The urban house before 1300

• Applicants: Privatdozentin Dr.-Ing. Barbara Perlich-Nitz; Professor Dr. Harald Wolter-von dem Knesebeck
• Subject Area: Architecture, Building and Construction History, Construction Research, Sustainable Building Technology ; German Medieval Studies (Medieval German Literature) ; Art History
• Term: from 2018 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 411256083

The city has been a central, defining structure of modern European society since the High Middle Ages. Legal, economic and social history have done intensive research in this field since the 19th century. The northern European city as a built structure developed mainly in the 12th / 13th century.The existing overview publications of the built city form the pictorial representation of the early medieval city. In addition to sacred architecture, the focus was always on the residential building of the upper classes and the distinction between stone and timber construction.These early works are based on post-war research before important new discoveries or methods and systematic investigations have been established (building archeology, archaeology of the middle ages, dendrochronology).The first new overviews and pictures were provided by the archeology of the middle ages, especially the excavations in Switzerland (Zurich Rindermarkt) and in Lübeck (Alfstraße). However, the resulting reconstructions of the urban environment had revert to the older research for the reconstruction of the above-ground buildings.Fueled by the new possibility of dating by means of dendrochronology, building archaeology has over the last thirty years uncovered that there are still large numbers of buildings from the early days of the city, which have been preserved over the years. Alas, the presentation of these new findings remains in individual considerations, which have so far only been summarized for individual locations and regions.Although the numerous recent individual studies on high-medieval secular buildings often refute, still the familiar older, misleading stereotypes are used. There is a painfull lack in generalizing overviews, which bring together the individual findings into a new image.With regard to interor and décor of secular buildings, the overall level of knowledge is significantly worse than that of the building itself. Often, there are no individual examinations. Here, the high-medieval houses that have become known in the last 30 years through building research, etc., have barely been examined, so that only the overview works, beginning with late medieval findings, characterize the idea of profane room settings.The project looks at the entire early city on the basis of the evidence: the house in its concrete form, infrastructure, construction and use, location on the plot, location in urban space. The aim is a general depiction of the medieval house in the city before 1300.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Netherlands, Switzerland
• Co-Investigators: Professorin Dr. Elke Brüggen; Dr.-Ing. Thomas Nitz
• Cooperation Partners: Frank Löbbecke; Professor Dr. Gabri van Tussenbroek