A Literary Model? @museum.de

M: Take a look at your screen to see a page from one of the most famous of German children's books. One day, when the little bear finds a wooden box that smells of bananas, he and his friend, the little tiger, decide to emigrate.

F: They leave their cosy little house and set off. But... hold on! Take a look! Doesn't the two friends' little house look strikingly similar to our Single Room House, Ammerland style?!

M: That wouldn't be a coincidence, because as a young man, the illustrator and author Janosch spent several years living in Bad Zwischenahn ... and apparently studied the Open Air Museum's Single Room House in great detail.

F: He only took a very minor artistic liberties. Take a few steps back and compare the real house and the one occupied by the bear and the tiger. Can you spot the difference?

M: Exactly! The house of the bear and the tiger has smoke escaping from a tall chimney. But that's not true of an Ammerland farmhouse. The smoke from the open fire stays inside, drifting along the ceiling, smoking the sausages and hams and finally disappearing through the Ulenlock – the owl hole below the roof ridge, which Janosch has accurately portrayed.

F: Janosch's famous book is all about how happy a modest life in a Single Room House can be. After their extensive travels, which lead the tiger and the bear in a circle, they return to their little house, which by now is pretty dilapidated. And – listen for yourself:

M: And as they walked a little farther, they came to a derelict house with a chimney. Oh! Tiger! A house, a wonderfully beautiful house with a chimney. The most beautiful house in the world, we could live there, couldn't we? How quiet and cosy it is here, Tiger, cried the little bear. Just listen!

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