More House/Barn

Next, we were shown the upper level of the house, and the barn itself. 

Up these stairs in the center of the house is a large open room, with bedrooms leading directly off from it, like spokes:

Two of the bedrooms are reached by a small stairway leading down into them . . .

... and the stairway in the middle of the central hall, leading up, goes to a room where they used to smoke and cure hams and sausages, of all things! 

Here we are, looking as happy as we feel, in Maria's room, which doubles as a sitting room and bedroom.

Next to Maria's room, a little door leads directly to the barn attic, which looks enticingly explorable.

Back downstairs, we passed the red bathroom  . . .

And through a door into the barn:

They sometimes open the doors on the far end and have parties in here. The thing hanging from the ceiling is a harvest shrine, a crown decorated with straw to celebrate a good harvest.

Back in the early 1950s, when Georg and Maria were growing up here, family farms were diverse, just like they were in the U.S. before specialization arrived. This farm had about 20 cows, 6 working horses (with unpleasant personalities, according to Georg, and I suppose we'd all have unpleasant personalities too, if we were working horses), 50 pigs, 20 ducks, 20 chickens, 3 or 4 turkeys, a handful of geese (there are baskets of blown-out goose eggs all around inside the house), 2 or 3 dogs (wire-haired German pointers for hunting, and German Shepherds for shepherding and security), a few cats, 2 to 6 sheep, 3 tractors, a combine, and a male goat who was responsible for the romantic life of the female goats around the village and adjoining farms. They also had a beekeeper who would bring 30-50 skeps each summer and stay with them. The farm also raised wheat, barley, rye, potatoes and sugar beets. In other words, this barn saw a lot of action, and not all that long ago.

In early days, the family would have cooked and sat right in the barn with the animals, something like this (although this isn't the original kitchen, Maria is explaining):

This is a hunting wagon. The back seat flips forward to hold animal carcasses, kind of like an early pick-up truck:

And here is the barn's technical equipment storage room:

And lastly, the business entrance to the barn. I think it was very progressive of them to include the women's names, too, and not just the men's. 

Thanks for coming along!