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The Low German house or ''Fachhallenhaus'' is a type of
timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...
farmhouse found in northern Germany and the easternmost Netherlands, which combines living quarters, byre and barn under one roof. It is built as a large hall with bays on the sides for livestock and storage and with the living accommodation at one end. The Low German house appeared during the 13th to 15th centuries and was referred to as the Low Saxon house (''Niedersachsenhaus'') in early research works. Until its decline in the 19th century, this rural, agricultural farmhouse style was widely distributed through the
North German Plain The North German Plain or Northern Lowland (german: Norddeutsches Tiefland) is one of the major geographical regions of Germany. It is the German part of the North European Plain. The region is bounded by the coasts of the North Sea and the Balt ...
, all the way from the
Lower Rhine The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); al ...
to
Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...
. Even today, the ''Fachhallenhaus'' still characterises the appearance of many north German villages.


Name

The German name, ''Fachhallenhaus'', is a regional variation of the term ''Hallenhaus'' (" hall house", sometimes qualified as the "Low Saxon hall house"). In the academic definition of this type of house the word ''Fach'' does not refer to the ''Fachwerk'' or "timber-framing" of the walls, but to the large ''Gefach'' or "bay" between two pairs of the wooden posts (''Ständer'') supporting the ceiling of the hall and the roof which are spaced about apart. This was also used as a measure of house size: the smallest only had 2 bays, the largest, with 10 bays, were about long. The term ''Halle'' (" hall") refers to the large open threshing area or ''Diele'' (also ''Deele'' or ''Deel'') formed by two rows of posts. The prefix ''Niederdeutsch'' (" Low German") refers to the region in which they were mainly found. Because almost all timber-framed and hall-type farmhouses were divided into so-called ''Fache'' (bays), the prefix ''Fach'' appears superfluous. The academic name for this type of house comes from the German words ''"Fach"'' (bay), describing the space (up to ) between trusses made of two rafters fixed to a tie beam and connected to two posts with braces and ''"Halle"'', meaning something like hall as in a hall house. The walls were usually timber-framed, made of posts and rails; the panels (''Gefache'') in between are filled with
wattle and daub Wattle and daub is a composite building method used for making walls and buildings, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung a ...
or bricks. One bay may be two or rarely three ''Gefache'' wide.


Alternative names

In the past other names were commonly used for this type of farmhouse, derived either from their design or the region in which they were built: * ''Flett-Deelen-Haus'' (a ''Hallenhaus'') with a very common floorplan including an open kitchen or ''Flett'' to the side of the ''Deele'' * ''Kübbungshaus'' (''Hallenhaus'' of two-post construction, also called a '' Zweiständerhaus'', named after the non-load-bearing side aisles or ''Kübbungen'') * ''Niedersachsenhaus'' (Low Saxon house) * ''Sächsisches Haus'' (Saxon house) * ''Altsächsisches Bauernhaus'' (Old Saxon farmhouse) * ''Westfälisches Bauernhaus'' (Westphalian farmhouse) * ''Westfalenhaus'' (Westphalian house) ''Niedersachsenhaus'' is the most widespread and commonly used term, even though it is not strictly correct from an academic point of view.


Other terms

Because this type of farm combines living quarters, stalls and hay storage under one roof it is also described as an ''Einhaus'' ("single house" or "all-in-one house") and the attached farmyard as an ''Eindachhof'' ("single-roofed farmyard"). A special feature of the Low German house is its longitudinal division, also referred to as ''dreischiffige'' or "triple-aisled". This is considerably different from all-in-one farmhouses elsewhere in Germany and Europe which are built with traditional transverse divisions, as in the ''Ernhaus'', not to mention other common farm layouts where the farm comprises several buildings with different functions, usually around a farmyard.


