Vestibule (architecture)

As a vestibule (Latin vestibulum, courtyard, atrium, lobby ') is referred to in the architecture of the modern era, a representative entrance hall. The term is borrowed from the ancient Roman architecture. There was first the vestibulum decorated space between the street and the front door of noble houses called. In the late period of the Roman Republic, the name passed to the passage space between the entrance and atrium. After Kuntze (see literature) the original purpose of the vestibule is to be stable and Schirrhof a property.

In modern times, the vestibule was further developed as part of stately buildings. For locks in this room, a guard was often housed. Since the Baroque era, the vestibule was happy with a grand staircase combined (example: Bruchsal Castle, 18th century).

The etymological origin of the term vestibulum is not released.