Historic houses in Quakenbrück

The Große Kirchstraße has hardly changed over the centuries.

First half of the 19th century. One of the last large half-timbered buildings in the tradition of merchant houses now houses the city museum.

Former half-timbered hall house 1655 (shortly before its renovation in 2008)

Refurbished former hall house

Merchant's house in the second half of the 18th century: Emphasized horizontal structure through cornices, textile wall treatment through shingling, curved gable lines with crane beams , wide gate with magnificent skylight

The historic houses of Quakenbrück shape the townscape within the historic city center. The city has around 100 half-timbered houses from different centuries and in different shapes, which make it unique in western Lower Saxony . Quakenbrück is therefore often referred to in tourist publications as Rothenburg des Nordens .

The oldest houses with their protruding gables are based on the rural architecture. The former agricultural town is clearly reflected here, for example in the house Koppelmann (corner of Lange Straße, Bahnhofstraße) or various buildings in Kuhstraße and at St. Antoniort, where even houses from the late 18th century still have the large entrance gate in their center. The stock exchange on the market with its semicircular stand feet on the first floor, which was characteristic of Quakenbrück in the past, is one of the older protruding houses . There, as in the Sylvester Church and on farm furniture, the Artländer dragon appears. An example of a two-story projecting house is the corner house Hopfenblüte (corner of Lange Straße, Alençoner Straße) from 1661, in which the lower projection was moved to the eaves side .

The houses of the 18th century are designed completely differently. Quakenbrück had meanwhile developed into a trading town and so the houses built at that time have hatches on the upper floor and an elevator beam above. This can be seen, for example, at House Mark 7, today's city museum. The individual floors no longer protrude, but are structured by profiled cornices - easy to recognize at the Schröderhaus, Markt 7 with its volute-crowned gable.

Typical for Quakenbrück are the mostly windowless, but with skylight front doors with brass fittings. Some houses still have the Utlucht , a bay-shaped porch that protrudes to the side and provides a view of the long side of the street. Many houses are characterized by decorative gables and a pronounced horizontal structure.

The timber-frame tradition continues through the 19th century to the present day. As a result of the urban redevelopment from 1988 to 1992, several buildings could be brought back to their historical status. However, extensive conservation measures over the past decades could not prevent the city from suffering considerable losses of historical building stock, especially in the post-war innovation euphoria.

Classicist trading house (today City Museum)

Since 1983 the city museum on the market square has been housed in the two-storey gabled house from around 1790, which was built in the classical style. The house still has the original front door. All-round protruding cornices separate the four floors from each other. The gable end, from the top of which the crane beam protrudes for lifting loads from the two storage hatches on the stacking floors, is symmetrically divided into five axes by small windows . The eaves side facing the marketplace is also five-axis.

After the trading house was closed in 1841, the building served as the Hotel Artland'scher Hof (until 1893) and Artländer Hof (until 1921). On the first floor of the hotel there was a large hall, in which club parties could take place and plays and concerts were performed. In 1921 the city acquired the house and built six small apartments in it. In the course of the rededication as a museum, the original room layout was largely restored.

literature

• Horst-Rüdiger Jarck (ed.): Quakenbrück. From the border fortress to the commercial center. For the 750th anniversary celebration (= Osnabrück historical sources and research. 25). City of Quakenbrück, Quakenbrück 1985, ISBN 3-9800335-3-8 .
• Heinrich Böning: Art guide Bersenbrücker Land (= home yesterday and today. Communications of the district home association Bersenbrück. 19). 2nd, expanded edition. Thoben, Quakenbrück 1993, ISBN 3-921176-48-4 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Heinrich Böning: Art Guide Bersenbrücker Land (= home yesterday and today. Communications of the district home association Bersenbrück. 19). 2nd, expanded edition. Thoben, Quakenbrück 1993, ISBN 3-921176-48-4 , p. 120 f.