Settlement structure on Gotland

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The settlement structure on Gotland , a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea , has undergone few changes in the country over the past millennia. The term settlement structure describes the distribution of the population in the area, the type and density of development, the uses, the infrastructure and the central facilities.

prehistory

The oldest remains of Gotlandic settlement date from the time around the birth of Christ. It is about 1,800 stone foundations, which can be up to 60 m long ( Stavars hus ) and whose wall thickness is between 0.9 and 1.5 m. These houses are popularly known as “megalithic tombs” (“Kämpgravar” in Gotland). The large ones provided space for the living area and the cattle shed. A steep roof supported on the inside by double rows of strong posts rested on the stone foundations. Perhaps the roof was already covered with "Ag" ( German  rush edge), a half-grass from the moors that is roofing material to this day. You can get an idea of ​​what such a house might have looked like at the reconstructed Lojsta hall . There are 11 interesting old settlements on the island:

  • Alvena Lindaräng in Vallstena,
  • Änggårde in Buttle,
  • Fall in Tingstaed ,
  • Fjales in Ala ,
  • Gervide in Sjonhem,
  • Pankar in Grötlingbo.
  • Solsänget in Levide-Sproge,
  • Stavgard ( Stavars hus ) in Burs
  • In Hejnum,
  • Vallhagar in Fröjel,
  • Visne Ängar in Alskog.

The houses were near the fields and pastures. They were dependent on fresh water taken from the "bryor" (pools of water). Food that the sea gave to fish and birds complemented the diet.

In the small fields protected from cattle and game by stone fences, barley , wheat and rye were mainly grown . 200 areas with remains of old fences and field systems, so-called "Fornäckrar", from the Bronze and Iron Ages still exist today. The cattle were kept on unfenced common land. There were cows, sheep, pigs, goats and chickens in the prehistoric settlement of Vallhagar.

Many farms were abandoned in the 6th century. There is uncertainty about the occasion. It was a decrease in population caused by plague, war or bad harvests. Those courtyards that continued to exist can generally still be found today. The construction of the houses changed. They were made smaller and made of wood. As is customary today, the various functions on the farms were given a special house. 5–6 houses per yard seem to have been common. A stable, a barn and a house with a smithy or brewery were built.

From the Viking Age and the Early Middle Ages there are remains of wooden houses in plank construction, the so-called "Bulhus". The oldest have corner posts anchored in the ground with planks ("bular") that are inserted into the posts' grooves. The house appears to have been a small, undemanding structure, such as can be found on Fjäle in Ala.

middle Ages

During the Middle Ages (1050–1500 AD) the premises were roughly the same as before. The settlement was moved to drier soils and the water supply was created through wells . There are no signs of changes in agriculture. Livestock farming remained more important than growing grain.

The medieval peasants became wealthy through sideline business and trade ; they were called peasant traders . The Baltic Sea trade with foreign coasts was already an important part of livelihood from the Roman Empire (see Gudme ). From the Vendel era in 550 AD through the Viking Age to the 14th century, Gotland was an important trading center. The Gotlanders built z. B. in Holmgard and Lübeck trading houses that were called Gotenhof. Large fortunes were accumulated on the farms, as evidenced by the Viking Age silver treasures ( hoard from Havor , hoard from Spillings ), which were buried on Gotland. The surplus flowed into the construction of churches in the 12th century .

The farms remained individual farms. The distance to the neighbor could be great. Curonian weapons and jewelry from the 10th century (decorative needles, fibulas and swords) were found on the Gotland coast. In Hugleifs, near Silte, a woman's grave contained typical Curonian jewelry. The grave documents the presence of cures on the island. The same decorative needles and swords can also be found in large numbers in the vicinity of Klaipėda and Kretinga . The finds on Gotland and Öland as well as in the central Swedish Uppland indicate trade relations with the Baltic in the 10th and 11th centuries.

The Gotland farm was surrounded by houses with closed outer sides or high fences, so-called “Standtun”. Defensive towers made of stone were built in exposed locations. The Kattlunds-Hof in the municipality of Grötlingbo gives an indication of what a medieval farm looked like. The medieval cattle shed and parts of the house still exist here.

