Houses of the Past. Rural buildings of Western Pomerania in old photographs

Houses from the past. Rural Construction of Western Pomerania in Old Photographs Curator: Agnieszka Slowinska Exhibition open from May 30, 2025 to October 23, 2025 vernissage: May 29, 2025, 5 pm Courtyard of the National Museum in Szczecin - Museum of Regional Traditions 27 Staromlynska Street In the exhibition Houses from the Past. Rural Construction of Western Pomerania in Old Photographs presents archival photographs from the collection of the National Museum in Szczecin, which capture examples of pre-war rural buildings most characteristic of the region. The historic houses shown in the photographs are not only a reflection of past architectural concepts, but also a testimony to the history of the people who built and lived in them. The most represented in the exhibition are photographs depicting Lower Saxon (Saxon) houses. A Lower Saxon house in its classic form is a large, thatched, half-timbered building with a wide entryway. People lived in it together with their livestock. More than half of the area of such a house was occupied by a long and high vestibule, on both sides of which were partitions for animals. Behind the vestibule was located the kitchen, and at the back of the house was a small living area. From the outside, the Saxon cottage somewhat resembles the second of the presented historic house types - the Pyrzyce house. It was also a large, half-timbered, narrow-fronted building. In its front part there were two living rooms and a small hallway. Behind them was located the so-called black kitchen, further: a stable and a cowshed. The last type of building shown in the photos is a quadrangle enclosed homestead. This was a sizable habitat, which included: a house (a cottage built on a Saxon plan or a wide-fronted house), an imposing gate building opposite it, by the street, and outbuildings perpendicularly located to them. In some of the photographs, in addition to the houses, one can see their inhabitants and elements of their daily life surrounding them: home gardens, boats and fishing equipment, drying laundry, various objects such as a basket, wheelbarrow, cart. The exhibition is an opportunity not only to learn about the old rural architecture of Western Pomerania, but also to reflect on the lives of the people who once inhabited the area.