Ship throat

Ship throat

Ship throats or shuttles are typical decorations on Low German half-timbered houses . The name is derived from the appearance of an inverted ship's keel . The root of the word -kehle stands for the hollow , the rounded bulge of the edge.

There are decorated filler wood between the frame and the lintel and between the ceiling beams on the facade from the period 1525 to 1580; they can still be found in a simpler form in the Renaissance up to around 1640. They replaced the windboards of the Middle Ages. At the same time, buildings were also decorated with dew ribbons. A design as a double ship throat should indicate the wealth of the house owner.