Farmsteads in early medieval Germany – architecture and organisation

Rainer Schreg

doi:10.3989/arqarqt.2012.11608

Abstract

In Germany early medieval rural settlements are known from a rising number of excavated sites. Rural architecture was a wooden architecture. Only churches were built in stone. A farmstead consisted of several buildings: the main house and several economic buildings as pit houses and storages. Before the 1980s, when large scale excavations became more and more common, there was little awareness of changes in rural settlement history. The formation of still existing villages was only late in the Middle Ages. However, even today it is difficult to understand the changes in rural architecture as there are distinct regional differences. Probably the 5th century on the one hand and the period of village formation between the 10th and 13th centuries on the other hand were the most innovative periods. This article provides a short characteristic of buildings and settlement organisation. He gives an outline of research history and identifies some recent trends and future perspectives of research.

Highlights

In Germany early medieval rural settlements are known from a rising number of excavated sites
After the Napoleonic wars in the mid-19th century, when national consciousness arose in Germany, history became a place of remembrance and a source of national identity
As interest focused mainly on the heroic Middle Ages and political history, little attention was paid to rural settlements

Summary

Introduction

In Germany early medieval rural settlements are known from a rising number of excavated sites. The first excavation of an early medieval rural settlement took place in 1913. This settlement had two periods of occupation – an early occupation with wooden architecture, dated to the 9th to 12th century, and a later one characterized by several buildings with stone foundation representing the late Middle Ages.

Results

Conclusion