Low German house

The Hall House, usually called Low German hall house because of its regional Bezuges is one in the 13th - 15th Century out perfect Wohnstallhaus house of the peasant population in half-timbered style. In the earlier research, it has been referred to as Lower House and is popularly known by this term. It is a Einhaus, are summarized in the apartment, barn space and crop storage in a big house body. This rural- rural house form was up to its decline in the 19th century, widespread in the North German Plain from the Lower Rhine to Pomerania. Today characterize hall houses the appearance of many villages in northern Germany and the Lower Rhine and Westphalia.

2.1 precursor types

3.1 Regional characteristics
3.2 Adjacent farmhouse types

4.1 H-frame house
4.2 Three rack house
4.3 Four -column house
4.4 passage home
4.5 Roof shapes
4.6 gable forms

5.1 hallway
5.2 Kitchen ( Flett )
5.3 Living

Name

The Hall House is also known as Fachhallenhaus house. In the scientific name trade is not for the half-timbered walls but for the big Gefach between two pairs of wooden stand Deelendecke and house roof supporting wooden interior design, distance about 2.5 m. After that, the house size was measured, had the smallest only 2 -fold, the largest with 10 times reached a length of about 25 m. The term arises from the large hall Deele ( hallway ). Low German describes the distribution area. Since almost all indoor houses are divided into so-called times is the addition of " specialist " dispensable.

Alternative designations

In the past, other names common for this house, derived from the construction or the regional distribution:

Flett - Deelen house (which refers to a common ground plan of the hall house)
Kübbungshaus (Hall houses in double-column design: name-giving are designed as so-called Kübbungen, non-structural side aisles )
Niedersachsenhaus
Saxon House
Altsächsisches farmhouse
Westphalian farmhouse
Westphalia house

" Lower House " is probably the most widespread and naturalized term, although it is not scientifically correct in the sense of building research.

Other terms

Because of this farmhouse type home, barn and harvest warehouse under one roof, it is also referred to as Einhaus, the associated farm as Eindachhof. Special feature of the Hall house is its longitudinal division, also called three-nave structure. This classification distinguishes it significantly from Einhäusern in most other parts of Germany and Europe, where traditional radially split Einhäuser as the Ernhaus were built, quite apart from Hofformen that include even the basic form of several buildings with different functions.

Genesis

The hall house appeared only in the late Middle Ages. 2004 was discovered during the restoration of the house Hagenend 3 in others east of Assen in the Dutch province of Drenthe, that the wooden structure has already been built in 1385. The exterior walls were newly listed in brick in the 18th and 19th centuries; beforehand, it must comply with the non-structural (!) have looked outside walls of plastered wattle like the houses on pictures of Pieter Breughel, among others. In the neighboring Annen still found a similar house of 1408th Unfortunately, the house burned in the early morning hours of August 25, 2011 down completely and has since been lost.

The oldest preserved houses in Germany this type date from the late 15th century (for example in sinkhole, the Winsener Elbmarsch 1494/95 ). Regional differences express the adaptation to landscape and climatic conditions. There were also social gradations and temporal trends. Beginning or in small variations of the house was the residence of man and beast in the different areas of a large room still quite long. Step by step were separated from the agricultural sector living spaces. First sleeping chambers were separated, for the farmer and his family at the rear end of the house, for servants and handmaids over ( Westphalia ) or next (Lower Saxony, Holstein) the lateral location stables. Also for sale produced linen was stored in a special chamber. With increasing demand for comfort and representation arose one or several heated exchanges. Finally, the stove from the Flett was outsourced at the end of the Deele in a separate kitchen.

Progenitor types

The Hall House is similar in construction to the Neolithic long house without a direct development could prove. The nave first appeared in the Linear Pottery culture 7,000 years ago and was archaeologically detected in the various regions of Europe, including the ridge of the Ville west of Cologne. Of the following types of houses that differed by its middle row of posts under the ridge of the roof. So he was not yet three aisles, but vierschiffig. First, the cattle overnight in hurdles ( = pens ) was kept. With the transition to permanent agriculture fields, the cattle were taken into the house, which thus became the Wohnstallhaus house.

Later, the middle row of posts was omitted, which included a change from the purlin to rafter roof. This three-aisled longhouses, often three-aisled Wohnstallhaus houses, the Vormittelalters were common in almost all of North West Europe. Your roof structure rested still on the earth dug post and was therefore not very durable and less viable. Therefore, these houses had indeed already a rafter roof, but still no attic for storing the harvest. The outer walls consisted only of wicker.

