Piano nobile

The piano nobile (French bel étage, the beautiful floor ') was the preferred floor of a noble or upper-class residential building or the best equipped apartment. The eingedeutschte from the French name came up in the early days, while the corresponding Italian name piano nobile, especially in Venice, as early as the 12th century is detectable.

Historical Development

The Italian piano nobile was usually the first floor, where one must also take into account low and high floor or a mezzanine in the count. Partial nobili could also have several Piani, which differ only slightly from each other as it is for example seen at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence in northern Italy, a secular building.

Already in medieval town houses the living quarters were upstairs, while the ground floor utility rooms, warehouses and shops were housed. In the palace of the nobles were on the first floor the reception rooms. In German palace and in the Italian city palace, the state rooms were originally on the second floor. Examples are the City Palace, the Neue Residenz Bamberg and the residence Ellingen. Under the influence of the French Schlossbautradition are state rooms then in younger buildings also on the first floor.

Following this pattern, also founder temporal villas were created, corresponding to the representation requirements of the emerging middle class, and representative urban tenements. The first floor in the tenement house distinguished by the fact that it is away from the cold, damp ground of the ground floor and the happening of the road, access is via a common representative staircase but was easily possible.

Therefore, the first floor had the highest rooms and was the best equipped in the rule. Inside and out, it was the most expensive by design, for example by balcony or bay on the facade, stucco decorations on the ceilings and possibly even a separate entrance. With elaborate Mietsgebäuden of representation expenses declined from the main floor up from floor to floor. The attic - if removed - was like the basement in most cases the worker reserved.

In modern times, the upper floors are often sought after because of the greater tranquility in multi-story urban homes, and access to them is easier since the introduction of elevators.

Term transmission

The term piano nobile is also used metaphorically. In football, with main floor is the top division of a country designated as the Bundesliga in Germany, so the sporty and financially attractive class.