D’r Öngerschte Willms

The inn of Peter Willms was located on Diepenlinchener Street, somewhat below the inn of Hubert Willms. Peter was the nephew of Hubert Willms. The locals distinguished the restaurants by their location, i.e., the "upper Willms" and the "lower Willms." In the dialect, they differentiated between "öngerschte" and "övverschte" Willms.

Inn of Johann Peter Willms

The inn of Johann Peter Willms (1819–1883) in Mausbach was founded together with his wife Petronella Winter from Hürtgen, whom he married in 1844.

According to a postcard from 1898, their son Johann Peter Willms Jr. (1855–1921) was the proprietor. After his death, the unmarried children Franz Hubert (1885–1962), Peter Josef (1892–1973), and Odilie Willms (1896–1961) continued the business. Especially Odilie Willms was considered the true "soul" of the inn – many guests would say: “I jön mich bei Tilche e Bier drenke”.

The innkeeper family was deeply religious. It was part of the tradition to set up a blessing altar for Corpus Christi. Next to the inn, the Willms Cross still stands today.

The inn was located on the Diepenlinchener Street, somewhat below the inn of Hubert Willms, his uncle. The two businesses were referred to in common parlance as the "lower" and "upper" Willms, therefore "öngerschte" and "övverschte" Willms.

A common nickname connected the two inns: In the "övverschte" Willms, the innkeeper read the world news to the guests from the newspaper. When reporting on the Italian region of Piedmont, he pronounced "Piedmont" as “Pimmong” – to the general amusement. Thus, the nickname “övverschte Pimmong” was created for Hubert Willms and “öngerschte Pimmong” for Peter Willms.