For houses of the nobility, the supporting wooden pillars were placed on foundations made of wood or stone as early as the Carolingian period. Such stand -called pillars are highly durable and last several hundred years. For farmhouses stand were used in Northern Germany until the 13th century. So that the houses could get a reliable attic. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the technique of timber-framed construction has been further improved.

Dissemination

The hall house has a distribution area, which covers nearly 1,000 km long and roughly corresponds to the Low German language area. In the west it extends even into a piece in the Netherlands, said there usual lower height of the gable and attic reflects the more timely development of self-sufficiency to a market orientation. From the Lower Rhine to western Mecklenburg the hall house is the dominant type of house. Further east it is indeed up to the Gdańsk Bay before, but were dominates the landscape or are there more manors and farm workers accommodation. In Schleswig -Holstein, it is found mainly south of the Eider, the former Danish border. In the northern Sauerland and in the Weser mountain country there is less of a sharp boundary as an increasing deviation from the basic scheme by reducing the footprint in sloping terrain. In southern Lower Saxony rich Hessian square yards until well into the Low German language area. In Ostniedersachsen the spread of Lower Saxony houses and square yards is nested like a mosaic. In Saxony -Anhalt there are no near Magdeburg, in the Altmark few Hall houses.

The house is represented in the landscapes:

Rhineland
Westphalia
Northern Hesse

Lower Saxony
Holstein
Prignitz

Altmark
Mecklenburg
Pomerania

Thus we find the type of hall house also in the approximate area of the settlement Germanic tribe of the Saxons. This led to the popular name " Lower House ". The naming is based on the old - Saxon cultural space in Lower Germany.

Regional characteristics

Within northern Germany exhibit hall houses on numerous regional formations such as in the four-and marshlands in Hamburg and in the Old Country at Stade. Here, the road-side gable is built steeply into colorful brickwork and often protrudes in front. In addition, one decorated since the early years from 1871, the house fronts with shaped jewelry from the Classicism and the Renaissance. Gabled and jewelery are due to the proximity to the city of Hamburg. Another particularly striking regional variations in the Hall house is found in the Artland near Osnabrück.

Adjacent farmhouse types

Southern border, there is the historical type of Ernhauses, also called medium- German or Frankish house except Mehrseithöfen. Northern neighbor of the Hall building in the immediate area was the North Sea coast gulf house (also East Frisian house ), which is common in the marshy areas and later in the Geest of West Flanders, Friesland to Schleswig -Holstein ( there as Haubarg ). It had replaced the Old Frisian farmhouse in the 16th century. Another northern neighbor in Schleswig space is the Geesthardenhaus, which also occurs throughout Jutland and is therefore also called kimbrisches house. Gable Permanent Wohndeelenhäuser are assigned to the northern Lower Saxony, eaves constant Wohndeelenhäuser the southern Lower Saxony.

Construction

External identification of the Hall house are the large entrance gate at the gable end, the half-timbered style and pulled far down, large roof. It was originally thatched and therefore are the last representatives of this roofing today usually listed building.

The most essential, but not visible from the outside structural feature of the type of house is the wood interior design in post and beam construction. This is the supporting part of the whole building. It was originally timbered with very resistant oak wood, from the 18th century on, with lower grade pine. To protect against moisture of the wood structure rests on a 50 cm high stone foundation, often from field stones. The non- load-bearing exterior walls of the building are made of timber, with its spaces ( partitions ) were originally with a wicker and daub and later filled with masonry.

In damp bog and marsh areas, the weather side was faced with a brick wall at some houses. In Westphalia there are in addition to the usual half-timbered style and Hall houses (mostly from the four-column type, see below), whose outer walls are made of rubble stone.

A fundamental distinction between the two and the four- column house. As a transitional form, there is the three -column house.

Two -column house

Originally the hall house had the expression as a two -column house. Two stud rows are set up, on which floor joists rest. The stator rows are arranged lengthwise in the house and form the characteristic of the type of house hallway. The H-frame house has on the sides flatter, by Auflanger and Aufschieblinge ( procrastinators ) formed roof sections under which the Hiehle is (also Hille ). These lateral extensions room ( Kübbungen ) with non-bearing side walls and mainly included the stables, they gave this house type the name Kübbungshaus. To ensure that the attic is not supported by the outside walls, but only by two rows of stands that are part of the Deelenwände.

Three -column house

There are also three -column house. This is an asymmetric deviation from two-and four -column house, in which the ridge is almost above one of the Deelenwände. On this page the eaves is often equal to the hallway ceiling as in the four -column house, on the other, the lower part of the rafters is appended as in the two -column house. Sometimes, the lower part of both sides of the roof is attached.

