Gulf house
The Gulfhaus , also known as the Gulfhof or Ostfriesenhaus , is a type of farmhouse that emerged in northern Germany in the 16th and 17th centuries . It is a wooden scaffolding in post construction . The Gulfhaus first spread in the marshes and then in the Frisian Geest areas . The distribution area extended in the North Sea coastal area from West Flanders via Holland , East Friesland and Oldenburg to Schleswig-Holstein (as Haubarg ). This line was interrupted by the Elbe-Weser triangle , in which the shape of the (Low German) hall house , better known as the Lower Saxony house , was preserved.
The oldest Gulfhaus known so far in East Friesland is the Gulfhof Rieken in Westerende-Kirchloog , the hall part of which dates from 1568.
Emergence
The Gulfhaus owes its creation to economic factors. The predecessor of the Gulfhaus was the old Frisian farmhouse , which, like the Gulfhaus, was a stable house . These small buildings were sufficient for the farmers, as there was no large harvest to be stored. Grain cultivation was only possible on a few high-lying areas, while the insufficiently drained marshes were only suitable as grass and pasture land. Thanks to improved drainage techniques with wind-water mills, fertile, lower lying marshland areas could later be drained and large areas used for growing grain. A house with a large capacity was necessary to salvage the growing quantities of harvest, from which the Gulfhaus was created.
construction
The typical Gulf house consists of a front building ( Low German : Vörderenn '), which represents the residential wing, and the adjacent stable / barn wing ( Low German : Achterenn'). The fact that the roof is pulled down further in the rear creates off-sides, so-called "ūtkübben", so that the barn wing is wider than the residential wing. The center of the stable / barn wing is formed by the "Gulf", a storage area for hay, crops and equipment, from which this type of house owes its name.
In one side there are compartments for storing cattle (Low German: Kohstall). The corridor in front of it is called "kaugâng" (Low German: Kohhgang). At the far end there is traditionally the outhouse (gemak). On the gable side of the barn wing there are two doors, a large barn door (Low German: Schküürdör) on one side, which allows access to the threshing floor (Low German: Döschdeel) and the Gulfen, also by car, and a small, two-part door (Low German: Messeldör ) on the other. The latter got its name from the fact that it was used to remove the manure from the "kaugâng" (manure = mäers; clear out = measure).
Often one finds a semicircular window in a metal frame with an interior division in the shape of a stylized rising sun above the large barn door.
The front part of the middle wing, located at the gable, in which the horse stable (Low German: Peerstall) is housed, is separated by a partition wall and is covered so that an additional floor (so-called hiel, Low German: Hill) is created on which more hay is stored for winter feeding .
In this type of construction, the roof load is not borne by the outer walls, but by an internal stud frame (Low German: stapelwark).
The roofing of the residential wing is traditionally done entirely with red clay tiles, while the lower third of the barn wing is covered with these tiles and in the upper area with thatch . The roof is at least on the windward side of the gable (mostly the barn gable), sometimes on both gables as a crooked hip, which is still often crowned by a Maljan .
A special feature of many older Gulfhöfe is the so-called Upkammer (Low German: Upkamer), a room in the residential wing that is higher up than the other rooms because of a semi-above-ground basement below. This often corresponds to a staggered arrangement of the windows in the exterior of such buildings.
The construction plan of the Gulfhaus (occasionally with size or location-related modifications such as a side entrance) is used equally for large courtyard buildings (Low German: plaats) as well as for smaller buildings up to farm workers' houses.
Other uses
The structural change in agriculture and the abandonment of farms offered opportunities to use Gulf farms for purposes other than agricultural. In Loquard ( Krummhörn municipality , Aurich district ) a former Gulfhof was converted into a primary school. In Hollen (municipality of Uplengen , district of Leer ) the local savings bank has moved into a former agricultural Gulfhof. The nature conservation association NABU operates a Gulfhof in Wiegboldsbur (municipality of Südbrookmerland , district of Aurich) as a training center for near-natural agriculture, and in Butjadingen the former Gulfhof Bree is operated as a school camp and youth group house.
The former Gulfhaus von Steenfelde was rebuilt on the historic village square of Grootegaste . The Neemann museum farmhouse is entered through the former barn door. In the rear building of the museum you can see a collection of historical agricultural implements, tools of old handicrafts and peat extraction - from earth carts to a field blacksmith's. In the former stable lane you will find farm equipment and an outhouse with old newspaper. In addition, a mom and pop shop in the former kitchen of the Gulf house and old furniture in the living area can be viewed.
The Gulfhaus on the grounds of the Vechta Citadel has a bizarre history, deep in the former tribal land of the Saxons , where you would not expect any houses in the style typical of the Friesland: The house without living quarters owes its existence to rehabilitation measures in the penal system of the 19th century. An East Frisian prisoner at the Vechta JVA, a carpenter by trade, created the wooden structure during his imprisonment in 1886 in order to transport it home after his release and to complete it with a living area. But the prisoner died during his imprisonment in Vechta, so the building remained on the citadel grounds and served as the institution's own stable building. Today the building, together with a neighboring new building, is known as the “GulfHaus” and is part of a youth center complex operated by the “Haus der Jugend Vechta” company.
Web links
- Gulfhaus in East Friesland (private site)
- Gulfhaus in the Weser-Ems region
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gabriele Boschbach: Alter Gulfhof harbors a small sensation , In: Ostfriesen-Zeitung , September 15, 2018, p. 13.
- ↑ An Upkammer can be viewed as a museum in Westmünsterland (today, however, Wesel district ) in the Humberghaus in Dingden .
- ^ Museum Association of Lower Saxony and Bremen: Museum Farm Neemann.
- ^ House of Youth Vechta GmbH: The Gulf House: Architecture and History ( Memento from March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive )