![Landarbeiterhaus - Gulfhaus - Museumsdorf Cloppenburg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Landarbeiterhaus_-_Gulfhaus_-_Museumsdorf_Cloppenburg.JPG)
A Gulf house (german: Gulfhaus), also called a Gulf farmhouse (''Gulfhof'') or East Frisian house (''Ostfriesenhaus''), is a type of
byre-dwelling
A byre-dwelling ("byre"+ "dwelling") is a farmhouse in which the living quarters are combined with the livestock and/or grain barn under the same roof. In the latter case, the building is mostly called an housebarn.
This kind of construction is f ...
that emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries in
North Germany
Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...
.
[Vollmer, Manfred et al., ''Landscape and Cultural Heritage in the Wadden Sea Region'', Wadden Sea Ecosystem No. 12 - 2001, CWSS, Wilhelmshaven, 2001. ISSN 0946-896X.] It is timber-framed and built using
post-and-beam construction. Initially Gulf houses appeared in the
marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...
es, but later spread to the
Frisian
geest
Geest is a type of landform, slightly raised above the surrounding countryside, that occurs on the plains of Northern Germany, the Northern Netherlands and Denmark. It is a landscape of sandy and gravelly soils formed as a glacial outwash pla ...
. They were distributed across the North Sea coastal regions from
West Flanders
)
, settlement_type = Province of Belgium
, image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg
, flag_size =
, image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg
, shield_size =
, image_map ...
through the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
East Frisia and
Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to:
Places
*Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica
*Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany
**Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony
*Olde ...
as far as
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...
(as a variant called the
Haubarg
A Haubarg, rarely also ''Hauberg'', is the typical farmhouse of the Eiderstedt peninsula on the northwest coast of Germany and is a type of Gulf house.Vollmer, Manfred et al. (2001). ''Landscape and Cultural Heritage in the Wadden Sea Region'', Wad ...
). This spread was interrupted by the
Elbe-Weser Triangle which developed a type of
Low German house
The Low German house or ''Fachhallenhaus'' is a type of timber-framed farmhouse found in northern Germany and the easternmost Netherlands, which combines living quarters, byre and barn under one roof. It is built as a large hall with bays on the ...
instead, better known as the
Low Saxon house.
Historically, the Gulf house belongs to a larger group of aisled barns, which also include medieval
tithe barns, monastery granges and Early Modern buildings on farms and manors in France, Britain, the Low Countries, Germany, Scandinavia and the United States. The word ''Gulf'' is derived from Scandinavian ''gulv'' ('storage floor') and has probably spread in the context of medieval monastic farms.
Emergence
The Gulf house owes its emergence to economic circumstances. Before its introduction the inthabitants of the Frisian North Sea marshes lived in
Old Frisian farmhouse
An Old Frisian farmhouse (german: Altfriesisches Bauernhaus) is a small unit farmhouse (''Wohnstallhaus'') that combined the farmer's living area and animals' stalls, and had limited space for storing harvest products. It was widely distributed ac ...
s (''Altfriesischer Bauernhaus'' or ''oud-Friese boerenhuis''), a so-called
byre-dwelling
A byre-dwelling ("byre"+ "dwelling") is a farmhouse in which the living quarters are combined with the livestock and/or grain barn under the same roof. In the latter case, the building is mostly called an housebarn.
This kind of construction is f ...
(''Wohnstallhaus''). These small buildings had enough space for the farmers because they did not have to store large
harvests
Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor- ...
.
Cereal farming
A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food en ...
was only possible on a few higher-lying areas, whilst the poorly drained marshes were only suitable as
grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...
and
pastureland
Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...
. As drainage technology improved with the use of
windmill
A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some ...
s and
watermill
A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...
s the fertile marshy areas could be dried out and used extensively for grain farming. In order to store the growing quantities of harvest a house with greater capacity was needed, which is how the Gulf house came into being.
Design
The typical East-Frisian Gulf house consisted of a living space (''fööeräen'') and an adjoining working area (''achteräen'') with stable and barn. By extending the roof downwards in the rear part of the house, side bays (''Abseiten'') were created, the so-called ''ūtkübben'', so that the barn area became wider than the living area. The centre of the stable and barn section formed the ''Gulf'', a storage area for hay, harvest products and tools, which gave this type of house its name.