Early history

The Low German house first emerged towards the end of the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
. Only a few years ago a ''Hallehuis'' was discovered in the Dutch province of Drenthe, the frame of which can be dated to 1386. In 2012 a "hallehuis" was discovered in Best, in the Dutch provincie of
North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the w ...
, which dates back to 1262 and is still in use as a stable. The living part of the farm itself is built in recent times, in 1640 at the earliest, but probably around 1680. The farm is an official monument. The oldest surviving houses of this type in Germany date to the late 15th century (e.g. in Schwinde, Winsen Elbe Marsh 1494/95). Regional differences arose due to the need to adapt to local farming and climatic conditions. The design also changed over time and was appropriate to its owner's social class. From the outset, and for a long time thereafter, people and animals were accommodated in different areas within a large room. Gradually the living quarters were separated from the working area and animals. The first improvements were separate sleeping quarters for the farmer and his family at the rear of the farmhouse. Sleeping accommodation for farmhands and maids was created above (in Westphalia) or next to (in Lower Saxony and Holstein) the livestock stalls at the sides. Finished linen, destined for sale, was also stored in a special room. As the demand for comfort and status increased, one or more rooms would be heated. Finally the stove was moved into an enclosed kitchen rather than being in a ''Flett'' or open hearth at the end of the hall.


Predecessors

The Low German house is similar in construction to the
neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
longhouse, although there is no evidence of a direct connexion. The
longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often rep ...
first appeared during the period of the Linear Pottery culture about 7,000 years ago and has been discovered during the course of archaeological excavations in widely differing regions across Europe, including the Ville ridge west of
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
. The longhouse differed from later types of house in that it had a central row of posts under the roof ridge. It was therefore not three- but four-aisled. To start with, cattle were kept outside overnight in ''Hürden'' or pens. With the transition of agriculture to permanent fields the cattle were brought into the house, which then became a so-called ''Wohnstallhaus'' or
byre-dwelling A byre-dwelling ("byre"+ "dwelling") is a farmhouse in which the living quarters are combined with the livestock and/or grain barn under the same roof. In the latter case, the building is mostly called an housebarn. This kind of construction is f ...
. Later the centre posts were omitted to form a triple-aisled longhouse (''dreischiffigen Langhaus'', often a ''dreischiffigen Wohnstallhaus'') that could be found in almost all of northwest Europe in the
Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
. Its roof structure rested as before on posts set into the ground and was therefore not very durable or weight-bearing. As a result, these houses already had
rafter A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as wooden beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof shingles, roof deck and its associated ...
s, but no loft to store the harvest. The outer walls were only made of
wattle and daub Wattle and daub is a composite building method used for making walls and buildings, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung a ...
(''Flechtwerk''). By the Carolingian era, houses built for the nobility had their wooden, load-bearing posts set on foundations of wood or stone. Such uprights, called ''Ständer'', were very strong and lasted several hundred years. These posts were first used for farmhouses in northern Germany from the 13th century, and enable them to be furnished with a load-bearing loft. In the 15th and 16th centuries the design of the timber-framing was further perfected.


Distribution

The Low German house had a wide distribution across an area almost 1,000 km long which roughly corresponds to the Low German language area. In the west it stretched into parts of the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
where the height of gable and loft are usually lower, mirroring its development over time from self-sufficiency to market-oriented farming. From the
Lower Rhine The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); al ...
region to western Mecklenburg the Low German house was the dominant type of farmhouse. Further east it was found as far as the Danzig Bay, but
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
s (''Gutshaus'') and farm workers houses were more common. In
Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...
it was found mostly south of the Eider river, the old border with
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...
. In northern Sauerland and the
Weser Uplands The Weser Uplands (German: ''Weserbergland'', ) is a hill region in Germany, between Hannoversch Münden and Porta Westfalica, along the river Weser. The area reaches into three states, Lower Saxony, Hesse, and North Rhine-Westphalia. Important ...
there was less of a sharp boundary and more of a gradual reduction in floor area as the terrain became hillier. In southern
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
the Hessian square farmstead (''Vierkanthof'') is found well inside the Low German language area. In east Lower Saxony the ''Niedersachsenhaus'' and the square farmstead are interspersed like a mosaic. In
Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it th ...
there are none in the Magdeburg Börde and only a few in the
Altmark :''See German tanker Altmark for the ship named after Altmark and Stary Targ for the Polish village named Altmark in German.'' The (English: Old MarchHansard, ''The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time ...'', Volume 32. ...
. This style of house typically appears in the following regions: The Low German house occurs more or less in the areas settled by the Germanic tribes of the
Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
, thus leading its popular name, Low Saxon House, or ''Niedersachsenhaus'', which is based on the
Old Saxon Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German, was a Germanic language and the earliest recorded form of Low German (spoken nowadays in Northern Germany, the northeastern Netherlands, southern Denmark, the Americas and parts of Eastern Europe). It ...
cultural region of Low Germany.