Four -column house

The construction of the four-column house represented a more comfortable development of the H-frame house and was built by wealthier farmers. The construction is based on four stator rows in the longitudinal direction, two of which are part of the Deelenwände, two of the outer walls. Thus, the load-bearing exterior walls have as retaining walls function. In the houses of wealthy farmers, there is also a clear separation between living quarters and stables.

Passage home

In addition to the normal plan, there were houses with floorboards that had a large gate to drive through at both gable walls. In such passage houses the side rooms were inevitably distributed differently. Also, the stove was not at the usual place. Especially often this modification is to find the hall house in Holstein and Mecklenburg- Vorpommern, occasionally also in Westphalia.

Roof forms

In Westphalia, all these homes have a pitched roof. In parts of Lower Saxony and Holstein there beside it, almost exclusively in Mecklenburg Hall houses with hipped roof. A " pure " hip roof is rare.

Gable forms

From the initial localization of living in a part of the board ( Deele, Deel ), the extraordinary position in which the Hall house is presented to explain. While other Einhäuser have the living spaces on the face side, it is here in the largest part of the range, the gable front with the Dielentor. The " Grotdörgiebel " According carefully framed ( Großtorgiebel ). The frame and especially the gate lintel of the Grote villages were provided with inscriptions and ornaments. The tympanum above is closed in simple houses with vertical slats, with better the framework of the steep gable extends nearly to below the ridge. Especially in the Old Country was preferred floor gable, where this timber protrudes gradually. In the Schaumburg area and in the area around Hannover is in many homes in the gable still about 80 ° steep sloping roof mounted.

The living room side gable learned only in exceptional cases, a special design. For example, he became the face side in the Four Lands.

Division

In the 18th century hall house reached dimensions of up to 50 m long and 15 m wide. The house united in himself all the functions of rural life. In this way, all his property, his family and servants was manageable for the farmers.

Hallway

The main and largest room in the house is the entrance hall. It is usually through the large, also semicircular doorway ( Low German: " Grote villages ", " Groot villages ", " Grotendör " ) entered at the gable end. The gate also served as a gateway for harvest wagon. Then you stand in the spacious hall ( Low German: Deele, Del. ) or hall, hence the term " hall house". The hall is obtained from the space between the two load bearing timber stud rows. With an earthen floor she was the economy and the labor room of the house. Here, the harvest was brought and stored on the overlying attic. In it were weather- protected activities, such as the drying of inventories, breaking flax, spinning or threshing exerted by grain. Even celebrations were held in the hall and laid the deceased family members. On both sides of the semi-open stables ( Kübbungen ) were for livestock, such as horses and cows, as well as chambers for maids and servants. In the area of the entrance gate the fowls had its place on the edge of the plank. Pigs were banished from the beginning because of the smell in a separate pigsty outside the home. Only since living and hall area were separated from each other, you could also find pork there. The hall went without separation into the open living and kitchen area on the " Flett ".

Kitchen ( Flett )

Originally was in the back of the house, at the end of the hallway, the Flett, an open kitchen, which occupied the entire width of the house. The approximately 1.5 m2 large open hearth was located in Flett and was edged with boulders. She was no stove, as in other areas. Many types of cooking were not possible under this condition (*). The pots had to be high enough, Cauldron, and were hung with hooks on the boiler hanging over the fire framework, one often decorated with horse heads wood construction. At night an iron grid was placed over the hearth fire, to prevent animals ( especially cats ) on the fire " contaminating them " and then burning and panic, which is on the " bar " at the top of hay and straw fire to himself. Wealthy had taken the wooden frame a brick flying buttress. The smoke escaped through a roof opening on the gable, the Ulenlock ( Low German, High German Eulenloch ). Because of the initially open fire inside so was a smoke house in the early fire insurance to be particularly risk from fire. The fire fueled in no small measure, barn and living quarters of the Hall house. In this way, the stored in the attic harvest was dried and protected by the smoke from vermin. If the farmer's family, including servants gathered at meals, were the best places the. Between fire and chambers The lack of differentiation from Deele and attic, the temperature was in the Flett not above 12 ° C. in winter

A later development was the smoke exhaust through a chimney. Still later we had a real stove with a brick chimney. So the cooking was easier and the house smoke-free. In contrast, the stove was barely light source, and the heat efficiency for domestic heating worsened. One of the larger chambers was then removed for room whose separate furnace was heated by the Deele from. As a fundamental change in the 19th century, the layout of the house, there was a separate kitchen in the rear living area of the house. Functionally, was become of the predominantly structured along a transversely divided house.

