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79-643: A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes . Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to the established church . Tithe barns were usually associated with the village church or rectory, and independent farmers took their tithes there. The village priests did not have to pay tithes—the purpose of the tithe being their support. Some operated their own farms anyway. The former church property has sometimes been converted to village greens . Many were monastic barns, originally used by

158-800: 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 and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , but also occasionally in Westphalia too. 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

237-555: A dreischiffigen Wohnstallhaus ) that could be found in almost all of northwest Europe in the Early Middle Ages . 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 rafters , but no loft to store the harvest. The outer walls were only made of wattle and daub ( Flechtwerk ). By the Carolingian era, houses built for

316-510: A 12th-century building tradition, also applied in halls and ecclesiastical buildings. In the 15th century several thousands of these huge barns were to be found in Western Europe. In the course of time, its construction method was adopted by normal farms and it gradually spread to simpler buildings and other rural areas. As a rule, the aisled barn had large entrance doors and a passage corridor for loaded wagons. The storage floors between

395-407: 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 with reed; the last remaining examples with that type of roof are usually protected as listed buildings today. The most important feature of the farmhouse, albeit one which is not externally visible,

474-480: 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 . Later the centre posts were omitted to form a triple-aisled longhouse ( dreischiffigen Langhaus , often

553-550: A real barn by first generation colonists from the Netherlands and Germany. In the Yorkshire Dales , England, barns, known locally as cowhouses were built from double stone walls with truffs or throughstones acting as wall ties. In the U.S., older barns were built from timbers hewn from trees on the farm and built as a log crib barn or timber frame , although stone barns were sometimes built in areas where stone

632-505: 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 led to the construction of modern buildings. The old stalls under the eaves were considered too small for today's cattle. Since

711-429: A treated wood frame (old telephone or power poles). By the 1960s it was found that cattle receive sufficient shelter from trees or wind fences (usually wooden slabs 20% open). In older style North American barns, the upper area was used to store hay and sometimes grain. This is called the mow (rhymes with cow) or the hayloft . A large door at the top of the ends of the barn could be opened up so that hay could be put in

790-400: A visual inspection of the building itself, noting (for example) reused timbers, former floors, partitions, doors and windows. The arrangement of the buildings within the farmstead can also yield valuable information on the historical farm usage and landscape value. Linear farmsteads were typical of small farms, where there was an advantage to having cattle and fodder within one building, due to

869-563: 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 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 region to western Mecklenburg the Low German house was the dominant type of farmhouse. Further east it

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948-521: Is a type of timber-framed 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

1027-665: Is found in the marsh regions and, later, also on the geest areas of West Flanders , Frisia as far as Schleswig-Holstein (known there as a Haubarg ). It had replaced the Old Frisian farmhouse in the 16th century. Another northern neighbour in the Southern Schleswig area is the Geesthardenhaus , which also occurs in the whole of Jutland and hence is also called the Cimbrian farmhouse . Externally

1106-402: 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,

1185-465: Is rare. 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

1264-551: Is similar in construction to the neolithic longhouse, although there is no evidence of a direct connexion. The longhouse 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 . The longhouse differed from later types of house in that it had

1343-548: 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

1422-737: Is that ferric oxide acts a preservative and so painting a barn with it would help to protect the structure. The custom of painting barns in red with white trim is widely spread in Scandinavia . Especially in Sweden the Falu red with white trims is the traditional colouring of most wooden buildings. With the popularity of tractors following World War II many barns were taken down or replaced with modern Quonset huts made of plywood or galvanized steel. Beef ranches and dairies began building smaller loftless barns often of Quonset huts or of steel walls on

1501-467: 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. 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

1580-540: The Zweiständerhaus (two-post farmhouse) and the Vierständerhaus (four-post farmhouse). The Dreiständerhaus (three-post farmhouse) is a transitional design. 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

1659-512: 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

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1738-636: The Frisian farmhouse or Gulf house and the Black Forest house . Not all, however, evolved from the medieval barn. Other types descended from the prehistoric longhouse or other building traditions. One of the latter was the Low German (hall) house , in which the harvest was stored in the attic. In many cases, the New World colonial barn evolved from the Low German house, which was transformed to

1817-480: 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

1896-641: 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 there are none in the Magdeburg Börde and only a few in the Altmark . This style of house typically appears in the following regions: The Low German house occurs more or less in

1975-591: 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. 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

2054-418: The threshing 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 would be kept near the entrance way at the edges of the hall. From the outset pigs were banished to separate sheds outside

2133-512: The 1880s. Many barns had owl holes to allow for access by barn owls, encouraged to aid vermin control. The stable is typically the second-oldest building type on the farm. They were well built and placed near the house due to the value that the horses had as draught animals Modern granaries were built from the 18th century. Complete granary interiors, with plastered walls and wooden partitioning to grain bins, are very rare. Longhouses are an ancient building where people and animals used

