Heimatstil

The Heimatstil is characterized by the use of wood on the façade and sculpted beams, connected by protruding or rusticated stone, recalling the illustrations from literature and folklore, especially Germanic ones, from the time period.

Contrary to popular belief, the origins of this style can be found first in the idealized past of Romanticism, with the vogue for landscaped parks, rather than in the Swiss or Tyrolean Alps.

The Germanic version, with towers, turrets, corner cut stones, balconies and wooden loggias, was immediately in vogue in the aristocratic society of the time, which chose it for its castles and hunting lodges and this style associates first of all with the attraction of nature, in particular the forests and the mountains of Central Europe.

The fashion for summer resorts in cooler regions (unlike today) took hold in the nineteenth century in the aristocracy and then in the bourgeoisie.

This resulted in a colorful mixture of individual architectural features typical of the landscape, the buildings were, so to speak, adapted to the respective location and decorated accordingly with half-timbering, humpback blocks, carved elements or shutters.

The architecture of the villas is similar to that of the countryside and farms and rural castles are idealized by using wood, decorating the buildings with oriel windows, watchtowers, etc.