House from Laubach

Built: circa 1660
Dismantled: 1977
Reassembled: 1982

This building is a typical small-town craftsman’s house of the 17th century and it originates from the borders of the Vogelsberg region (today’s Gießen county). It originally belonged to the well-off master linen weaver Johannes Triebert. The construction features dignified timber ornamentations: the angle braces attached to the corner posts and the lintel above the door are decorated and a wall panel on the upper floor features a diamond shape (the further two diamond shapes on the left were added during reconstruction). The left side of the elevated cellar was probably reserved for small livestock and on the ground floor, the workshop was located next to the spacious hall. The upper-floor rooms were used as living quarters.

At the time of dismantling in 1977, the house was covered in plaster. Once the rendering was removed an inscription was uncovered, revealing the builder of the house:

THE BUILDER OF THE HOUSE IS CALLED JOHANNES TRIEBERT, HIS NAME IS WELL KNOWN.

A further inscription above the decoratively carved door is in Latin and translates:
PEACE TO WHO ENTERS, HAIL TO WHO LEAVES
(PAX IN TRANTIBUS SALUS EXEUNTIBUS).

Since the town of Laubach was not in the position to maintain and preserve the severely deteriorated building in Obergasse 6, it was signed over to the Open Air Museum in 1977. The timber on the eaves sides was in particularly bad shape and had to be replaced in most parts. At the museum, the house accommodates a collection of tower clocks comprising over thirty examples of German and international clocks. These chronometers once played an important part in people’s rhythm of daily life.