2212-556: The 19th century, this rural, agricultural farmhouse style was widely distributed through the North German Plain , all the way from the Lower Rhine to Mecklenburg . Even today, the Fachhallenhaus still characterises the appearance of many north German villages. The German name, Fachhallenhaus , is a regional variation of the term Hallenhaus (" hall house ", sometimes qualified as the "Low Saxon hall house"). In

2291-712: 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

2370-592: The Jennings Barn claimed his design used less lumber, less work, less time, and less cost to build and were durable and provided more room for hay storage. Mechanization on the farm, better transportation infrastructure, and new technology like a hay fork mounted on a track contributed to a need for larger, more open barns, sawmills using steam power could produce smaller pieces of lumber affordably, and machine cut nails were much less expensive than hand-made (wrought) nails. Concrete block began to be used for barns in

2449-477: 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,

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2528-477: 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

2607-642: The Medieval period and may be called "tithe barns" by their owners or councils. These include: Barn (building) The word barn comes from the Old English bere , for barley (or grain in general), and aern , for a storage place—thus, a storehouse for barley. The word bere-ern , also spelled bern and bearn , is attested to at least sixty times in homilies and other Old English prose . The related words bere-tun and bere-flor both meant threshing floor. Bere-tun also meant granary ;

2686-733: The Middle Ages is less well understood than might be expected, and the subject abounds with myths (for example, not one of England's surviving architecturally impressive barns was a tithe barn, although such barns existed)". There are surviving examples of medieval barns in England, some of them known as "tithe barns". English Heritage established criteria to determine if barns were used as tithe barns. The total number of surviving medieval barns (dated up to 1550) in Britain may be estimated about 200. There are many extant barns that date from after

2765-555: 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 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) apart. This was also used as a measure of house size: the smallest only had 2 bays, the largest, with 10 bays, were about 25 metres (82 ft) long. The term Halle (" hall ") refers to

2844-488: The area. Building methods include earth walling and thatching . Buildings in stone and brick, roofed with tile or slate, increasingly replaced buildings in clay, timber and thatch from the later 18th century. Metal roofs started to be used from the 1850s. The arrival of canals and railways brought about transportation of building materials over greater distances. Clues determining their age and historical use can be found from old maps, sale documents, estate plans, and from

2923-678: The areas settled by the Germanic tribes of the Saxons , thus leading its popular name, Low Saxon House, or Niedersachsenhaus , which is based on the Old Saxon cultural region of Low Germany. 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 near Stade . On these, the gable facing

3002-463: 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

3081-460: 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

3160-453: 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 . 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

3239-515: The cellar or on the main level depending in the type of barn. Other common areas, or features, of an American barn include: The physics term " barn ", which is a subatomic unit of area, 10 m , came from experiments with uranium nuclei during World War II, wherein they were described colloquially as "big as a barn", with the measurement officially adopted to maintain security around nuclear weapons research. Barns have been classified by their function , structure, location, or other features. Sometimes

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3318-475: The central posts or in the aisles were known as bays or mows (from Middle French moye ). The main types were large barns with sideway passages, compact barns with a central entrance and smaller barns with a transverse passage. The latter also spread to Eastern Europe. Whenever stone walls were applied, the aisled timber frame often gave way to single-naved buildings. A special type were byre-dwellings , which included living quarters, byres and stables, such as

3397-469: The colder climate. Dispersed clusters of unplanned groups were more widespread. Loose courtyard plans built around a yard were associated with bigger farms, whereas carefully laid out courtyard plans designed to minimize waste and labour were built in the latter part of the 18th century. The barns are typically the oldest and biggest buildings to be found on the farm. Many barns were converted into cow houses and fodder processing and storage buildings after

3476-582: The early 20th century in the U.S. Modern barns are more typically steel buildings. From about 1900 to 1940, many large dairy barns were built in northern USA. These commonly have gambrel or hip roofs to maximize the size of the hay loft above the dairy roof, and have become associated in the popular image of a dairy farm . The barns that were common to the wheatbelt held large numbers of pulling horses such as Clydesdales or Percherons . These large wooden barns, especially when filled with hay , could make spectacular fires that were usually total losses for

3555-513: The farm comprises several buildings with different functions, usually around a farmyard. The Low German house first emerged towards the end of the Middle Ages . 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 , which dates back to 1262 and

3634-489: The farmers. With the advent of balers it became possible to store hay and straw outdoors in stacks surrounded by a plowed fireguard. Many barns in the northern United States are painted barn red with a white trim. One possible reason for this is that ferric oxide , which is used to create red paint, was the cheapest and most readily available chemical for farmers in New England and nearby areas. Another possible reason

3713-419: 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

3792-455: 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 cauldrons , 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

3871-486: 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

3950-417: The larger four-post farmhouses ( Vierständerhäuser ) sometimes formed a sort of gallery. 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

4029-701: 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

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4108-454: 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 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

