Sachsenhof open-air museum
The Sachsenhof open-air museum in Greven -Pentrup is a reconstruction of a 1200-year-old early medieval Saxon farm complex with cultivation trials of cultivated plants and wild herbs from that time.
In 1973 the Westphalian Museum of Archeology in Münster began excavations in the Münster-Gittrup sand mining area. At this point there were not only traces of early medieval but also older prehistoric life, ranging from Ice Age Neanderthals , who were hunters and gatherers, to the Neolithic farming population (graves of the funnel cup culture) to people of the pre-Roman Iron Age (large urn cemetery) . In order to make the importance of the archaeological investigations and the knowledge gained from them understandable to visitors during the ongoing excavations, the reconstruction of an early medieval Saxon courtyard from the 6th - 8th century AD began in 1983 in the immediate vicinity of the excavation area . The Heimatverein Greven e. V. took over the main building from Gittrup in 1987 because of the lease agreement that was about to expire, demolished it on site and then rebuilt it in Greven-Pentrup on the banks of the Ems together with the city of Greven and the Office for Monument Preservation, Münster. About 1 km south of this new location, traces of buildings and everyday objects belonging to Saxon farmers were also discovered in the Wentrup peasantry in 1987 during desanding work. Since spring 1988, based on the original findings from the excavation in Gittrup, this Saxon farm has been built in the immediate vicinity of the Ems . These findings were dark discolorations in the ground, which indicated the traces of former posts ( post pit ).
The owner of this facility is the city of Greven and the operator of the Greven local history association, in particular the Sachsenhof working group. The Office for Monument Preservation in Münster has taken over the scientific management.
The focus of the facility is the main house as a residential and stable house. This approximately 18 m long post house with its ship-shaped curved longitudinal walls, inclined outer posts and its column-free interior is characteristic of the houses of the Saxons in the early Middle Ages . From pastures braided walls are covered with a clay plaster provided.
That with thatched roofed hipped roof extends far beyond the walls out so that the impregnation down burnt oak pole and mud walls are not wet, providing extended.
A pit house , a barn and a Heuberg are other buildings on the farm, just as several outbuildings are needed today for a farmhouse. The Saxons used the pit houses, which were sunk up to 1 m into the earth, as craft houses. Finds of footprints from former looms as well as clay loom weights and spindle whorls show that they were very often used for textile manufacture.
The Germanic people's rights put these mine houses under their special protection. Some excavation finds show that they were often secured with locks because of their valuable content. Heuberge are storage areas for hay and grain with vertically movable roofs. This allowed them to be flexibly adapted to the respective harvest volume.
Craftsmen's workshops such as a pottery kiln and a racing kiln , which were reconstructed according to archaeological findings, complete the complex because, with a few exceptions, the people of that time had to provide for themselves with everything they needed for their lives.
One focus of the work at Sachsenhof is the annual cultivation of useful and cultivated plants in the garden and field as well as wild herbs that accompany the fields .
The bronze casting , the tar production, the production of cooking oil with a wedge press and the turning with a rocking lathe complete the activities at the Sachsenhof.
In the garden you will find culinary herbs , medicinal plants and coloring plants . Grains and pulses, the basis of the food of that time, oil , starch and fiber plants are grown in the field. Covered hedge plants, fruit and other trees grow in the wall.
Plants from the Mediterranean region also grow on the complex, which were spread in the later early Middle Ages through the activities of the monasteries after the Christianization of the country ( Capitulare de villis of Charlemagne ).
Another focus is the cultivation of flax for the production of the textile fiber linen and the cultivation of dye plants for dyeing wool and linen. Of particular note is woad, which provided the blue color for textiles for centuries before indigo came to Europe in the 16th century.
Action days
Every year, the Sachsenhof working group organizes an action day on which visitors are shown practical activities on the Sachsenhof facility, such as dyeing linen. Outside of the action days, visitors can also take part in seasonal activities such as sowing and harvesting as well as the maintenance and repair of buildings and workshops.
Others
The main house burned down in 1991 and was then rebuilt. On the night of November 1, 2016, a barn at the Sachsenhof open-air museum caught fire. This was also rebuilt.
The Sachsenhof open-air museum is a sight along the Ems cycle path .
literature
- Nicole Ellermann, The Sachsenhof in Greven. 1998
Web links
- Homepage of the Sachsenhof
- Sachsenhof Greven on the homepage of the "Association of European Open-Air Museums (EXARC)" (English)
- https://www.greven.net/freizeit_kultur_tourismus/kultur/sachsenhof.php
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://www.wn.de/Muensterland/Kreis-Steinfurt/Greven/2016/11/2586394-Feuer-im-Freilichtmuseum-Sachsenhof-Scheune-abgebrannt-Vermutlich-Brandstiftung
- ↑ https://www.emsradweg.de/orte/greven.html#c394
Coordinates: 52 ° 7 ′ 36.9 ″ N , 7 ° 36 ′ 58 ″ E