Bundwerk is a method of building with timber that was used especially in the 19th century in
Austria,
South Tyrol and
Bavaria. After
log construction and
timber framing, bundwerk is one of the most widespread forms of
timber building techniques. It involved using wooden beams that were arranged partly in a lattice or diagonally over a cross. It often decorated the front and gable sides of agricultural buildings, frequently the grain barn or Stadel of quadrangular farms (Vierseithöfen).
In northeastern
Upper Bavariabundwerk is especially varied and colourful. By contrast, in the
Werdenfelser Land and the region around
Innsbruck only a few places exhibit this type of timber building throughout.
Bundwerk had its heyday between 1830 and 1860 when artists and woodcarvers, as well as carpenters, decorated the bundwerk with paintings and carvings, often with mythical creatures or Christian symbols.
Literature
Jüngling, Armin: Das Bundwerk am Bauernhaus des Chiemgaus. 1978
Stoermer, Hans W.: Zimmererkunst am Bauernhaus: Bayrisch-Alpines Bundwerk. 1981
Werner, Paul:
Das Bundwerk: eine alte Zimmermannstechnik: Konstruktion, Gestaltung, Ornamentik. 1985; 1988