Timber Frame: Model @museum.de

M: The gaps in a building's timber frame are called panels.

F: The panels are formed by the massive wooden beams, which are skilfully arranged and connected to each other. The wooden beams form the frame of the building under construction. But before it becomes a proper house, the panels have to be filled in.

M: Depending on how much funding was available, the infill would have consisted of a wide variety of materials. In the Ammerland region, there are two main styles. The venerable Farmhouse and the Spieker, for instance, have bricked-up panels. Those panels were neatly filled with bricks made of fired clay.

F: If cash was a little tighter, you could resort to the traditional infill. First, a thin partition of woven willow or hazel twigs was inserted into the panel. Known as wattle, it was then covered with daub, a mixture of clay, sand, cow dung, pig bristles, chaff and ox blood.

M: And when we say "covered", it was literally flung at the wattle. The somewhat dubious mixture needed to be applied with as much momentum as possible to ensure it bonded strongly with the wattle. So handfuls of the stuff were hurled at the new house with as much force as you could muster. Of course, that was great fun and quickly done. It was a matter of honour for all the neighbours, children and indeed the entire village to join in when the panels in a new timber frame house had to be filled in!