Visiting the Poelker family in Holthausen
by Joachim Schulz, Lingen
In the afternoon Tom and Liz Poelker traveled to Holthausen. Clemens Pölker, also a member of the Poelker line, still lives here today. They were warmly welcomed by his family. Clemens Poelker had also invited his siblings and so things got cramped in the Poelkers‘ living room at the Wittenbergring.
Tom and Clemens Pölker leafed through old photo albums and quickly found common family histories. Clemens Poelker remembered a relative’s visit from the USA in the 1970s. The family members were happy to pose for a souvenir photo in the garden at the Wittenbergring.
Vespers with Emsland specialties
Clemens and his wife Ursula Poelker gave the guests from the USA a warm welcome and invited them to a shared snack with Emsland specialities. Culinary highlights were the buckwheat pancakes with home-made applesauce, the regionally typical sausage and meat varieties and the delicious home-baked bread made from wholemeal. Of course, an Emsland wheat grain and an elderberry liqueur from our own production could not be missing at the end. Tom and Liz Poelker both tried spirits and it tasted great.
Find the family tombstones
Then it went to Biene to the Church of St. Marien. Ewald Teipen, Lingen family researcher and member of the Holthausen/Biene local history association, explained the interior design and architecture of the church. At the nearby cemetery, the USA guests visited a still preserved tombstone of Clemens Poelkers‘ parents. Unfortunately, the very old gravestones of the family are no longer preserved, but the Poelkers quickly found the entry of Hermann Poelker (*21.2.1886) on the commemorative plaque. Hermann died in World War II on April 7th, 1918 in France.
Establishment of the new farmer’s home in Holthausen/Biene
The excursion continued to Holthausen/Biene. Here the common ancestor Johann Gerhard Pölker (*5.5.1812) founded a new farmer’s office around 1850. On February 25, 1840 he married Euphemia Maria Strieker, a farmer’s daughter from Hohendarme. On photos from 2006, the old farmstead still existed, on the gable end of which the names of the spouses „J.G. Pölker and E.F.M. Striker Eleute 3rd August 1858 MH BBR” were engraved.
The Poelker farm in Holthausen no longer exists
The farmstead of his great-grandparents in Holthausen was bought and demolished a few years ago due to the immediate vicinity of the oil refinery. Today, apart from a few old trees and cobblestone paths, the original location of the farm can no longer be guessed at. Clemens Poelker was able to secure a few oak beams and a stone plaque with the names of his grandparents, and the plaque found a place of honor in his garden. On it are the names of his grandparents „J. H. Pölker and M. A. Pölker, born Rakel 1905”. At the location, Clemens Poelker explained the location of the former farm buildings to the guests from America. Ansgar Benedixen, member of the Lingen family researchers, translated and classified the geographic location on the map.
The origin of the Poelker is in Altenlingen
Tour guide Joachim Schulz led the group on to Altenlingen. The origins of the Poelker family have been there since the 17th century. They ran a farm and later ran the oldest inn in the village. The first inn building was from 1826, an older part of the building from 1761. There is said to have been a beer bar even in these old walls. A cobbled street ran between the old inn and the canal. A hand drawing from 1856 shows the location of the Poelker and Thien restaurants on the Dortmund-Ems Canal. It is easy to see that the canal bridge originally led over the canal as a straight extension of today’s forest path, which used to be called the Kuhweg and is entered on the drawing as Plaggenweg.
The Pölker farm and restaurant in Altenlingen no longer exist
When the street was widened for traffic in 1957, the old building had to be demolished and replaced with a new one further back. This former Poelker farmstead with a restaurant was later demolished and the area leveled in recent years. Today there is a commuter car park and a point of sale for regional agricultural products from the Lübbers farm. As luck would have it, the descendants of the Lübbers farm and the Poelker farm met at this location. Many generations ago, both families belonged to the first farms in Altenlingen and have been neighbors ever since.
From Altenlingen to Gut Beversundern
After a tour of old Altenlingen, past the beautiful Beversundern estate, Tom and Liz Poelker took the opportunity to invite the newly met family members and the family researchers involved to a cool drink at the renowned Emstal Golf Club. An eventful afternoon in the Golfclub Emstal restaurant ended for the Poelkers with a wide view over the lush green to the nearby Ems. The next day, Tom and Liz Poelker learned from Dr. Experience Andreas Eiynck. You can find his article here on the website of the Emsland Museum.
Photos by Joachim Schulz, Lingen