Regional features

Within northern Germany the Low German house has numerous regional variations, such as those in the Vierlande and marshes near Hamburg and in the
Altes Land Altes Land () is an area of reclaimed marshland straddling parts of Lower Saxony and Hamburg. The region is situated downstream from Hamburg on the southwestern riverside of the Elbe around the towns of Stade, Buxtehude, Jork and the '' S ...
near Stade. On these, the gable facing the road were steeply pitched, made of coloured brickwork and is often projecting. In addition the facades were decorated with neoclassical and
renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
designs of the
Gründerzeit (; "founders' period") was the economic phase in 19th-century Germany and Austria before the great stock market crash of 1873. In Central Europe, the age of industrialisation had been taking place since the 1840s. That period is not precisely ...
which lasted to about 1871. Gable design and decorations go back to the area of Hamburg. Another particularly impressive regional variation is the Low German house is found in the Artland near Osnabrück.


Neighbouring farmhouse types

On the southern boundary of the Low German house region, as well as the multi-sided farmsteads, there is the historical '' Ernhaus'' type of farm, also referred to as the Middle German house (''mitteldeutsches Haus'') or Frankish farmstead (''fränkisches Haus''). A northern neighbour of the ''Fachhallenhaus'' in the immediate vicinity of the North Sea coast was the
Gulf house A Gulf house (german: Gulfhaus), also called a Gulf farmhouse (''Gulfhof'') or East Frisian house (''Ostfriesenhaus''), is a type of byre-dwelling that emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries in North Germany.Vollmer, Manfred et al., ''Landscape ...
(''Gulfhaus'') or Frisian farmstead (''Ostfriesenhaus'') which is found in the
marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...
regions and, later, also on the geest areas of
West Flanders ) , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = , image_map ...
, Frisia as far as
Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...
(known there as a
Haubarg A Haubarg, rarely also ''Hauberg'', is the typical farmhouse of the Eiderstedt peninsula on the northwest coast of Germany and is a type of Gulf house.Vollmer, Manfred et al. (2001). ''Landscape and Cultural Heritage in the Wadden Sea Region'', Wad ...
). It had replaced the
Old Frisian farmhouse An Old Frisian farmhouse (german: Altfriesisches Bauernhaus) is a small unit farmhouse (''Wohnstallhaus'') that combined the farmer's living area and animals' stalls, and had limited space for storing harvest products. It was widely distributed ac ...
in the 16th century. Another northern neighbour in the
Southern Schleswig Southern Schleswig (german: Südschleswig or ', da, Sydslesvig; frr, Söödslaswik) is the southern half of the former Duchy of Schleswig in Germany on the Jutland Peninsula. The geographical area today covers the large area between the Eid ...
area is the '' Geesthardenhaus'', which also occurs in the whole of
Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
and hence is also called the Cimbrian farmhouse.


Construction

Externally a Low German house is recognisable from the great gateway at the gable end, its timber framework and the vast roof that sweeps down to just above head height. Originally it would have been
thatched Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
with reed; the last remaining examples with that type of roof are usually protected as
listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
today. The most important feature of the farmhouse, albeit one which is not externally visible, is its internal, wooden, post-and-beam construction which supports the entire building. The frame was originally made of oak, which was very durable, but from the 18th century it was also made from cheaper pinewood. To protect it from damp, the wooden posts rest on a stone foundation about 50 cm high, often made of fieldstone. The non weight-bearing external walls were built as timber frames, the panels of which were originally filled in with
willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...
wickerwork and clay (
wattle and daub Wattle and daub is a composite building method used for making walls and buildings, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung a ...
) and, later, with brick. In damp moorland and marshy areas the weather-side of the many such buildings was faced with brick. In Westphalia, in addition to the usual timber-framed buildings, there are also hall farmhouses (mostly of the four-post type, see below) whose external walls are made of brick. The two main forms of construction are the '' Zweiständerhaus'' (two-post farmhouse) and the '' Vierständerhaus'' (four-post farmhouse). The '' Dreiständerhaus'' (three-post farmhouse) is a transitional design.


