on the corner of Fronhof-/Lindenerstraße (formerly Rathaus-/Hauptstraße and during the war Wilhelm-Gustloff/Ad.Hitlerstr.)

It was a large half-timbered house with a gate entrance, certainly also a farm. Over the whole gable towards Fronhofstraße stood a large splinter tree, a so-called "Steckbiere".

Upstairs in the house lived Kienzel.

Hubert Maaßen was an outspoken club man. He was in the gymnastics club, in the rabbit breeding club and sang a strong tenor voice in the men's singing club.

Behind the junction in the Pützgracht was also a long, but wider garden, which was interrupted by the stream. It was created by Martin Kleiker and Franz Aretz. Martin Kleiker lived at that time in the oldest, the original house of the Mainz family, a partially brickhouse from the time before 1800. This mixed construction was rather new and therefore rare. The house was demolished in the 60s, today there are garages.The Franz Aretz family lived right next door,also in a Mainz house that still stands today. The barn behind this house had to give way for the first enlargement of Kronenbrot. Opposite these houses, between the farm Dohmen and the long wall of Kalkbrenner (which had to give way to the new building of Paul's business house and the house of Josef Kalkbrenner), Wenders, Dieudonné Orgeig (d'r Jedöng), Mertens, Saal and Hubert lived at that time. Lövenich (called " et Dönkelche )

Back to the gardens of the Pützgracht. Hubert Maaßen's garden was high above the level of the Neuer Weg and was sloping. So a lot of water had to be brought up and I also dragged some buckets out of the creek to help Mr Maaßen. The lower gardens were below path level, near the creek a bit swampy, but the ground was deep black and very productive. In the front part of the garden, i.e. in front of the creek, stood the scrapped box structure of an Opel truck, which had served in its good times as a Kronenbrot van. Here the men found shelter in sudden rain and here also during the gardening a break was made to smoke a pipe and to take "us d'r Blääch", which means having a drink out of a bottle.