Despite Christel Nieske’s doubts, they went ahead with building a house, putting a lot of energy and personal work into it, and taking out loans. As GDR refugees who had worked in agriculture, they received state support to establish a “part-time farm.” It was hoped that planting and selling fruit and vegetables as well as animal products would help them secure their livelihood.
Christel Nieske remembers:
“Our situation in Wülfrath differed strongly from that in Mecklenburg. We and our families had been known there, whereas here we had to build up a reputation first, which was a difficult and slow process.”
Hans Nieske also remembers difficult moments:
“We and other part-time farmers were annoyed by the preconception that as refugees, we had gotten our houses for almost nothing due to the equalization of burdens law. But in 1955, burden equalization payments were not yet even a consideration.”