Flett: Hearth Fire with Beehive and Pot Hanger @museum.de

F: If you're wondering what a "flett" might be – it's the area surrounding the hearth fire. This was the very heart of the farmhouse. An open fire burned here from morning to night. It was the only cooking area in the house, and the only source of heat in winter. Three generations of the family would sit here together – the women busily spinning or knitting, the men weaving cargo baskets, beehives – known locally as "Stülper" – or chair seats.

M: The day began first thing with lighting the fire, when the maid fetched a kettle full of water and hung it on the pot hanger to heat up. Hot water was needed to make tea or cook porridge as well as for personal hygiene. The house had no bathroom with a shower or even a bathtub.

F: If the fireplace was left unattended during the day, the embers would be covered with an iron basket for safety's sake. A lazy cat in search of a warm spot might otherwise stretch out close to the fire and thump its tail in sheer delight – and then the sparks would fly and set the whole house ablaze. That was something you wanted to avoid.

M: Right above the fire hung the pot hanger – "Kätelhaken" in Low German. The ratchet with its many notches resembled a coarse saw. The kettle was attached at the bottom, and then the height was adjusted by using the ratchet. The level of heat could be changed by raising or lowering the kettle. So if you wanted your soup to take a little while longer, you "stepped it up a notch".

F: The flett, or hearth area, was a cosy place – and a safe one, too. Because what amounted to a right of asylum was in force in the area around the hearth. Anyone who took refuge at a farmer's hearth was beyond the reach of the authorities.

It was also where you went to make an agreement. The hearth was where people carried out negotiations; where they sold livestock, leased out land, arranged weddings. Once an agreement had been reached, the two parties would stand up, bend over the fire and place their fingers on the three conical tips of the pot hanger. With that solemn gesture, the agreement was sealed.

M: If, contrary to expectations, one of the two partners didn't keep to the agreement, they acquired a reputation as someone for whom you wouldn't vouch – or "put your hand in the fire for", as the local saying has it!