Baked (*) bread was outside the house in an earth or stone oven. He had - in north-west Germany - only one chamber. It was not until he became heated, clearing out the embers and only then slid the loaves to be baked by the heat stored in the furnace wall.

Live

Originally there were only open homes in the rear of the house on either side of the fireplace. There were tables, chairs and table beds ( alcove ), where the contact with cattle was immediate. Only when the need increased after the Thirty Years' War, after living comfort, (about 2.5 m) of the wood beam interior construction were separated chambers in the back of the house on a Gefach length. Hence the name " chamber specialist " comes for the living area of the house. A subsequent structural change was the insertion of a cellar under the " chamber compartment ", but was not deep. Thus this house area increased pedestal -like towards the plank and formed in the larger four houses stand inside partially a gallery.

Ornamentation

The most obvious jewelry of the otherwise empty hall house is located on the gable peaks and consists of carved wooden boards that represent ( stylized ) horse heads. However, the boards also have constructive properties because they protect the roof edge against the wind. The use of horses' heads is interpreted to be due to the Sachsenross as a tribal character of the Saxons. Their distribution as first peak is also reflected in the coat of arms of some North German communities. In some areas, eg in the Hanoverian Wendland, the gable often instead carries an ornate lathe-turned pile, turning the stick.

Gable jewelry 2006

Horses' heads in the arms of beech wood in the North Heath

Coat of arms of Spornitz in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

In Ravensberger Land the gables are usually decorated with a pile which is called here Geckpfahl.

Other decorations or house sayings are found regularly as a home inscriptions above the entrance. The main beams are passing the name of the builder, the year of construction and often a Bauspruch or an inscription saying again. Occasionally can be found ( modest ) ornaments in the truss of the front gable. They are formed by a brick pattern in the compartments and provide example windmills or trees dar. as geometric figures

Decline

End of the 19th century was the type of house as out of date. What was once considered to be major advantage, namely to have everything under one roof, now contributed to its demise. Increased residential claims led to the smells and odors of the animals and the manure were increasingly seen as unhygienic. In addition, the residents had become too tight living spaces. Also required higher crop yields and agricultural machinery in the period of the construction of modern buildings. The old stalls are too small for today's cows. Since the mid 19th century, fewer and fewer buildings of this type were built, the existing have been adjusted by conversion to the new needs. Often, the old buildings were pulled down to make new buildings place. In the original distribution area of the hall house thus sat increasingly the type of Ernhauses by whose characteristic is the separation of residential and livestock buildings.

Early documentation

Local historian described at the beginning of the 20th century the decline of house type like this:

Faced with the threat ( cultural-historical ) loss, they conducted an inventory that in extensive illustrated books (see " Literature" ) is documented. The author and farmhouse researchers Willi Pessler laid in 1900 to explore the geographical distribution of the Hall house ( he called altsächsisches farmhouse ) several thousand kilometers on foot, by train and by bicycle. However, these early studies should be treated with caution, because the author thought to recognize an expression " German tribal Customer" in the design. They no longer mixed today durable ethnographic, linguistic and biological theories together. In their works, sounds at places an anticipation of the blood - and - soil ideology of the Nazis:

Current situation

The Hall House is now represented more numerous in rural areas. However, the existing building usually learned over the centuries through conversions changes. In the original form preserved buildings are mainly found in open-air museums, such as the Westphalian Open Air Museum Detmold and the Museum Cloppenburg. The latter has taken on the task of researching rural monuments in Lower Saxony and document realistic in the most important examples. For Schleswig- Holstein Schleswig -Holstein Open Air Museum in Kiel- Molfsee with its large collection of hall houses and its neighbors the most important. Several of these buildings are also home to the Open Air Museum at Kiekeberg and the museum village folk village in Hamburg; Examples from the eastern part of the Hall home area can be found at the Open Air Museum Schwerin - Mueß.

End of the 20th century acquired old half-timbered houses and thus the Hall house a renewed appreciation. As part of a return to the past, many buildings have been restored and prepared for residential purposes again. In many towns and cities, such as Wolfsburg Kästorf, Isernhagen and Dinklage, emerged from the 1990s new timber-framed building settlements, whose architecture inspired by the historic hall houses.

Hall house in Isernhagen, today "North Hannoversches Farmhouse Museum "

Modern house as a hall house replica

" Courtyard of the Heidmark " in Bad Fallingbostel of 1642

Hall house as a church in German evern ( Martinus Church )

Unrefurbished farmers house in Vienna village

Barn in Rethwisch

Farmhouse in Pepelow, Am Salzhaff

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