page_title: Low German house
section_title: Decoration
hierarchical_section_title: Low German house / Decoration
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Torbalken an Häusern des Typs Niedersachsenhaus (in der Wedemark) Plattdüütsch: Döörbalkens an Neddersassenhüüs (in’e Wedemark)
context_page_description: The Low German house or Fachhallenhaus is a type of timber-framed farmhouse found in Northern Germany and the Netherlands, which combines living quarters, byre and barn under one roof. It is built as a large hall with bays on the sides for livestock and storage and with the living accommodation at one end.
  The Low German house appeared during the 13th to 15th centuries and was referred to as the Low Saxon house in early research works. Until its decline in the 19th century, this rural, agricultural farmhouse style was widely distributed through the North German Plain, all the way from the Lower Rhine to Mecklenburg. Even today, the Fachhallenhaus still characterises the appearance of many north German villages.
context_section_description: The most eye-catching decoration of the otherwise drab Fachhallenhaus is found on the point of the gables and consists of carved wooden boards in the shape of (stylised) horses' heads. The boards do serve a constructional purpose in that they protect the edges of the roof from the wind. The horses' heads are attributed to the symbol of the Saxons, the Saxon Steed. Its distribution as decoration on roof ridges is also reflected in the coats of arms of several north Germany towns and villages. In some regions, e. g. in the Hanoverian Wendland, the gable points often have an artistically turned post instead, the so-called Wendenknüppel.
  Other decorations or mottos are usually found as inscriptions over the entranceway. The lintel gives the name of the builder, the year the house was built and often another saying. Occasionally modest decorations are found on the timber framed, front gable. They are designed into the brickwork of the panels and portray, for example, windmills, trees or geometric figures
caption: The lintels of Fachhallenhäuser in the Wedemark north of  Hanover, with inscription and builder's details
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