''Zweiständerhaus''

Originally the Low German house took its simplest and basic form, the '' Zweiständerhaus'' or two-post farmhouse. This had two rows of uprights on which the ceiling joists rested. The two rows of posts ran the length of the building and created the great central threshing floor or ''Diele'' characteristic of this type of farmhouse. On the outside of the rows of uprights, underneath the eaves, low side rooms or bays known as ''Kübbungen'' were often built with non load-bearing external walls. These ''Kübbungen'' acted as stables or stalls for the cattle and gave this type of house its alternative name of ''Kübbungshaus''. A classic feature of the ''Zweiständerhaus'' is that the loft is not supported by the outside walls but only by the two rows of uprights that form part of the hall sides or walls.


''Dreiständerhaus''

The intermediate variant is the '' Dreiständerhaus'' or three-post farmhouse. This is an asymmetric version of the two- and four-post farmhouses, in which the roof ridge is located almost directly over one of the ''Deele'' walls. On this side the eaves are like those on the ''Vierständerhaus'', often at the height of the ''Deele'' ceiling. On the other side the rafters are arranged like those of a ''Zweiständerhaus''. Often the lower part of the roof is attached on both sides.


''Vierständerhaus''

The design of the '' Vierständerhaus'' or four-post farmhouse is a more comfortable evolutionary development of the ''Zweiständerhaus'' built by well-to-do farmers. The building is supported by four rows of uprights arranged longitudinally, of which two form the sides of the ''Deele'' and two form the outer walls. So the outsider walls have a load-bearing function. In farmhouses of more affluent farmers there is also a clearer separation between living quarters and animal stalls.


''Durchgangshaus''

In addition to the normal floor plan there are also farmhouses with a large gateway at both gable ends of the building in order to enable carts to be driven through from end to end. In such a ''Durchgangshaus'' or "through house" the layout of the rooms was necessarily different. Even the hearth was not located in the usual place. This variant of the Low German house is often found in
Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...
and
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...
, but also occasionally in
Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...
too.


Roof shapes

In Westphalia all these farmhouses have a gable roof. In parts of Lower Saxony and in Holstein there is a mix of farmhouses with gable and hipped-gable roofs, and in Mecklenburg almost all have hipped-gables. A pure
hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...
is rare.


Gable shapes

The original location of the living accommodation in part of the ''Deele'' explains the very unusual layout of the Low German house. Whilst other 'all-in-one' farmhouses have their living quarters at the front, the Low German house across most of its native region has its main gateway at the front. The large gateway gable (colloquially: ''Grotdörgiebel'') was very carefully made. The frame and especially the lintel of the ''Grote Dör'' (great door) were adorned with inscriptions and decorations. On simple houses the gable above is just filled in with vertical timber laths; on more complicated buildings the timber-framing of the steep gable extends almost to the roof ridge. In the
Altes Land Altes Land () is an area of reclaimed marshland straddling parts of Lower Saxony and Hamburg. The region is situated downstream from Hamburg on the southwestern riverside of the Elbe around the towns of Stade, Buxtehude, Jork and the '' S ...
projecting gables are preferred. In Schaumburg Land and the area around Hanover the gable is topped by a roof section sloping at about 80°. The stepped gable on the living room side was only decorated in a few cases, for example, in the Vierlande where it was on the road-facing side.


Internal layout

In the 18th century the Low German house was built ever larger, with a length of up to 50 m and width of 15 m. The farmhouse combined all the functions of life on the farm. In this way it was easy for the farmers to manage the whole of his livestock, family and farmhands.


