Hi there,

I found some information in German, that might help you out. I'm sorry to say it's quite vague.

In 1934, 90% of all farms in Germany had access to electricity, so it's very likely your grandmother had this as well. But many power plants were damaged or destroyed in air raids, so it's possible electricity didn't work all the time between 1943 (beginning of mass air raids) and the early years after the war. Production of electricity was satisfying most needs given the circumstances in the last days of war and the years after.

Heating became a big issue for civilians, because most common heaters were fueled with coal, which became a scarcity. Getting food as well. Most goods and edibles were rationalized from 1939 on, so living on a farm had big advantages. The situation was worst in late 1944-1948. Maybe your grandmother's family had to deal with people stealing food from the fields in the last months of war or the years after, and maybe they could sell food or goods made on the farm on the black market. On the other hand, food production heavily relied on forced labor, since most able men were in the military. When the forced laborers were freed, some decided to stay, but many returned to their places of origin, while many German soldiers became prisoners of war. It took until 1948 (Western Allies) or 1955 (Soviet Union) till all of them were released, depending on where they fought in the war. So there might have been the lack of workforce to produce the same amount of food as the years before. On the personal level, this might have been family members and friends missing, imprisoned, or killed, or forced to work as a POW.

The railroad system was essential for the military, transportation of resources for military production, for relocating German refugees and POWs, and deportation of jewish population to the death camps. So in the later war period, this was prioritized over civilian transportation and all edges were cut to keep the war machine running. In many cases, the trains were stuck in traffic jams on the railroad because there were so many soldiers and refugees to transport. In March 1945, Hitler ordered to destroy the railroad system and most trains so the Allied Forces couldn't use them for themseves. Luckily, not everyone in charge obeyed, but many railroads, control centers, locomotives and bridges were already destroyed by air raids or German engineer units, hindering the Allied advance. In April 1945, transportation by rail was completely disrupted. After the war, fast efforts were made to reconstruct the railroad system, starting with Allied engineer units who build wooden madeshift bridges within 2 weeks each. Transportation to other occupation zones was not allowed in the beginning, Germans could only go somewhere by train if necessary for their job or labor service, and with permission of the Allied forces. Since coal was still scarce, but people needed it for heating their housings and workplaces, teenagers used to climb onto trains transporting coal when they had the opportunity and threw some pieces of coal off the wagon for friends and families to pick them up. End of 1945, intercity rail traffic reopened. Transportation for Allied troops had top priority, and many soldiers had to be relocated to Asia, were the fighting went on. End of 1947, of approx. 16,000 locomotives that survived the war (in US and UK occupation zone), only ~7,000 were operational, and there were some intercity routes including the not-so-far-away cities Oldenburg and Bremen.

Source: https://www.forum-der-wehrmacht.de/index.php?thread/65635-deutsche-eisenbahnen-zwischen-1945-und-1947/ , unfortunately in German only.

Since the railroad system was mostly destroyed, cars were the fastest and most reliable transportation method. But they were rare, only the richest could afford them, and private cars could have been seized in the last days of war. After May 1945, military production switched to consumer goods and cars. In 1950, there were approx. 500,000 cars in Germany (both East and West), which is 1 car on 125 residents. The number of cars quadrupled until 1956. After the war, it was more common to own a motorcycle (approx. 1 in 71). Most people used a bicycle for transportation. So its possible your grandmother's family owned a bicycle, and they most likely owned a carriage or had access to one from neighbors. It's possible they had some cars in their hometown in the first years after the war.

In the last months of war, millions of refugees were en route: freed KZ Detainees, POWs, forced laborers returning home, Germans who fled from Allied Forces, Ausgebombte (people who lost their housing in air raids). 25-33% of all housing in Germany was destroyed, and they needed shelter. It's possible that some passed your grandmother's farm and asked for food or stole it or offered their service for board and lodging. The local administration often ordered farmers to give unused buildings or rooms to refugees, till proper housing was built, since most farm buildings remained intact. As you can imagine, this often raised conflicts.

If you tell me the name of the town she lived in, I could try to find out more details about the local historical circumstances.