Graves
Gruppen is the Westphalian name for a moat that originally surrounded a noble residence for defense purposes. In later times, graves could be part of the garden design in the vicinity of moated castles. In some of the aristocratic residences, the moat was also the mill pond for the stately grain mill as a ban mill .
Rural farms were also often surrounded by moats in the northern half of Westphalia. The highest density of such Grautenhöfe was around 1820 between the Ruhr and Lippe and in the central Münsterland .
In Soest , the former moat of the city fortifications has been drained; in its place there is now a kind of promenade at the foot of the ramparts. The green area and path are still referred to as moats today.
Word origin
The former Low German word Graft for ditch and the Dutch canal are related. The difference arose from the sound shift from ft to cht .
Web links
- Werner Bockholt, Peter Weber: Grautenhöfe in Münsterland - a typical rural form of settlement in transition. Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe, March 22, 2007 .
- Bruno Bosy: Water supply on Eiderstedt in the North Frisian marshland: drainage of the marshland land reclamation. In: Bosy-online. March 22, 2007 .