Duck Pond in Wittkampbusch

EXCERPT of a poem by Sister Sr. M. Irmberte, née Elisabeth Tilch. She was born on January 25th, 2007 in Dümpten. She was the third of six children of the mountain farmer Theodor Tilch and his wife Hedwig, née Koppe.
"...
Much land was here as far as one could see,
the air was still pure and clear back then.
Cows were also found in the pasture.
It was slaughtered by hand.
Big farmers like Roland, Lepgeshof, Schroer and Oberfohren
were all born here in the kingdom.
They lived in our country like princes.
But even the last Kötter found his bread here,
they lived on chickens, sheep, pigs,
they tilled the garden for themselves.So hastened the years through the land,
War, inflation, also murder and fire;
That shook off man - with one stroke;
our "kingdom" was preserved.
Not like before, today very modern,
a new star shone in our kingdom.
residential areas, schools, roads are built,
METRO and ALDI, the B 60 came then.
Who remembers what it was like back then?
It's pretty difficult, you can hardly handle it.
Evangelical church tower collapsed,
St. Barbara disappeared from bombs overnight.
The Schildberg School also had to give way to air terror,
what did you want to achieve with it?But today everything is big and beautiful again,
one can look at these buildings with pride.
Also fully recognized as a landmark
the mayor's office is still standing.
The Hexbachtal, which was once Sippken,
is reforested and now wonderful.Where once the farmer Lugge had his land
a stately horse farm was built.
The Wittkampbusch was coiffed powerfully,
which as a park naturally belongs to Dümpten.
All beech trees cut down by air mines,
today you can only see the leg crabs.
No more shrub from 1913.
But there were beautiful ways.
It's a pleasure to walk there
because the whole park is now in great shape.
The old roof tile factory lay still for a long time,
one wondered what one wanted to do there.
Today a retirement home has been built.
Elsewhere it gets loud at the weekend
a sports field was built.
Yes, in the "kingdom" one hits the drum.
..."
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