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A Gulf house (german: Gulfhaus), also called a Gulf farmhouse (''Gulfhof'') or East Frisian house (''Ostfriesenhaus''), is a type of byre-dwelling that emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries in North Germany.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 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 ...
. 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 at ...
es, but later spread to the
Frisia Frisia is a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Frisians, a West Ger ...
n
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 plai ...
. 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 East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West 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 Sch ...
(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 The Low German house or ''Fachhallenhaus'' is a type of Timber framing, 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 ...
. 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 farmhouses (''Altfriesischer Bauernhaus'' or ''oud-Friese boerenhuis''), a so-called byre-dwelling (''Wohnstallhaus''). These small buildings had enough space for the farmers because they did not have to store large harvests. Cereal farming 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 natur ...
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 windmills 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. The roof was usually in the shape of a half-hipped 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

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 (municipality of
Krummhörn Krummhörn is a municipality in the district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Ems estuary, approximately 15 km southwest of Norden, and 10 km northwest of Emden. The community (Gemeinde) of Krummhörn compr ...
, Aurich district) a former Gulf farmhouse has been converted into a primary school. In Hollen (municipality of
Uplengen Uplengen is a municipality in the Leer district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Parts of the municipality * Bühren * Großoldendorf * Großsander * Hollen * Jübberde * Klein Remels * Kleinoldendorf * Kleinsander * Meinersfehn * Neudorf * Neufirrel * ...
, 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, Aurich).


See also

* Geestharden house


References


External links


Gulf house in East Frisia

Gulf house in the Weser-Ems region

Types of farmhouses of the Wadden Sea Region
{{European farmhouse types Vernacular architecture Architecture in Frisia Houses in Germany Farmhouses Barns Timber framed buildings