Black Forest house

It is characterised externally by a long hipped or half-hipped roof that descends to the height of the ground floor.

This type of dwelling is suited to the conditions of the Black Forest: hillside locations, broad tracks, high levels of snowfall and heavy wind loading.

[1] Depending on the site of the individual farms various types of Black Forest house have emerged which are designed to cope with the specific climatic situation.

In the high regions of the Black Forest, where cattle farming and forestry predominate, shingles are overwhelmingly used, whilst in the valleys, thatch is most common.

However, internally they have usually been upgraded to satisfy modern day needs (in terms of living comfort and the installation of machines).

Sometimes new cattle sheds were built next to the farmhouse in order to ensure that the keeping of dairy cows met modern standards.

A variety of historic farms from different parts of the Black Forest have been rebuilt, true to the original, in the Vogtsbauernhof Open Air Museum.