After moving several times, the Nieske family finally settled down in the small town of Wülfrath in March 1954. Hans Nieske got a job there in the lime plant. His wife found work at the local hospital. They built a house in Wülfrath and stayed there.
Christel Nieske remembers:
“When my husband came up with the idea of building a house in the spring of 1955, I was totally unhappy; I cried into my pillow at night over our going into so much debt. Hans explained to me that we were already poor as church mice and that if you don't have anything, you can't lose anything, but that didn’t comfort me.”