''Diele''

The largest and most important room in the Low German house was the great central threshing floor, the ''Diele'' (Low German: ''Deele'', ''Del''). This was usually entered via the great, rounded door at the gable end, known in Low German as the ''Grote Dör'', ''Groot Dör'' or ''Grotendör'' ("great door"). The door was also the entrance for harvest wagons leading to the ''Diele'' which was like a cavernous hall, hence the alternative name for this type of farmhouse, the ''Hallenhaus'' ("hall house"). The ''Diele'' was formed by the space between the two rows of supporting uprights. With its tamped clay floor it was the working room of the farmhouse. It was here that the harvest was gathered before being stored in the hayloft above. It also provided protection from the weather for activities, such as the drying of farm implements, the breaking of flax, the spinning of textiles or the
threshing Threshing, or thrashing, is the process of loosening the edible part of grain (or other crop) from the straw to which it is attached. It is the step in grain preparation after reaping. Threshing does not remove the bran from the grain. History ...
of grain. Celebrations, too, were held in the hall and recently deceased members of the family were laid out here. To both sides of the ''Diele'' were the half-open stalls or stables (''Kübbungen'') for cattle or horses, as well as chambers for the maids and farmhands.
Poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, ...
would be kept near the entrance way at the edges of the hall. From the outset pigs were banished to separate sheds outside the building due to their smell. Only when living quarters and the ''Diele'' area were fully separated from one another could pigs also be encountered in the hall. The ''Diele'' opened out into the open eating and kitchen area, the so-called ''Flett''.


''Flett''

Originally, at the end of the ''Diele'' near the back of the farmhouse, was the Flett, an open kitchen and dining area that took up the entire width of the house. The open fireplace, about 1.5 metres across, was located in the middle of the ''Flett'' and was ringed with fieldstones. It was not like a hearth in other regions. Many types of cooking were not possible in this environment (*). Pots had to be high enough, in effect
cauldron A cauldron (or caldron) is a large pot ( kettle) for cooking or boiling over an open fire, with a lid and frequently with an arc-shaped hanger and/or integral handles or feet. There is a rich history of cauldron lore in religion, mythology, and ...
s, and were hung over the fire with pothooks attached to a wooden frame (''Rahmen'') hanging over the fireplace, often decorated with horses heads. At night an iron grid was pulled over the fire to prevent sparks, a practice known by the English term ''curfew''. Well-to-do families had a candle arch (''Schwibbogen'') of masonry instead of a wooden frame. Smoke escaped through an opening in the roof on the gable, the ''Uhlenloch'' (also ''Eulenloch'', literally: "owl hole"). The open fireplace meant that such buildings were considered as a particular fire risk by early fire insurance firms. The open fire also provided some heat to the stalls and living quarters of the ''Hallenhaus''. In this way, hay stored in the loft could be dried out and protected from
vermin Vermin ( colloquially varmint(s) or varmit(s)) are pests or nuisance animals that spread diseases or destroy crops or livestock. Since the term is defined in relation to human activities, which species are included vary by region and enterp ...
by the smoke. When the farmer's family and farm hands gathered for meal times, the best places were between the fireplace and the rooms. Because there was no partition between ''Diele'' and loft, winter temperatures in the ''Flett'' never rose above 12 °C. A subsequent improvement was the extraction of smoke through a
flue A flue is a duct, pipe, or opening in a chimney for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, furnace, water heater, boiler, or generator to the outdoors. Historically the term flue meant the chimney itself. In the United States, they are ...
. Still later, a proper hearth would be added with a stone chimney. This made cooking easier and meant that the house was now free of smoke. On the down side, the hearth was no longer really a source of light and there was less energy for heating the house. Later still, one of the larger rooms would be built as a parlour with a separate
stove A stove or range is a device that burns fuel or uses electricity to generate heat inside or on top of the apparatus, to be used for general warming or cooking. It has evolved highly over time, with cast-iron and induction versions being develope ...
heated from the ''Diele''. When the division of rooms was fundamentally changed in the 19th century, a separate kitchen was established in the living accommodation at the back of the farmhouse. So the farmhouse, which had been divided longitudinally for such a long time, now had its different functions arranged transversely across the building. (*) Bread was baked outside the farmhouse Hauses in an earth or stone oven. In northwest Germany this only had one chamber. It was first heated, then the embers were raked out and the loaves pushed inside, in order to be baked by the heat stored in the sides of the oven.


Living quarters

Originally there were only open living areas at the back of the farmhouse on both sides of the fireplace. Here there were tables, chairs and wall beds and, of course, open contact with the animals. Not until after the
Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...
when the demand for living comfort grew, were separate rooms built at the back of the farmhouse, each the length of a bay (ca. 2.5 m) i.e. the space between the interior posts. This living space was called a ''Kammerfach'' from ''Kammer'' (room or chamber) and ''Fach'' (bay). One subsequent change was the addition of a cellar under the ''Kammerfach'', but it was not very deep. The separate living quarters were raised above the level of the main hall as if on a plinth and in the larger four-post farmhouses (''Vierständerhäuser'') sometimes formed a sort of gallery.