When stone churches began to be built in the 12th century, farmers also built their first stone houses. Farm names like Stenstugu, Stenstugards, Stenhuse come from this time. Stone farmhouses have a long history on Gotland, and around 200 have been preserved as ruins. This is where the island differs from the simultaneous construction on the mainland. In addition to the typical courtyard buildings, the courtyards now had a shop made of stone, either as an extension to the residential building or as a separate building. There are still free-standing shops on Lauksgärd in Lokrume, on Sojdeby in Fole and on Bringes in Norrlanda. They are similar in structure and consist of two floors with an attic and two rooms per floor. Some buildings were used as meeting or guest rooms. Bringes in Norrlanda has magnificent gallery windows, which speaks for a ballroom and living space. The Gotlanders attached great importance to a meeting house. Often several farms had one thing together.

Houses were also built from stone. It stands to reason that the availability of stone or wood determined the choice of building material. Carl von Linné wrote about the municipalities of Sundre and Vamlingbo: "... one might conclude that all the farms in these places were equipped with stone houses."

Stora Hästnäs

The stone houses resembled the wooden houses in their layout. As the ambitions of the farmer traders grew, the apartment was given more rooms and upper floors. A well-preserved 13th century farmer's house is on Vatlings in Fole. It consists of a three-storey building with a hall and pantry on the ground floor, a meeting room on the first floor and a floor on the upper floor. Outwardly, the house looks like a small church. It is tall and narrow, has a steep roof, a beautiful portal in the gable end and small arched windows. Another medieval house, which was influenced by the town development of Visby , is located at Stora Hästnäs north of Visby.

The stone houses were built to be solid, fire-proof and as impregnable as possible, with few window and door openings. There are still a few stone defense towers in the courtyards. They belong to the 12th century and are the oldest surviving houses in the country. Remains of such towers can be seen at Fardume slott in the parish of Rute and other forts in the parish of Vamlingbo.

Farm buildings could also be made of stone and thus contribute to making the yard safer. Access to the courtyard was possible through an entrance gate in the stable-barn part (e.g. Kattlunds in Grötlingbo) or through a stately arched stone gate as on Riddare in Hejnum, Kopungs in Gothem and on the parish farms of Bro, Garde, Gothem and Tingstäde. Instead, high sandstone goalposts were built on South Gotland. A court cross belonged to the court. Now there are only a few left, e.g. B. on Lauks in Lokrume.

From the middle of the 14th century, stone house building ceased in the rural regions of Gotland. The Baltic trade changed to the detriment of the island, and the plague seems to have hit the population hard. Smaller yards were abandoned. In 1361 Waldemar Atterdag conquered the island, which came under Danish rule for almost 300 years . The changes in the structure of the settlement were minor as there was probably not much construction. This only happened again in connection with the court divisions of the 17th century, which also led to land surveying. At that time, shapes were also adopted from the mainland. Much was built of wood, using old plank construction. What the houses looked like can be seen today in the open-air museum in Bunge or in Norrlanda Fornstuga .

The usual type of construction remained the plank construction technique. Timbered houses appeared. However, the technique was called the "Swedish style". The roofs of the farm buildings were covered with "Ag", the residential houses with boards, stone slabs or stone tiles. The entrance was moved to the long side. The stone houses experienced a renaissance around 1750. To protect the tree population, the state granted those who built in stone a 20-year tax reduction. This provision was very important for Gotland. The preserved remains of medieval houses could relatively easily be converted into a double room with two floors. However, those forms prevailed that had found their way into wooden house construction during earlier centuries. The double-room house with a new room (good room) on one side and an everyday room on the other, with a hallway and chamber in between, became the usual way of living. Depending on the possibility, the houses were built with a second floor. It is amazing that such large houses were built, because the country was poor. The farm units were small in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Until the mid-19th century, a large part of Gotland consisted of forest, bog and stony areas. Then the situation improved for many farmers. The moors were drained and turned into arable and meadow areas. A comprehensive reform of the cultivation methods followed. The soil was used more effectively by changing the seeds instead of leaving the field fallow for a while. Agriculture was mechanized.

Population increase and small house construction

The settlement of other places began with the mills and sawmills , the lime industry and the railroad . The island's population also increased noticeably by 1880. The courtyards near the church became more densely populated with homes. In the course of the processing of raw materials, small industrial locations were created. Settlement developed on the outer land areas of the farms, on the edges of the forest, along the major roads and at the railway junctions. With home construction at the turn of the 20th century, houses also changed. They were influenced by the general contemporary style. Wooden houses with panels on the outside walls and extensive carpentry work on the facade became common. What was specifically Gotland took a back seat. Today most of the small houses that are newly built are type houses. At the initiative of the building authorities, however, some house variants were adapted to the Gotland building tradition. The room layout and the construction methods are modern, but one tries to tie in with the exterior of the traditional building.

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