Howdy,

I'm just finishing up a diorama and I was thinking (watch out)... I know what construction (modern residential and comercial) looks like in the US, but what does it look like in WWII era (and older) europe? Does anyone have any good sites that show what's behind the paint and under the shingles?

Thanks

Jonathan

Bobcat, Thats a good question. Its somthing I've been curious about also. Hopefully someone out there can help , I'd sure like to know about WWII East European and Germany type buildings. Keep On Modelin, milvehfan

Same basic construction (framing or masonry) now it's sheetrock then it was plaster & lath

Maybe I'm looking for some of the older construction methods. I'm thinking that there has to be more to it (perhaps not). For example, in the US if you look at a brick house from 100 years ago, and one that was constructed recently there are some fairly significant differences. The old one will likely be a double layer of solid brick, where the new one will be a veneer of brick on a wood frame. So how about a 300 year old german 3 story city building? Hmmmm...

Bobcat

Great Question I'm very intrested/curious too. Have to surf and have a look, very thought provoking. Thanks Geraint

In many cases it will depend on the particular area, possibly even coming down to individual streets, when dealing with 1940's in Europe. Since people have been building stuff there for thousands of years, there really is no way to tell what kind of construction methods you are going to find. One can only imagine what you might run into some places... like: stone, surrounded by brick, covered up with plaster and a slew of wall coverings of varying types on the inside representing several centuries of construction. In the end you are probably better off doing whats in your imagination or you will find yourself taking trips to Hamburg and knocking on people's doors asking them to look at the inside of their house.

you can check out books on historical architechtture at your local library. you can also looks at pictures or ruins; stone construction methods probably haven't changed much since the late middle ages. if all else fails, go with what looks right and seems to make sense.

That's apples and oranges, Brick venaer is just that.. it's NOT true masonry construction. It's used because it's cheaper... for the look of brick.

I've seen a lot of older masonry building actually 3 layers a dual layer, then a void, and then a single layer. If they were smaller bricks then the lower floors (depending on height) could be several layers thicker than the floors above it as well. Construction techniques varied based on the heights of buildings.

I don't know, it just seems like there should be some kind of typical regional examples that would at least fuel my imagination in the right direction. Maybe I need to narrow the question with whatever my next project might be. Although knocking on doors in Hamburg doesn't sound all bad! I wonder if they have a "This Old House Europe" edition, that would be mighty helpful!

Just Thinkin'
Bobcat

I got a book from the library a few years ago on french farmhouses. It had a lot of info on the types of construction used and how they did it etc... I think this is the book:-


Amazon

I seem to recall it bieng in the DIY section of the library. May be worth a look.

It will vary by region.... as the materials are going to be different as well. But in the US the building practices will be variants of how things were done in Europe for the most part with South American influences in the SW..... ETC.

Remember in Germany and other european major cities during the late 30's and 40's Architects were also experimenting in very modern, by our current standards, concrete flats with steel frames, so there would oportunities to look for one off buildings that might have been designed just before the war but with distinct modern looks.

Fritz Schumacher (November 4, 1869–November 5, 1947) was a German architect and urban designer.

Erich Mendelsohn (21 March 1887 – 15 September 1953) was a German Jewish architect, known for his expressionist architecture in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic functionalism in his projects for department stores and cinemas.

Hitler's urbanistic dreams for Berlin with the commission for the new head quarters of the AEG on Albert Speer's famous planned north-south axis.

Speer was Adolf Hitler's chief architect before assuming ministerial office.

Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (May 18, 1883 – July 5, 1969) was a German architect and founder of Bauhaus[1] who along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture.

All above From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nige

If you are looking for farms and other related buildings that were constructed using the "vakwerk" principle ( you know the white walls with the black beams in them), I have plenty of references for that, both dug up from the net as well as photographed myself, including a farmhouse being restored/reconstructed.
I used these for my "Treasure Trove"-build.

Just drop me a line or a pm!!

Hi Guys, Thanks for the info on this subject. milvehfan

Hi babcat,

though it seems, your question has been answered, I can give some more cooments to the way, they built thier houses in former times.
First of all, they used materials they found in their region. Private persons had a sharp look on the prices of these materials too.
As you can see in the picture yeahwiggie posted, there can be different materials identified between the wooden skeleton framing. You can see masonry and some flat parts. The flat parts were made as follows.
Twigs of willows were bound crosswise between the skeleton framing. On both sides of this netting a mixture of clay and straw was fixed. After drying, they put some lime on both sides.
On the ground level of this picture you can see some stone parts, which must be stone from the region. Official buildings were sometimes made of natural stone of the region or shipped materials from stone pits. For instance in the Eifel or in the Ardennes granite or basal can be found. So buildings were made of these materials, if they were cheap.
When shipping was very expensive and streets weren´t as good as they are now, they couldn´t afford to use burnt bricks made far away. So the only chance to get bricks was, if there was not only a clay pit, but also a brickwork beneath.
The skeleton framework, which was also used in citys as Hamburg, followed certain rules and regional styles.You can find many examples in the net, if you google pics with the german word "Fachwerk".
Hope this was helpful.

Jürgen

I made up a collection of pictures which I sent Babcat.
It's about 7Mb and if anyone's interested, drop me a line and I will send them too you.