Station: [9] Storage Cellar


Run for your lives!

You just wait, one of these days, I'm going to get you! They're everywhere, these mice, getting up to no good! Little pests. They love hanging around in the cellar. After all, they’re not stupid. They know that, year in, year out, this is where they’ll find the tastiest morsels, all safely stored: 

Jars full of fruit, pumpkin and pickled eggs. Crocks of pickled gherkins, barrels of sauerkraut... all good things preserved by the farmer's wife ... to feed the family through the winter. But mainly root vegetables, turnips and potatoes. They stay nice and fresh in here, too... provided they don't get nibbled on! So I'll have to deal with the pesky vermin personally in just a moment. But first of all, I'd like to address you, my beloved audience, and provide the following insights: 

Now, this cellar is a genuine architectural masterpiece, and no mistake! The clay floor ensures a consistent level of humidity, and the barrel vault allows the air within the space to circulate, so it’s always pleasantly cool down there, all year round, even during the hottest of summers.

And when the carters arrive and have to wait while their carts are loaded up, they pass the time in the alcove back there. And on some days, the farmer's wife has been known to fetch a pot of jam from the cellar and make the carters a nice slice of bread and jam.

Now, I'm going to attend to my own farm duties and bring this gang of mice to heel. I'll take my leave of you here.

Just you wait; I'll be serving you up for dinner tonight!

All depictions: © Schlesisch-Oberlausitzer Museumsverbund gGmbH