The Gable End @museum.de

M: An impressive gate, a solid timber frame, two different kinds of bricks, leaded windows – there's no doubt about it! This house was occupied by a well-to-do farming family along with their farmhands, maids... and livestock.

F: That the gable end of the house features two colours is probably no coincidence: at the lower level, the red bricks, made of Lauenburg clay, are common locally and easily available as building material. The yellow bricks, on the other hand, had to be specially imported from Harlingen in the Netherlands. A genuine status symbol for Ammerland farming families!

M: If you look up and to the left, you'll see the date "1909" carved into the curved beam. That was when the house was re-erected here in the grounds of the Open-Air Museum. But the timber frame and the interior furnishings are a great deal older!

F: The beam opposite, on the right-hand side, features a house sign: two crossed heraldic symbols called Wolfsangeln, or crampons, surrounded by a sun wheel. House signs like this one – Low German "Handteken" – were common throughout the Ammerland. If you'd like to know what they meant and how many there were, we suggest heading over to the Spieker. On the granary floor – now the restaurant's upstairs dining room – you'll find a fairly comprehensive summary.

M: In the summer, the main entrance to the house – the great door – generally stood open. The livestock was out in the meadow, and the occupants were happy to let some light and fresh air into the house. If you're wondering what the double garden gate in front of the great door was for – that's called a "zingel" and was to stop the pigs running in and out.

F: The poultry, on the other hand, enjoyed greater freedom. Have you noticed the little square gap in the brickwork in the bottom left-hand corner? It's a chicken door – closely related to the cat flap – allowing the chickens to run in and out at will.

M: And right at the top of the thatched roof, just below the ridge, was a refuge for owls. The "Ulenlock" – or owl hole – was actually intended to provide ventilation and let the smoke escape. But barn owls and screech owls were happy to accept the offer of shelter and somewhere to nest. The residents didn't mind, because the owls took care of the mice that would otherwise have nibbled at the stored grain and the good Ammerland hams.

F: In fact, owls are still happily resident in Ammerland farmhouses to this day, as witness the photograph on your screen now. It was taken on a nearby farm just a few years ago.