The Spieker @museum.de

M: Rye bread and top-fermented beer – in the old days, those were the Spieker's two specialities. Because this was where two important village institutions came together under one roof: a brewery and a bakery.

F: You only have to look at the front of the house to see signs of this dual purpose. The Spieker has two doors side by side, but separate. The one on the right, decorated with wooden studs throughout, led into the bakery. And the one on the left, with a rising sun carved into the rounded top, gave access to the brewery. The two lofts on the first floor were used to store threshed grain, pulses and other foodstuffs. Because "spieker" actually means "storehouse".

M: The Spieker has stood on this site since 1910. It was erected at the same time as the farmhouse. If you check your screen now, you can see a historical photograph of its frame at the time. The carpenters proudly pose in front of their work: a timber framework made of solid oak beams, which conveys a good impression of what the finished timber-framed house would look like.

F: The Spieker originally served a different purpose, but on its present site, it has always been used as a restaurant. The right-hand side, the former bakery, has housed the kitchen for over a century now. The former brew house is a typically cosy Ammerland pub serving regional specialities. This is where the beer used to be brewed. The baking oven, which would normally be inside the building, now stands immediately opposite.

M: Please feel free to enter ... and don't be put off by the unusual door mechanism! All you have to do is firmly press down on the top of the vertical handle.