The gable is protected by wooden boards.
Going for a walk recently we came upon this old house. I’m always curious when I see clay-infill or earthen plasters, so the exposed bits of earth caught my interest right away.
Post and beam on the ground floor
I’ve learned a bit about the local historical buildings too and could tell that this was what they call “Umgebindehaus”, where on the ground floor you see wooden posts and beams in the face of the wall behind which lies the livingroom (Stube) made of heavy wooden slabs that are covered on the outside by earth. The upper story is built on top of the post and beam structure, in local Timberframe (Fachwerk) style, also with earthen infill.
On the sides the Timberframe is visible
The corner post is mostly missing. Notice the Earthen wall against the woodslabs of the living quarters.
Once it was cozy inside with double windows to keep the cold out
The owner’s dog was alerted by our looking at the front corner, which in turn alerted the young woman living in the new building behind the old house. She called out “Are you interested?” And when I explained my curiosity she invited us in to have a closer look.
“We’re trying to give it away”, she said, “it’s under protection as heritage building (Dekmalschutz), so we can’t tear it down. “
There had been interested parties – someone wanted to take out the “Bohlenstube” –the wooden livingroom- but then decided against it.
The old Livingroom with typical ceiling boards is still in good condition
“You can take away the upstairs pieces and rebuild it somewhere else” she went on.
Upstairs we noticed that this building is seriously threatened: the roof is leaking in one place and on the other side the wall is open and the earth is getting wet and falling onto the floor. Nobody is fixing it- instead a new building was built behind for the family to live in.
Wattle and Daub wall comes apart due to broken roof
Sadly, this is not an isolated case: in this region rich with historic buildings, there are many in poor repair. Owners of heritage buildings must negotiate any changes with the department for heritage buildings. Unfortunately this often blocks good ideas, and discourages good intentions in the name of protection.
But when people can’t make changes (to increase ceiling height, create more windows, add pieces) then these building get left to break down and rot. And so they stand witness not to the beauty of former building skills but to a lack of positive cooperation on the part of those that are supposed to be their protectors.
One outcome of this conflict of interests is a very low market value of heritage homes.
In the case of the one we looked at: take it away for 1 Euro.
Should you be interested in contacting the owners, please email me