Forester's lodge

To begin with, temporary accommodation was usually built for the clearing of areas of forest, but they became more permanent in the High Middle Ages in Europe as more and more timber was felled for mining, saltworks, shipbuilding and firewood, in order to reduce the distance from home to workplace.

The development of forest tracks and logging lorries, however, has meant that overnighting on site is no longer necessary in Central Europe, but is still common in the large forests of northern Europe.

Sometimes a combined site is used for hunting and forestry (in Germany referred to as a Hegerhaus).

[1] Forest houses in Europe have a certain architecture, that is both designed to be in keeping with the countryside and also to be recognisable for what they are .

For example, the 1812 lodge of Schießhaus in the Solling was surrounded by a defensive wall with embrasures.