In one of the side bays were compartments or stalls for keeping cattle (''kaustâl''). The walkway running in front of them was called the ''kaugâng'' ("cow passage"). At the far end there was traditionally the privy (''gemak'').
At the gable end of the working area were two doors: a large barn door (''sğüerdööer'') on one side, that gave access for wagons to the threshing floor (''dösdêl'') and the ''Gulf'', and a small, double door (''messeldööer'') on the other side. The latter derived its name because it was the door through which cattle dung was carried from the ''kaugâng'' (dung = ''mäers''; remove dung = ''messen'').
There was often a semi-circular window in a metal frame over the large barn door which was designed in the form of a stylised rising sun.
The front part of the middle section, at the gable end, in which the horse stable (''pêrstâl'') was housed, was surrounded by a dividing wall and was given a cover, so that an additional floor (a so-called ''hiel'', plural: ''hillen'') was created on which extra hay for winter feeding was stored.
The weight of the roof was not carried by the outside walls on this type of building, but by an internal group of posts and beams (''Ständerwerk'' or ''stååpelwârk'').
The roof covering of the living area was traditionally made entirely of red clay tiles. By contrast, the lower one-third of the barn roof was covered with tiles, but the upper two-thirds were
thatched
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
. The roof was usually in the shape of a
half-hipped
A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...
roof. Where only one end was half-hipped this was the wind-facing gable end (usually the barn gable). The hip is often surmounted, even today, by a decorative staff or ''Malljan'', a device that echoes the mystical beliefs of earlier times.
One feature of many older Gulf farmhouses is the so-called ''Upkammer'' (''upkååmer''), a room in the living quarters, that is higher than the rest of the rooms because it sits above a half-sunken cellar. This can often be recognised from the outside of such buildings by the window arrangement.
The Gulf house structure is found, albeit sometimes with major or situation-specific modifications such as a side entrance, both on large farm buildings (''plååts'') as well as on smaller buildings including farm labourers' houses.
Other uses
![HollenSparkasse jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/HollenSparkasse_jpg.jpg)
The restructuring of agriculture and the closure of farms have provided opportunities for Gulf farmhouses to be used for other rural purposes. For example, in
Loquard Loquard is an old village, now part of Krummhörn in Ostfriesland in the modern nation-state of Germany. It is part of the Aurich rural governmental district of the state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nd ...
(municipality of
Krummhörn
Krummhörn is a municipality in the district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, ...
,
Aurich district) a former Gulf farmhouse has been converted into a primary school. In Hollen (municipality of
Uplengen,
Leer district) the local Sparkasse bank has moved into a former Gulf farmhouse. The conservation society,
NABU
Nabu ( akk, cuneiform: 𒀭𒀝 Nabû syr, ܢܵܒܼܘܼ\ܢܒܼܘܿ\ܢܵܒܼܘܿ Nāvū or Nvō or Nāvō) is the ancient Mesopotamian patron god of literacy, the rational arts, scribes, and wisdom.
Etymology and meaning
The Akkadian "nab ...
, runs an educational establishment for 'near-natural' farming in a Gulf house in
Wiegboldsbur (municipality of
Südbrookmerland
Südbrookmerland is a municipality in the district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 7 km west of Aurich
Aurich (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Auerk'', West Frisian: ''Auwerk'', stq, Aurk) is a town in the ...
,
Aurich
Aurich (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Auerk'', West Frisian: ''Auwerk'', stq, Aurk) is a town in the East Frisian region of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Aurich and is the second largest City in East Frisia, both i ...
).
See also
*
Geestharden house The Geestharden house (german: Geesthardenhaus), also called the Cimbrian house (''Cimbrisches Haus''), Schleswig house (''Schleswiger Haus''), Slesvig house ( da, Slesvigsk gård) or Southern Jutland house (''Sønderjysk gård'') due to its geogra ...
References
External links
Gulf house in East FrisiaGulf house in the Weser-Ems regionTypes of farmhouses of the Wadden Sea Region
{{European farmhouse types
Vernacular architecture
Architecture in Frisia
Houses in Germany
Farmhouses
Barns
Timber framed buildings