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The Typical Danube Swabian Home

In the early days, the typical settler's house was a functional building which was to serve as living accommodation. It fully met their requirements in the beginning, but with increasing prosperity the "long house" was developed further, and more buildings were added to it. The "long house", which stood with its gable end facing the street, was simply turned around so that the long side of the house now faced the street. Such a house was called a "Zwerchaus." Later, houses were also built in an L-shape, called "Triangelhaus". Both styles of houses can be found in most villages.

Gang (porch)

House Floor Plans

Various Designs

Plan 1:
Einfaches Langhaus:
Simple Long House

Plan 2:
Triangelhaus:
Triangle house

Plan 3:
Modernes Bauernhaus mit Querbau:
Modern farmer house with a summer kitchen

Vorderhof:
Front Yard

Hinterhof:
Rear Yard

Property Lots

The town lots our Donauschwaben received were narrow and long. One side and right to the lot line was the house, built to fit the shape of the lot. One room wide and long. North side being on the lot line and the south side having all the windows most often going to the porch which connected all the rooms. The other halve of the narrow lot was just wide enough for the horse wagon to reach the barn, which was erected behind the house and usually at 90 degrees angle, or what in German language is called QUER, meaning across, in this case they built a L-shaped house with wider frontage. This wider frontage was now "quer" (across) the lot. So QUERBAU stands for a building across the lot.

What a Colonial House Cost

Being able to make a rough estimate and contract, the building contractor was able to make a house in Cservenka, which can serve as an example for all villages (also in Liebling, Banat, Anm. L.) the following payments: For the stamping: 16 fl. - xr. (fl.=Florentine Guilders, xr.=Kreuzer which at the time was a 60th part of a Guilder, Anm. L.), Grease and plaster: 19 Fl.., 15 Kr., to make the chimney: 3 Fl., 12 Kr., stove (de---): 30 Kr., 2 oven bases (detto a---): 12 Kr.=24 Kr., 2 gables for 2 Fl., 4 door beams inset for 2 Fl., 24 Kr., 4 window beams for 1 Fl., 12 Kr., the upper floor n--- covered with boards for 2 Fl., 30 Kr., the same to transfer 7 --- with a loft to make the roof (stuhl?) for 14 Fl., 17 Kr., the same to put up 2 --- thatch coverings for 6 Fl., 50 Kr., 4 simple doors (Thüren) together with materials for 3 Fl., 44 Kr., 3 windows for 3 Fl. [From the Beschka Homeland Book (Syrmia) by Peter Lang, translated by Brad Schwebler.]

Home Furnishings

On the strength the Settlement Patent each family received from the Settlement Rent Office: one cow or 18 Guilders, one bed (statt), one straw sack, one rug, 6 sacks, one backing (molter?), one axe, one wide pick, one ditch shovel (spade), one manure (pitch) fork, one spinning wheel, one flour sieve, one bread kiln (Schießer) (backing kiln), one water tub, one milk bucket, and one butter tub.

Only the farmers received in addition: Four horses or 88 Guilders, one short bridle, one long bridle (field bridle), four halters, eight draft (Zug) ropes, two harness ropes (wagon ropes for sheaf and hay carrying), a wagon without metal fittings, a plow together with accessories, a bow (thorn bow?), a hatchet, a pole pick, a throw shovel, a wooden fork (for hay), a scythe with whetstone, two sickles, a (Tengel?) harness, two drills, a cutting knife (a wagon maker's working tool), a hand saw and a wagon rope. Beyond that each farmer kept one quarter to one half of a session with winter and summer fruit cultivated field with the wheat belonging to them. The seeds had to be sowed back in. [Beschka Homeland Book by Peter Lang, translated by Brad Schwebler.]

Old Heater

Carriage

Old Lighting Used

1. Candle holder

2. Table lamp

3. Stable lamp

4. Hanging lamp (main rooms)

5. Storm lamp (also used in a wagon)

6. Lantern

7. Street lamp (near important buildings)

Mercydorf Heimatbuch

A Typical Swabian Kitchen

Farmers kitchen in village of "Liebling." The wall is stenciled. The stove is built from clay bricks and then whitewashed. Take notice the loaf of bread on the table. (Image to right)

The whitewashed oven, built of clay, on top is a steel plate with four circled holes. In front is a small gate with small hole in it. The holes are there to allow a draft to enter the oven and would improve the burning of the fire. Broken up corn stocks or corn roots would be used to fire the oven if wood wasn't available. In the background, a pipe or similar to a pipe entering the chimney. The back portion of the oven is higher as the front part of the oven. The back part of the oven is also used to do baking. After the oven was no longer in use, the ashes are removed from the ashes and disposed in the garden. (Alex Leeb)

Click Images to Enlarge

Storage Room

Very bottom, left to right; wine barrel; two bottles; cabbage cutter; scale; grape press (wine press); a stumpers, sometimes used to stomp the Sauerkraut; bottom right, a barrel, (wine barrel); hanging on the wall, looks like a cloth washer; round tube, is a sausage press, on right side of the side, it has a small tube sticking out, that's where the casing is pulled on. The wooden roller is pulled out from the large tube, the tube is filled with mixed meat. The wooden roller is used to push the meat through the large tube. The mixed meat is forced into the casing. Above the sausage tube, could be a tin cub; next, ?; triangle cup, with cloth inside the cup, was used to strain fresh milk, also could be for other purposes; wooden spoon, handing sideways; tin cup with a long handle, community cup for water; two small cups. Jugs and baskets, drying peppers & garlic. (Images taken by Jody McKim, descriptions by Alex Leeb)

'Blechrollen'

(conical cylinders) used for baking shells for Schaumrollen pastry. The cylinders were made of tin - with or without wire rods serving as handles. Puff-paste (Blätterteig) dough was rolled out about 1/4-inch thick and sliced into strips an inch wide and a foot long. Each strip was wrapped, in an overlapping fashion, around a leavened cylinder and baked in the oven at high heat. The baked shells were dusted with powdered sugar and filled with whipped cream, after they had cooled sufficiently. (Images taken by Jody McKim, descriptions by Jacob Steigerwald)