German timber frame restorations

[malcolm]

I'm in Stade in the Lower Saxony region of Germany. It's a medieval town retaining it's original street layout built on an island in a river.



All of the timber framed buildings seem to have been rebuilt with New oak within the last 30 years or so. They all use modern bricks in cement for infill. Sometimes the wood is stained but often it has a gloss paint finish



Buildings that haven't recently been restored are generally suffering with waterproof paints. They still have brick infill, but with much older and smaller bricks and lime mortar. I wonder if brick infill has long been a thing here.



There is a church visible from my hotel dating from 14C ish. It's leaning by maybe 1m and the bricks show evidence of previous rebuilding. Lots of podging with cement where the bricks have spalled.



There is no sign the Germans have re-discovered lime or breathable coatings. Most of the windows are upvc It just seems odd. But it might explain the recent need to rebuild the whole place.

 

[a twig]

Holzfachwerk always traditionally had brick infill I think? I follow a couple of people in Germany who are restoring the traditional timber framed houses the “right way” but I think it is rather like the UK, there is a minority who try to do things right, then the
majority who don’t care and just want a cheap “fix”

 

[Cubist]

I believe that the British desire for home ownership is not reflected in the general populations of Europe and that the 'owners' of these properties may be less willing to invest in safe-guarding these buildings for the future.

 

[malcolm]

Interesting to know the brick infill is traditional.

It's the center of town so most buildings are commercial. Companies won't necessarily be thinking more than a few years ahead.

Maybe the odd thing is the whole place wasn't knocked down in the 1950s and replaced with something more modern like UK Town centers. It's fun to see 6 story timber frame buildings jutting out towards the street

 

[a twig]

Well a lot of German town centres were “forcibly demolished” in the early 1940s as a German colleague used to remind me every time we visited Dresden’s “modern town centre” for a conference

 

[malcolm]

I can see his point. I'm just back from Hamburg which was almost completely demolished in 1943. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Hamburg_in_World_War_II



I did see some lovely old warehouses on a canal near the harbour. Also a 7 storey timber frame building (including 2 gable floors) which sounds ambitious but it's still standing.