Decoration

The most eye-catching decoration of the otherwise drab ''Fachhallenhaus'' is found on the point of the gables and consists of carved wooden boards in the shape of (stylised) horses' heads. The boards do serve a constructional purpose in that they protect the edges of the roof from the wind. The horses' heads are attributed to the symbol of the Saxons, the Saxon Steed. Its distribution as decoration on roof ridges is also reflected in the coats of arms of several north Germany towns and villages. In some regions, e. g. in the Hanoverian Wendland, the gable points often have an artistically turned post instead, the so-called ''Wendenknüppel''. File:Pferdeköpfe Dachschmuck.png, Drawing of a gable decoration 1901 File:Pferdeköpfe Giebel.jpg, Gable decoration in 2006 File:buchholzer_wappen.jpg, Horses's heads on the coat of arms of
Buchholz in der Nordheide Buchholz in der Nordheide (Northern Low Saxon: ''Bookholt'') is the largest town in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 25 km southwest of Hamburg. Geography Buchholz is home to the Brunsberg, at ...
File:Wappen Spornitz.svg, Coat of arms from Spornitz in
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...
File:Bieren - Hof.jpg, In
Ravensberg Land Ravensberg Land (german: Ravensberger Land) is a cultural landscape in the district of Ostwestfalen-Lippe in the northeast of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It lies between the Wiehen Hills to the north, the Teutoburg Forest t ...
the gables are usually decorated with a post known as a ''Geckpfahl''.
Other decorations or mottos are usually found as inscriptions over the entranceway. The lintel gives the name of the builder, the year the house was built and often another saying. Occasionally modest decorations are found on the timber framed, front gable. They are designed into the brickwork of the panels and portray, for example, windmills, trees or geometric figures


Decline

By the end of the 19th century this type of farmhouse was outmoded. What was once its greatest advantage – having everything under a single roof – now led to its decline. Rising standards of living meant that the smells, breath and manure from the animals was increasingly viewed as unhygienic. In addition the living quarters became too small for the needs of the occupants. Higher harvest returns and the use of farm machinery in the
Gründerzeit (; "founders' period") was the economic phase in 19th-century Germany and Austria before the great stock market crash of 1873. In Central Europe, the age of industrialisation had been taking place since the 1840s. That period is not precisely ...
led to the construction of modern buildings. The old stalls under the eaves were considered too small for today's cattle. Since the middle of the 19th century fewer and fewer of these farmhouses were built and some of the existing ones were converted to adapt to new circumstances. Often the old buildings were torn down in order to create space for new ones. In the original region where once the Low German house was common, it was increasingly replaced by the ''Ernhaus'' whose main characteristic was a separation of living quarters from the livestock sheds.


