|  This is the house in Germany (Oct 1998 photo) in which the Busch family lived at the time they migrated to Wisconsin in the early 1870s. The farm is no longer in the family. A map of the Borken-Heiden area from which Busch's migrated is 5th photo, below. As was typical, the house and barn were attached to each other. The three following photos were taken at the ancestral farm by Dick Bernard in 1998. The last of the three, is a photo of two photos of the farm house/barn, the first showing an earlier picture, from the barn side; the second a more recent photo of the house/barn, from the house side.     The Busch farm, then and now, is near the small community of Heiden. Other communities heard in connection with the family are Borken, Sudlohn, Stadtlohn, Osterwick, Munster and doubtless many others. Its geographic location, very near the heavily populated Ruhr industrial district, makes for rich market potential for farmers, but also made it vulnerable to bombing during WWII. The Berning family, central to the Busch family history in the U.S., migrated from the Hanover area about 130 miles to the west, 'as the crow flies'. They came to the U.S. about the time of the Civil War.  Marie Schrup of Dubuque IA, daughter of Heinrich Busch, was probably the first of the American family to visit the old country in 1954. Caption on this photo: "Marie Schrup on cart, Mrs. Bernard Busch, Anna, and her four daughters, Gertrude, Marie, Marg, Annie. I received a hearty welcome."  Above is an annotated GoogleEarth aerial photo of Buschhausen, a short distance south of Heiden, Westfalen, Germany. The other photos below the map were taken at Buschhausen in 1954 and 1998. For reference: note the larger clump of trees just left and below the center of the aerial photo. The home in which the photo was taken is slightly northeast of these trees, between the red-outlined sections, just above the red-circled area and slightly to the left of the clump of trees across the lane. The shrine is in the yard of this home. The dairy barn and other parts of the farm complex are in the larger circled area in the lower part of the photo. The original Busch farm, whose photos begin this section, is nearby, but not on this aerial photo. Thanks to Frank Bernard and Christof Langer for this annotated aerial photograph.  Grotto at Buschhausen - the Busch farm complex. Marie Schrup: "One passes this grotto to enter house of Bernard Busch. They were going to build a bomb shelter here, but built the grotto instead."  Part of the German Busch family in October 1998, welcoming U.S. visitor Dick Bernard, whose great-grandfather was Wilhelm Busch. Those who can be identified: beginning 2rd from left: Christof and Maria Langer (children of Karl and Margaretha (Busch) Langer); Johan Busch and his wife, the hosts for the lunch; Margaretha (Busch) Langer, Dick Bernard's host in Germany; Dick Bernard.  Gisela Busch, Johann Busch's wife  Christof and Maria Langer next to an implement manufactured at the Busch farm complex. This equipment appeared to be successfully marketed. This was a small but very efficient and effective operation.  A 1998 view of the Grotto at the farm. The story was told that the grotto was erected in gratitude that the four Busch sons came home alive from WWII. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
