Point 10 - HALF-TIMBERED HOUSES

HALF-TIMBERED HOUSES

In former times, this type of houses was widespread. Today, only in the border triangle of Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic are there still a large number of half-timbered houses and they are a characteristic part of many places.

"UMBINDEN" means that a load-bearing supporting structure encloses a self-supporting structure behind it, usually a timbered log or plank room.

The half-timbered house belongs to the type of harvest house - an elongated residential and stable house.

Over the centuries, the half-timbered house has been increasingly refined and decorated with notches or profiles. A beautiful element of many Umgebinde houses is the door frame made of natural stone, usually with the year of construction and the initials of the owner.

Also typical are the ornamental window frames as well as wooden boarding on the upper storey and/or gable and patterned slate wall hangings.

Occasionally, suns (ray-shaped wooden shuttering on the gable), lightning serpents and sundials are to be found. If such elements were particularly ornate, they often provided information about the social status of the owner.

There are 72 Umgebindehäuser in Schirgiswalde (as of 2017), With a lot of commitment from a non-profit association, the building in Rämischstraße 23 (1772), which was threatened by demolition, has been restored since 2017 and will be open to the public in the future.

There you can find out all you need to know about the diversity of Umgebinde architecture.