Present-day situation

The Low German house is still found in great numbers in the countryside. Most of the existing buildings have, however, changed over the course of the centuries as modifications have been carried out. Those farmhouses that have survived in their original form are mainly to be found in
open-air museum An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...
s like the Detmold_Open-air_Museum (''Westfälisches Freilichtmuseum Detmold'') in
Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of t ...
and the Cloppenburg Museum Village (''Museumsdorf Cloppenburg''). The latter has set itself the task of uncovering rural historic buildings in Lower Saxony and documenting the most important examples accurately. For the state of Schleswig-Holstein the Schleswig-Holstein Open Air Museum (''Schleswig-Holsteinisches Freilichtmuseum'') in Kiel-Molfsee is the most important one with its large collection of ''Fachhallenhäuser'' and the like. Several of these buildings may also be found at the Kiekeberg Open Air Museum (''Freilichtmuseum am Kiekeberg'') and the Volksdorf Museum Village (''Museumsdorf Volksdorf'') in Hamburg; Examples from the eastern part of the ''Hallenhaus'' region are displayed in the Schwerin-Mueß Open Air Museum (''Freilichtmuseum Schwerin-Mueß''). At the end of the 20th century old timber-framed houses, including the Low German house, were seen as increasingly valuable. As part of a renewed interest in the past, many buildings were restored and returned to residential use. In various towns and villages, such as Wolfsburg-Kästorf, Isernhagen and Dinklage, new timber-framed homes were built during the 1990s, whose architecture is reminiscent of the historic ''Hallenhäuser''. The oldest still in use farm in North and Western Europe is the Armenhoef in the south of the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. File:Wilsede_003 2.jpg, Dat ole Huus in Wilsede dating to about 1540 File:Wöhler Dusche Hof.jpg, Fachhallenhaus in Isernhagen, today the North Hanoverian Farmhouse Museum File:Hallenhaus Wohnhaus.jpg, Modern home built as a ''Fachhallenhaus'' replica File:Hof_der_Heidmark.jpg, ''Hof der Heidmark'' in
Bad Fallingbostel Bad Fallingbostel (Northern Low Saxon: ''Bad Fambossel'') is the district town (''Kreisstadt'') of the Heidekreis district in the German state of Lower Saxony. Since 1976 the town has had a state-recognised Kneipp spa and has held the title of ...
dating to 1642 File:Admannshagen Hallenhaus.JPG, Farmhouse in
Admannshagen-Bargeshagen Admannshagen-Bargeshagen is a municipality in the Rostock district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in E ...
File:Wiendorf Bauernhaus.JPG, Unrestored farm-
house in Wiendorf File:Börgerende Scheune.JPG,
Barn A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Alle ...
in
Börgerende-Rethwisch Börgerende-Rethwisch is a municipality in the Rostock district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Geography The municipality runs from the Baltic Sea coast for almost 5 km southeast into the interior. Within its territory is the Conve ...
File:Pepelow Bauernhaus.JPG, Farmhouse in Pepelow, Am Salzhaff


See also

* Hösseringen Museum Village, particularly the museum house :Commons:Kötnerhaus von1596 *
Vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...


References


Sources

* Richard Andree: ''Braunschweiger Volkskunde.'' Braunschweig 1901. * Karl Baumgarten: ''Das deutsche Bauernhaus, eine Einführung in seine Geschichte vom 9. bis zum 19. Jh.'' Berlin 1980, * Karl Baumgarten: ''Das Bauernhaus in Mecklenburg.'' Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1965, 1970 (Neuaufl. u. d. Titel „Hallenhäuser in Mecklenburg“.) * Karl Baumgarten: ''Landschaft und Bauernhaus in Mecklenburg.'' Berlin 1995, * Konrad Bedal: ''Ländliche Ständerbauten des 15. bis 17. Jahrhunderts in Holstein und im südlichen Schleswig.'' Wachholtz, Neumünster 1977, * Frank Braun, Manfred Schenkenberg: ''Ländliche Fachwerkbauten des 17. bis 19. Jahrhunderts im Kreis Herzogtum Lauenburg.'' Wachholtz, Neumünster 2001, * Carl Ingwer Johannsen: ''Das Niederdeutsche Hallenhaus und seine Nebengebäude im Landkreis Lüchow-Dannenberg.'' Dissertation. Braunschweig 1973. *Horst Lehrke: ''Das niedersächsische Bauernhaus in Waldeck'' (Beiträge zur Volkskunde Hessens, Band 8). 2. Auflage, Marburg 1967 * Werner Lindner: ''Das niedersächsische Bauernhaus.'' Hannover 1912. * Willi Pessler: ''Das altsächsische Bauernhaus.'' Braunschweig 1906. * Josef Schepers: ''Haus und Hof westfälischer Bauern''. 7., neubearb. Auflage, Münster 1994.


External links


Farmhouses in Lower Saxony
(main focus on the ''Fachhallenhaus'' with distribution map, photographs and sketches - German)

* ttp://www.fachwerk-lehmbau.de/page.19.html Floor plan at Fachwerk-Lehmbau.de - German
Timber framed and ''Fachhallenhaus'' buildings in Altes Land (Stade) - German



A Low German house in the Weser-Ems region - German
{{Authority control Culture of Lower Saxony Houses in Germany Architecture in Germany House styles Farmhouses Vernacular architecture Barns Timber framed buildings