Seniors' Room @museum.de

F: Life on the farm was hard, and people grew old before their time. But when the older generation had passed the farm on to their children – usually the eldest son – it didn't mean they were retiring! The parents carried on living in the house and helping out. They moved into the Altenteilerkammer – the seniors' room behind the hearth.

M: Feel free to take a look inside the room. Unlike the hearth area and the parlour, the seniors' room only has a floor of rammed clay.

Just to the left of the door is a small cast-iron stove. It can be heated from the hearth via an opening in the wall – a real luxury for the elderly!

F: The six foot tall linen cupboard on the left features intricate carvings and plenty of individual compartments – no doubt an heirloom passed down from one generation to the next. An inscription on the front gives the date of this magnificent piece as 1641!

M: Behind it, on the narrow side of the room, are two sleeping alcoves. Perhaps you're thinking: one for the elderly farmer, the other for his wife – but you'd be wrong! The grandparents slept in one, and their grandchildren in the other – three or four at a time! You can imagine how granny felt when granddad was snoring loudly and the children were messing about!

F: Who knows? On nights like that she may have got up, wrapped herself in a woolly blanket, lit a candle, sat down at the loom and worked on her linen cloth... until the rhythmic clatter of the loom drowned out the irritating noises in the background.