M: In the beginning, three men were influential in setting up the Ammerländer Bauernhaus Local History Society: Bernhard Winter from Oldenburg, a painter and professor of art; the businessman Wilhelm Gleimius, and Heinrich Sandstede, a baker's son, who was also an explorer and an independent scholar.
F: In the early 1890s, Gleimius and Sandstede set up an association dedicated to the improvement of Zwischenahn and its surroundings. The organisation initially devoted itself to building bathhouses on the lakeshore, planting groves of oak trees, and laying out and maintaining footpaths.
M: In the early 20th century, they were joined by Bernhard Winter, a much younger man. He came up with the idea of setting up a rural village museum on the lake shore – to preserve the centuries-old Ammerland culture and way of life. A farmstead would be built right next to the spa gardens and would include residential buildings, storehouses and outbuildings. It was to represent all forms of dwelling, from basic sheep croft via a hirelings' house to the grand house occupied by the gentleman farmer.
F: No sooner said than done. In the summer of 1910, the first houses in the Open-Air Museum were formally opened. Gradually, the Local History Society purchased more parcels of land and expanded its ideal village. After the Second World War, the Fährkroog Restaurant on the opposite lakeshore was added. It was followed by the windmill in 1960, the museum in Specken in the 1980s, and Scholjegerdes farm a few years ago.
M: Along with its committees and working groups, its dance groups and the Low German theatre group, the Ammerländer Bauernhaus Local History Society has shaped the cultural scene in the spa town of Bad Zwischenahn for more than a century.
Fotos: © Tanja Heinemann
