Hansmeyerhof - Building

There are Black Forest farmhouses in many regional variations. The Hansmeyerhof belongs to the Dreisamtal type of house. The three-room floor plans with living room, chamber and an additional room (connected to the kitchen) which is usually used in the Dreisamtal as the living area for the elder people are characteristic for this type. Unlike the later-built Falkenhof, the living quarters do not lie on the valley-side, but - as with farmhouses on high altitude areas - between the stalls and mountain side.


The tiled stove in the living room is heated from the two storey high kitchen. There is no chimney. The smoke comes into the kitchen and rises. It escapes through small gaps or a hole in the ceiling to the roof. As a result of this open system, the kitchen is completely blackened by soot and the beams are saturated with smoke. The chimney-less type of furnace is used not only for smoking bacon, but is also important for the airing of the wooden building and is partly responsible for its long lifespan.


The large living room is the core of any Black Forest farmhouse and is proven by the expanse of windows. It is the only room in the house with generous lighting. The other rooms, such as sleeping and servants rooms have wooden boards instead of windows. The living room floor plan is designed around the seating bank placed around the edges of the room, which is dependent on the number of residents. In the corner at the window, opposite the door, there is a “Herrgottswinkel” (crucifix). Here is also the large dining table. Opposite is the tiled stove with a bench around. The "Stiegenkasten" is feature of many Black Forest living rooms. It is a cupboard on the wall with narrow steps which lead directly to the farmer’s bedroom.

The two-storey threshing barn lies between the living area and the stalls. It has a large door, which serves less often as an entrance than a method to clean the air during the dusty work. Originally there was a second opening at the other end of the barn; only after the introduction of the silo and the pig stall was it no longer possible to air the barn from both ends.


There are bedrooms and rooms for the servants on the upper floor. The latter lay above the stall. Entry is from outside, along a balcony-like walkway which leads from the threshing barn door.

The stall, which was renovated in the 1950s and extended on the side shows the technical standard of the mid 20th century.
The original wooden outer walls of the stall have been replaced by brick walls. The farmhouse was extended by the width of a room on the mountain-side, around the upper entrance, partly with the use of recycled materials from another farmhouse (probably in the 18th century).


The original construction of the house is best visible in the attic. The Hansmeyerhof conforms with the high-altitude houses, with its living area towards the mountain.
The longest stilts reach from the ground up to the apex. Between the centre stilts and the outer walls are additional stilts (Stuhlständer). All stilts stand on a grid of bars, the so called "Schwellenkranz", which form the floor plan of the farmhouse.

The very old principle of apex-stilt houses was consequently used only above the stall area. In the 16th century the owners began to include additional stilts above the living areas to be able to have more space for movement of vehicles and to bind the whole farmhouse construction less strict to the apex-stilt style. This meant the harvest vehicles could be driven into an attic without any centre stilts. From there the hay could be thrown onto the floor below, the stall. The farmers no longer had to stack the harvest.

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