4187-616: The literal translation of bere-tun is "grain enclosure". While the only literary attestation of bere-hus (also granary) comes from the Dialogi of Gregory the Great , there are four known mentions of bere-tun and two of bere-flor . A Thesaurus of Old English lists bere-ærn and melu-hudern ("meal-store house") as synonyms for barn. The modern barn largely developed from the three aisled medieval barn, commonly known as tithe barn or monastic barn. This, in turn, originated in

4266-549: The livestock sheds. 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 museums like the Detmold_Open-air_Museum ( Westfälisches Freilichtmuseum Detmold ) in Detmold and

4345-497: The living room side was only decorated in a few cases, for example, in the Vierlande where it was on the road-facing side. 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. The largest and most important room in

4424-406: The loft. The hay was hoisted into the barn by a system containing pulleys and a trolley that ran along a track attached to the top ridge of the barn. Trap doors in the floor allowed animal feed to be dropped into the mangers for the animals. In New England it is common to find barns attached to the main farmhouse ( connected farm architecture ), allowing for chores to be done while sheltering

4503-411: 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

4582-487: The monastery itself or by a monastic grange . The word 'grange' is (indirectly) derived from Latin granarium (' granary '). Identical barns were found on royal domains and country estates. The medieval aisled barn was developed in the 12th and 13th centuries, following the examples of royal halls , hospitals and market halls. Its predecessors included Roman horrea and Neolithic long houses . According to English Heritage , "exactly how barns in general were used in

4661-404: 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 By the end of the 19th century this type of farmhouse was outmoded. What was once its greatest advantage – having everything under

4740-428: 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. The Low German house had

4819-444: The panels of which were originally filled in with willow wickerwork and clay ( wattle and daub ) 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

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4898-452: 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: Niedersachsenhaus is the most widespread and commonly used term, even though it is not strictly correct from an academic point of view. 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

4977-453: The road were steeply pitched, made of coloured brickwork and is often projecting. In addition the facades were decorated with neoclassical and renaissance designs of the Gründerzeit 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. On

5056-416: The same building falls into multiple categories. Old farm buildings of the countryside contribute to the landscape, and help define the history of the location, i.e. how farming took place in the past, and how the area has been settled throughout the ages. They also can show the agricultural methods, building materials, and skills that were used. Most were built with materials reflecting the local geology of

5135-925: The same entrance. These can still be seen, for example, in North Germany, where the Low Saxon house occurs. Few interiors of the 19th century cow houses have survived unaltered due to dairy-hygiene regulations in many countries. Old farm buildings may show the following signs of deterioration: rotting in timber-framed constructions due to damp, cracks in the masonry from movement of the walls, e.g. ground movement, roofing problems (e.g. outward thrust of it, deterioration of purlins and gable ends), foundation problems, penetration of tree roots; lime mortar being washed away due to inadequate weather-protection. Walls made of cob , earth mortars or walls with rubble cores are all highly vulnerable to water penetration, and replacement or covering of breathable materials with cement or damp-proofing materials may trap moisture within

5214-415: 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. 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

5293-603: 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 ( Gulfhaus ) or Frisian farmstead ( Ostfriesenhaus ) which

5372-400: The space (up to 2.5 metres (8.2 ft)) 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 or bricks. One bay may be two or rarely three Gefache wide. In

5451-419: The stalls and living quarters of the Hallenhaus . In this way, hay stored in the loft could be dried out and protected from vermin 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

5530-559: 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 . Other decorations or mottos are usually found as inscriptions over the entranceway. The lintel gives

5609-461: The walls. In England and Wales some of these historical buildings have been given " listed building " status, which provides them some degree of archaeological protection. Some grant schemes are available to restore Historic Farmland buildings, for example Natural England 's Environmental Stewardship , Countryside Stewardship and Environmentally Sensitive Areas Schemes . Low German house The Low German house or Fachhallenhaus

5688-581: The worker from the weather. In the middle of the twentieth century the large broad roof of barns were sometimes painted with slogans in the United States. Most common of these were the 900 barns painted with ads for Rock City . In the past barns were often used for communal gatherings, such as barn dances . A farm may have buildings of varying shapes and sizes used to shelter large and small animals and other uses. The enclosed pens used to shelter large animals are called stalls and may be located in

5767-452: Was a cheaper building material. In the mid to late 19th century in the U.S. barn framing methods began to shift away from traditional timber framing to "truss framed" or "plank framed" buildings. Truss or plank framed barns reduced the number of timbers instead using dimensional lumber for the rafters, joists, and sometimes the trusses. The joints began to become bolted or nailed instead of being mortised and tenoned. The inventor and patentee of

5846-412: 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

5925-468: 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. The Low German house

6004-519: 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. 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 when the demand for living comfort grew, were separate rooms built at

6083-572: Was found as far as the Danzig Bay , but manor houses ( Gutshaus ) and farm workers houses were more common. In Schleswig-Holstein it was found mostly south of the Eider river , the old border with Denmark . In northern Sauerland and the Weser Uplands 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

6162-572: 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

6241-402: Was the extraction of smoke through a flue . 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 heated from

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