II. Le Sud-Ouest de l’Allemagne

Abstract

Urban dwellings in Gothic Bavaria, by Konrad Bedal Most Bavarian cities took on their present form during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This is also the case of the houses, both the interior and exterior. The main changes include 1) the passage from rambling constructions to larger, more compact buildings ; 2) the replacement of one-room dwellings, either post and beam or masonry structures, by large multi-roomed half-timbered or stonework constructions ; 3) the general adoption of the Stube (a combined living and eating room), with wooden walls and ceiling, as the main room, situated usually on the first floor. If the profile of the old cities is characterised by tightly packed houses with steep roofs, the South-east also has gently pitched shake roofs. From the thirteenth century on, buildings may be oriented either with the gable or the gutter wall facing the street ; the latter predominate in the South, former in the North. Regensburg has a special place in Bavaria, preserving that largest number of residences and private towers north of the Alps. Two major zones are distinguishable in Bavaria as of the fourteenth century. Masonry construction, principally brick, prevails in the South and East (Upper and Lower Bavaria), whereas timber-frame construction spreads through the North and West (Franconia and Swabia) after 1250. The development and characteristics of wood-frame construction in Franconia is well known from the nearly 2000 preserved medieval buildings. The oldest are storied post and beam dwellings measuring 5 x 10 meters to 12 x 30 meters. Short post construction in upper stories is known from 1300, but only becomes common in Franconia between 1400 and 1500, although one finds corbelling on gables and gutter walls, even in the oldest buildings. Softwood is most common, but oak is also used for the exterior facing. The infilling is cob, ashlar or brick, or even plaster. Many city dwellings have a rear gallery, usually on the first floor, that gives access to the latrines, an amenity that finds favour in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Narrow wings are often added at the rear of the houses ; they border a narrow courtyard which is closed at the end by a fourth structure that is used as a barn or complementary dwelling. The ground floor serves as a stable, whereas the upper storey has sleeping rooms and Stuben. The interior courts are characteristic features of the homes of the wealthy in southern Germany. Although the majority of the courts with a regular layout date from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, precursors cans be found in the fifteenth. Galleries are often in wood, but some masonry arcades rest on columns, especially south of the Danube and constitute the highpoint of domestic urban construction in Bavaria.