A Simple Life
Essay
„Located on the outskirts of the village, the vegetable garden stretched across almost the entire property. Every square centimeter was used for vegetables; there was no room for ornamental plants. All costs and all labor had to be borne by the family of farmworkers, and the harvest yield had to be shared with the landowners. This method of vegetable harvesting always seemed incomprehensible to me. After all, we had provided the seeds and worked hard in the garden all summer. How proud we were in the autumn of the many bags filled with harvested potatoes. And how difficult it was for us to watch as our father had to bring half of the bags to a previously marked spot for the farmer.“
Life in a farmworker‘s house in East Frisia could have unfolded like this or something similar. In the 1960s, when the house was built, society was probably already a bit further along, and gradually, tools and tractors began to alleviate the hard work in the countryside. Yet, life was simple, and yet not simple: heavy physical labor and demanding climatic conditions with hot summers and bitterly cold winters continue to shape the social and cultural essence of this largely still very primal and undiscovered region in northern Germany.
After the war, there was a housing shortage throughout Germany. Much had been destroyed, and refugees and displaced persons were taken in; the population slowly began to grow again, including in rural areas. As early as the 1920s, an active housing construction program developed in Germany through cooperatives and municipal providers, which was now revived. For instance, the Lower Saxony Home Foundation, which aimed to create healthy and affordable housing as a municipal housing company. In the post-war period, the organization assisted in the establishment of small settlements and sold building plans for single-family homes.
The house in East Frisia also originates from the Lower Saxony Home Foundation. Developed as a model house - Type 1112-III, Stable 890 - it was built on land that previously belonged to a larger estate.
This is essentially the architecture that shapes the rural landscape in many areas: the model houses and the Gulf house, a type of farmhouse that initially emerged in the marshes and then spread further. The Gulf house consists of a front house made of masonry, which contains the living areas, and an adjacent stable and barn constructed of timber. The roof is extended further down in the rear section, creating side areas, making the barn section wider than the living section. The center of the stable and barn is the „Gulf,“ a storage area for hay, harvest produce, and equipment, from which this house type derives its name. The large estates were and still are typically magnificent Gulf houses, which stand in a scattered settlement pattern amid their fields.
On contrast, the construction of the model house followed precise instructions, detailing everything: the raw structure, the type of windows, the masonry, and the flooring. Within the lines of the construction description, one immerses oneself in the uncompromisingly simple architecture of the house. Discovering and exploring the beauty within often only becomes apparent upon a second look. While opulence, wealth, and variety capture attention more quickly, here one must listen to the very quiet tones. Word for word, sentence by sentence, stone by stone, the desires and wishes hidden within the small house are revealed: the desire for independence, a place of one’s own, and a self-determined life.
At the end of the 1960s, inspired by the American do-it-yourself movement, the first hardware stores opened in Germany. Over the decades, they expanded and significantly contributed to the architectural culture of the entire Federal Republic with their product range. Craftsmanship and tailored solutions have always competed with industrial products, and this was also true for the model house in East Frisia: the roof was newly covered, and a new plastic overhang was added. Shutter boxes were screwed onto the brick facade. The original wooden windows had to give way to plastic ones. Gradually, not much of the originally subtle, handcrafted house was left; it appeared almost distorted. All these new products and materials share the trait of not aging beautifully, lacking patina and depth.
Today, the house shines again in its wonderful simplicity, symbolizing new desires and yearnings. It is not a monument in the classical sense and has not been renovated as such, but it has been prepared for a new future with respect for its essence.