Historical Wooden Ceilings in Waidhofen an der Ybbs, Austria

Wooden ceilings were among the earliest wooden constructions in wooden houses, and stone and brick buildings. In Austria, a special type of wooden ceiling is known as the Riemenbalkendecke . In Waidhofen, in the Ybbs region, these constructions are decorated with chip carvings, year numbers, and letters. There has been no systematic study on this type of ceiling in Austria. In this study, all houses in Waidhofen an der Ybbs built before 1900 were surveyed, and their ceiling constructions described. Riemenbalkendecken decorated with chip carvings and moldings appeared in 1465 CE and lasted for almost 300 years. The number of carved years was verified using dendrochronological dating. Different chip carving patterns were identified. The letters on ten ceilings can be attributed to the initials of the house owners at the time the ceiling was installed. None of the chip carvings can be attributed to ornaments that were common at the time. The art of the chip carvings on the wooden ceilings represents a special language of form

Art · Political science · Visual arts · Archaeological Research and Protection · Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies · History

• Beitrag zur Rationalisierung eines dendrochronologischen Verfahrens und zur Analyse seiner Aussagesicherheit

  Open Access•Dieter Eckstein, J Bauch•Forstwissenschaftliches…•1969

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