Earth cellar

Entrance of an earth cellar, former colony at Louisenbade, Koloniestraße Berlin

Inside of an earth cellar, former colony at Louisenbade Berlin

An earth cellar , also known as a natural cellar , has a floor that makes contact with the earth, so that the surrounding air humidity of the earth and its low temperature can penetrate the storage room unhindered. Archaeological studies show that people stored food in cool caves long ago.

Stock keeping

There are examples that this form of cooling goes back to a long tradition. These can be rooms that are located directly in a building, or those that were laid out a little apart or occur naturally. An earth cellar is a storage room that is either below ground level or covered with earth. It has a connection to the ground and does not border on the heated rooms of a building. The advantage of these rooms is that the temperature inside is three to ten degrees Celsius all year round. The cold and humid climate slows down the ripening process of fresh vegetables and fruit and also almost stops evaporation. This means that the supplies stay fresh longer than if they were stored in the refrigerator.

In 2008, two early Roman earth cellars were discovered during excavations near Linz, the contents of which had been preserved.
In the High Middle Ages, farms with associated earth cellars can be proven.
In Sweden, Erdkeller ( Swedish: Jordkällare ) were the preferred means of storing perishable goods until the invention of modern refrigerators. They are now back in fashion. Old cellars are being renovated or offered as kits.

In addition to storage, these rooms can also be used for frost-free wintering of plants or are ideal for storing wine.

Open-air cellar

A storage room located separately from other buildings can be found on a slope, which is then expanded with side masonry and vaulted ceilings. The vault is then covered again with the ground. Old earth cellars are often located near fruit and vegetable gardens on the edge of a settlement, with the entrance to the cellar facing the path and leading to the cellar as a downward sloping corridor after a brick entrance gate.

literature

Claudia Lorenz-Ladener: Natural cellar . Conversion and new construction of rooms for fresh storage of fruit and vegetables, 1st edition. Ökobuch Verlag, Staufen near Freiburg 1990, Survival Press ISBN 3-922964-50-8 .
Hubert Palm: The cooling cellar . In: The healthy house: the sick house and its healing . Reichl Verlag, Remagen 1992, p. 191–192 ( books.google.de ).

swell

Erdmiete – Erdkeller at Der Bio-Gärtner - Organic tastes better , Karl-Heinz Baake
Cool naturally with an earth cellar ndr.de broadcast date: June 21, 2015 11:30 am

Individual evidence

↑ Erwin M Ruprechtsberger, Otto H Urban: Two early Roman earth cellars and their contents: Linz, Keplerwiese 2008 (= Linzer archaeological research . Special issue 44). Magistrate of the state capital Linz, Linz 2010, OCLC 707728552 .
↑ Stefan Graßkamp: The earth cellars of the high medieval desert of Grevenbroich chapels . tape 2004 , 2005, pp. 139-142 .
↑ The earth cellar - renaissance of a cultural asset. pagewizz.com, accessed May 17, 2020 .

[1] Erwin M Ruprechtsberger, Otto H Urban: Two early Roman earth cellars and their contents: Linz, Keplerwiese 2008 (= Linzer archaeological research . Special issue 44). Magistrate of the state capital Linz, Linz 2010, OCLC 707728552 .

[2] Stefan Graßkamp: The earth cellars of the high medieval desert of Grevenbroich chapels . tape 2004 , 2005, pp. 139-142 .

[3] The earth cellar - renaissance of a cultural asset. pagewizz.com, accessed May 17, 2020 .