Bundwerk Explained

Bundwerk is a method of building with timber that was used especially in the 19th century in Austria, South Tyrol and Bavaria. After log construction and timber framing, bundwerk is one of the most widespread forms of timber building techniques. It involved using wooden beams that were arranged partly in a lattice or diagonally over a cross. It often decorated the front and gable sides of agricultural buildings, frequently the grain barn or Stadel of quadrangular farms (Vierseithöfen).

In northeastern Upper Bavaria bundwerk is especially varied and colourful. By contrast, in the Werdenfelser Land and the region around Innsbruck only a few places exhibit this type of timber building throughout.

Bundwerk had its heyday between 1830 and 1860 when artists and woodcarvers, as well as carpenters, decorated the bundwerk with paintings and carvings, often with mythical creatures or Christian symbols.

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