Odenthal Altenbergerdomstr Bergische Metzgerei

The Berg houseAmerican Anthropologist Association (1909). American Anthropologist, Volume 11, p. 728. (german: Bergisches Haus, also ''Bergischer Dreiklang'' or ''Bergische Bauweise'') is a type of

timber framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

house that is widespread in the German region of

Bergisches Land The Bergisches Land (, ''Berg Country'') is a low mountain range region within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains over ...

. Typical of its timber framed post construction are the green

window shutter A window shutter is a solid and stable window covering usually consisting of a frame of vertical stiles and horizontal rails (top, centre and bottom). Set within this frame can be louvers (both operable or fixed, horizontal or vertical), solid p ...

s (''Schlagläden'' in the local dialect), white door

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of w ...

s and

window frame A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent materia ...

s combined with black frame work and white plaster infill, as well as grey-black slate

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

s and/or

rubble stone Rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Analogously, some medieval cathedral walls are outer shells of ashlar with an i ...

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...

. A stone staircase often leads to the front door. The slate façade serves to protect the infill or nogging against the weather and was either applied on the side facing the prevailing wind or on all four sides, depending on the status and wealth of the owner. The slates bear witness to the regional relationship of the houses with the geological unit of the

Rhenish Massif The Rhenish Massif, Rhine Massif or Rhenish Uplands (german: Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, : 'Rhenish Slate Uplands') is a geologic massif in western Germany, eastern Belgium, Luxembourg and northeastern France. It is drained centrally, south to n ...

, known as the Rhenish Slate Mountains (''Rheinisches Schiefergebirge''). On the farmhouse variant (by contrast with the otherwise identical, but slightly larger small town variant), the green timber framed door, with its stable door design (separate upper and lower door), is another feature of the Berg house.

Bergisch architecture and the heritage conservation movement

Around 1900, as part of the heritage conservation movement (''Heimatschutzbewegung''), attempts were made to collect, preserve and promote examples of what was seen as Bergisch architecture. This was not just based on the rural farmhouse type, which also occurred in the villages in a smaller version, but also typical Bergisch buildings like ''Schleifkotten'' ("grinder's cottages"), ''Hammerkotten'' ("hammersmith's cottages") or the ''Bleicherhaus'' ("bleaching house"). In Bergisch towns, with the exception of the Rhenish parts of the former

Duchy of Berg Berg was a state—originally a county, later a duchy—in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries. The name of the county lives on in the modern ...

, 2½ to 3½ storey houses built in the period from 1750 to 1850 with features in the Late Baroque/Rococo and

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

styles, heavily dominated local architecture. In 1903, this particular type was proposed and promoted as a prototype to the Bergisch Historical Association (''Bergischer Geschichtsverein'') by curator of monuments,

Paul Clemen Paul Clemen (31 October 1866 – 8 July 1947) was a German art historian known in particular for his large inventory of monuments in the Rhineland area, many of which were destroyed or severely damaged in World War II. Clemen was born in Leipz ...

, because it seemed more appropriate to contemporary needs. It was only an option in new residential areas on the outskirts of towns, however, because, in the town centres, houses, 4½ to 5½ storeys high, had already been built. At the same time "Bergisch Rooms" (''Bergische Stuben'') were created, where traditional

furniture Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Fu ...

was collected and exhibited. Advocates of Bergisch architecture for industrial buildings were Otto Schell and Friedrich Wilhelm Bredt.

Examples

* Kunstmuseum Solingen *

Engels-Haus Engels-Haus is a museum in Wuppertal, Germany, located in the house where Friedrich Engels (1820–1895) grew up. The museum is a constituent member of the in Wuppertal. The late baroque Berg house was built in 1775 by in what was then Bar ...

References

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Literature

* R. Schmidt-de Bruyn: ''Das Bergische Patrizierhaus bis 1800.'' Cologne, 1983 * J. de Jonge: ''Beschreibung des Bergischen Bürgerhauses.'' In: Bergische Bauweise, hrsg. v. Ausschuß zur Förderung Bergischer Bauweise, p. 6 * Florian Speer: ''Heimatschutz-Stil. Anmerkungen zu einem Stilphänomen in der Architektur der Jahrhundertwende.'' Hausarbeit zum Seminar "Kunst in der Wupperregion". 1994–95 House types Timber framed buildings Vernacular architecture Architecture in Germany House styles Bergisches Land