Station: [11] Open-Air Museum

Maize and potatoes were once grown in this field. In 1992, we began to establish a typical fenland hamlet on this site. The houses you see were dismantled on their former sites and moved here. They serve as original historic records. The residents’ stories have also come down to us – you’ll find them on the information panels inside the houses. But how did we proceed?  

First of all, we laid out the road – arrow straight, as all roads in the fen have to be, with drainage channel and a row of birch trees. On the left-hand side of the road is the embankment. In the 19th century, this narrow strip between the road and the drainage channel was the cheapest building land. That was where the poor settlers built their little houses. Here, you have a chance to look around one such little canal house, which once stood in the hamlet of Grillheim. On the right-hand side of the road, there are two fenland farm houses – the Öxler Hof and the Hofstetter Haus. 

Our houses all sit on dry concrete foundations and are kept at the appropriate temperature. In other words, the base of the walls is heated, so the walls don’t become damp and we don’t have mould growing in the corners of the rooms. The exterior walls are regularly repainted, and the roofs are well sealed, so the rain doesn't leak through.

All these measures mean our open-air museum requires a lot of work and isn’t cheap. But it also provides a unique record of the history of the Donaumoos fen.
Now, please feel free to visit the houses. The Öxler Hof is open to visitors.