European Half-Timbered Buildings

Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

Perhaps there are no more interesting buildings in Europe than Half-Timbered Buildings. Wood craftsmanship always interests us.

We always find one of the most fascinating aspects of Europe is how well all seem to use the limited space in the cities and villages and sometimes keep their historic buildings intact to honor the past—it is amazing!

So, let’s explore together and learn about these wonderful part wooden structures and other examples of how well Europeans use wood in their construction.

Overview

Timbered frame construction is quite common in Europe where there is a good supply of wood. When the load-bearing timbers are left exposed on the outside of the building, it is referred to as “half-timbered”.

The exposed timbers and the spaces in between the wood often creates a contrast, so the overall effect is a very distinctive structure, which is associated with construction methods of times past. The material used between the spaces is called infill and could be a variety of materials, such as brick, stone and other materials. It is often covered with plaster on the exterior to improve the overall appearance of the structure and to keep the fill material securely in place.

The timbers usually came directly from logs, instead of the square lumber we use today in construction. It fit well with the times, as axes, adzes, and draw knife scrapes were the woodworking tools most used during this time of construction. It was very labor intensive, but since there were not powered tools to make this process easier, it really was the only way to use wood in structures.

Most exposed timbered frame homes are located in Northern Europe, so let’s explore these cool buildings from our pictures in various countries.

Germany

As you probably know, Germany is the country where half-timbered buildings are quite prevalent.

The tiny town of Cochem has some half-timbered gems. Please enjoy!

Bernkastel is another town with a lot of half-timbered buildings. This is a charming village with scenic beauty. Please enjoy these 4 pictures!

Miltenberg is famous for its half-timbered buildings—it has over 100. Here are some of our pictures of this interesting town.

**Milteneberg, Germany Market square. Many believe it is one of the most beautiful squares in all of Germany.**

**5 levels of a timbered building in Miltenberg**

**Zum Rissan—it probably is the oldest continuously used hotel in Germany. It is a great treasure of Miltenberg.**

Wertheim, Germany also has some very good half timbered buildings.

**Market Square has some half-timbered buildings**

**Colorful building in Wertheim with flower boxes.**

**Even banks can have half-timbered designs in Wertheim.**

In Rudesheim, there are many half-timbered buildings. Here are some of them:

**Another great half-timbered venue—Keller in German translates to cellar**

Perhaps one of the most famous German half-timbered buildings is in Bamburg, Germany. Legend has it that the citizens wanted to build a town hall but were denied space by the ruling Bishop, so they built in the middle of the river on a bridge! This is one awesome building and worthy to see in person.

We found this unique half timbered house near Marksburg Castle, after taking a train from Koblenz to the town of Braubach on the Rhine River on our way to tour Marksburg. This charming little town has a good collection of half-timbered buildings. This one caught our attention due to the unique window carvings

You would expect at least a castle or two with half-timbers, so not to disappoint, here is Berg Eltz

One of my favorite views of this unique castle—Anne really captured what is like to enter the courtyard.

France

There a many surviving examples of half-timbered buildings in France. Let’s start with the Alsace region.

Another Riquewihr half-timbered building.

**Riquewihr just seems to never stop—another building that caught our eye!**

The next 5 pictures are in Strasbourg, France.

**In this narrow lane on the right of the picture, there are some good examples of half-timbered buildings.**

In France’s Loire Valley, there are some good examples of half-timbered buildings.

Old timbered building in Amboise, France

In St. Emillion we found a really old half-timbered building.

Switzerland

You might expect this construction style in Switzerland—this land locked country in the Alps with plenty of timber available and the heavy influence of Germany in parts of the country, are probably good reasons there are some wonderful buildings constructed in the half-timbered style.

England

There are some really cool examples of these structures in England.

Let’s start with the bard—Shakespeare’s house and his wife Anne Hathaway’s family home in Stratford-on-Avon.

Shakespeare’s home in Stratford-on-Avon.

Anne Hathaway’s home just outside Stratford-on-Avon.

One of the more unique half-timbered buildings is the Globe theater in London, where Shakespeare put his plays on for the public. This is a repical of the original theater—you can see the large half-timbered beams.

Now, on to Warwick, England

York is famous for many half-timbered buildings. Here are a few:

**The Punch Bowl Pub in York. This pub is over 400 years old.**

**Old blends with new in York—a half-timbered structure next to the National Trust Gift Sop.**

While most of the exposed construction is readily visible in half-timbered buildings, there are special roofing techniques that deserve a look. Here are two great examples in England—let’s start with Chipping Campden in the Cotwolds. The open air roof construction of the market hall shows great techniques of this type of classic roof structure .

**Open air market in Chipping Camden where livestock and wool was sold.**

**Note the complex wooden structure of the open air market. It was strong enough to support a slate roof.**

**Another picture of the roof structure.**

Here is one example of a special roof in Hampton Court Palace. It is a great example of a hammerbeam roof. Henry VIII wanted the roof in the most important and impressive building of his palace to recreate the craftsmanship of ages past of his medieval predecessors. It is just stunning!

**The magnificent roof of the Great Hall.**

**This picture really shows how large and impressive the Great Hall is!**

**On the walls are the Abraham tapestries. They were woven in Belgium and are very valuable. Anne did a great job capturing the detailed carvings in the roof structure.**

Denmark

We got a good chance to see some examples of half-timbered buildings in an outdoor display in Aarhus, Denmark. In the open air museum, Den Gamle By, has an outstanding collection of timbered buildings.

•Aarhus is the second-largest city in Denmark.

• It is located on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula, in the geographical center of Denmark.

•Its chief attraction is the Old Town called Den Gamle By. It is an open-air town museum of 75 old buildings collected from all over Denmark and reassembled here in the museum

**Colorful half-timbered buildings in the museum**

**Examples of half- timbered buildings in the museum.**

**Old Mill using a water wheel for power**

Romania

You probably wouldn’t think about Romania as a place with half-timbered structures but here is an excellent examples of this style of construction. Peles Castle in Sinaia, Romania is really a palace with 170 rooms not a true castle. Some of the exterior looks more like a half-timbered building. It was ready for the king and queen of Romania in 1883.

My Final Thoughts

What a great adventure—half-timbered homes—just another reason we love the Old World of Europe so much! We hope you enjoyed these pictures as much as we enjoyed seeing them during our travels.

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HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 49 years. He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA). This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years. He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees. His other Certifications:

AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent

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