Last week on one of my walking attempts through the Teutoberger Wald, I managed to find the Bauernhausmuseum (on my rain drenched outing, I must have passed about 30 yards from it, but never recognized it). It's a simple set up, of an old farmhouse and outbuildings (some of which have been moved here from other sites), from the mid to late 1800s. It's the sort of farmhouse where the animals lived in the middle of the building and the people had rooms around the edges -- the aromas must have been 'interesting'. The photo above is the farmhouse proper (with a group of visiting school children).
In reading the information plaques, I was struck by how often the phrase ¨sickness, misery, and death¨ was used to describe these people's lives. (sometimes the word pregnancy was added). It certainly was a tenuous life, with crop failures having a really onerous impact, and then they were all driven out by the industrial revolution (for farms in this area, flax was a significant crop, and women made cash money spinning and weaving, which completely dried up with machine weaving). However, the overall tone of ¨there was nothing romantic about this life; aren't you glad you don't live like this¨, I found a bit depressing (the negative parts, like the small spaces they lived in and shared with the animals, seemed pretty obvious). I asked my German friends, and they talked about how they find American museum exhibits to be overly cheerful and optimistic. Another interesting difference between the two cultures.
Lovely detail on the roof of the main farmhouse.
One of several smaller buildings. I think this was a home for a married child.
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