Crow-stepped gable

Gable (also stepped gable, stepped gables or cat stairs) denotes a stepped gable structured form. The tympanum here ranges beyond the roof and hidden them. This gable reaches its main distribution mainly on representative buildings in Cologne ( from the 13th century in the Rhineland ) and in the areas of Brick Gothic from the 14th to the 17th century, especially in the North and Baltic Sea coastal areas and in the time of the so-called brick Renaissance.

The gable is also found in the secular architecture of the late Middle Ages. The stages were occasionally decorated with blind arches, friezes, or tracery battlements.

In the architecture of the Renaissance gable with the use of spiral-shaped ornaments ( volutes ) and other contemporary decorative elements has been further developed to volute.

Regional spread the gable is in southern Germany, including at farmhouses on the Baar.

Examples

Nordertor, landmark of the city of Flensburg, about 1595

Grundtvig and outbuildings in Copenhagen, Denmark, 1927; rare design of a church in the style of Expressionism

So-called fruit box in Nellingen, Ostfildern, 16th century.

Building complex in Friedrichstadt in the northernmost district of Germany, North Friesland, 17th century.