The Sheepfold @museum.de

F: For a flock of sheep, a shed like this one was no doubt pretty cosy: the thatched roof, which extends almost to ground level, keeps out the rain and the cold. On the plinth, the supporting timber framework is lined with blocks of peat, which also help to contain the draughts. All in all, quite a snug little sheepfold!

M: Though the colonists who worked the Ammerland region's vast bogs by the sweat of their brow lived in similar dwellings. Based on the local inheritance rules, younger siblings were left empty-handed when a farm was passed on. Many hired themselves out to work in the raised bogs. They were assigned what's known as "Kolonat" – farming rights to a piece of land, and then they'd start work on draining the bogs.

F: Due to malaria and other diseases, the hard work and the difficult hygiene conditions in the primitive huts, the early colonists didn't make old bones. The wealth promised by peat cutting was reserved for later generations. There's a Low German saying that fittingly sums up the poverty-stricken life of a colonist family:

Zitatorin:

Den Ersten sien Doad
Den Tweten sien Not
Den Dridden sien Broad

F:

The first one's death

The second one's hardship

The third one's livelihood