Flowers in a window at Museumsdorf Bayerischer Wald
This wonderful open-air museum lies in the village of Tittling, twenty minutes north of Passau, in southeastern Germany. The large, grassy park contains a hundred and fifty buildings that, according to the website, date from 1580 to 1850–a nice bit of symmetry, that. Many of the buildings, however, were still in use up to the 1970s before being moved to this sunny time capsule of a museum.
Historical outbuildings at Museumsdorf Bayerischer Wald
As large as the museum park is and as small as the village of Tittling is, Google Maps still manages to lose the place: it tried to direct us to Herrenstrasse 1, on the right (east) side of B85, whereas the museum actually lies a little further north and to the left (west). Fortunately, we ignored Google Maps at this point, stayed on B85, and followed the brown “cultural” signs to the museum. They led us there without mishap.
Farm complex at Museumsdorf Bayerischer Wald
We learned about this interesting place on Tripadvisor, one of my favorite sources for travel activities because the reviews are written by regular travelers like me and contain lots of helpful advice. The website for the museum itself isn’t quite so helpful for English speakers. So far as I can tell, it’s written only in German. That’s exactly what the Google Translate browser plugin is for, though. I use Chrome and have this Translate plugin installed so that I can translate webpages with a click of a button. It works quite well with this museum’s website and easily unearths basic information such as opening hours, location, and ticket prices. However, if you try it, you may wonder what the mysterious link, “Model Covenant Blame,” is for. But that’s just the sort of thing that makes translation programs fun. Click the link, and the “translated” webpage will invite you to view a “model of a bunch of censure in the 19th century.” Who could possibly resist?
I thoroughly enjoyed the museum. Many of its buildings were elaborately furnished with decorations and tools of from a bygone era. Enough Bavarian farmhouses were represented that a pattern of life could quickly be detected. On one side of the big main room, there was a corner table with good light, suitable not just for meals but for fiddly wintertime projects involving lots of small parts and patience:
Interior of a Bavarian farmhouse at the Museumsdorf Bayerischer Wald
And on the other side, there was a large, cozy stove and yet another well-lit area suitable for sewing, weaving, or preparing meals, as well as easy access to the bedroom, where a small child or two could be put down to nap without getting cold:
Interior of a Bavarian farmhouse, Museumsdorf Bayerischer Wald
In other words, the main room of the historical Bavarian farmhouse was a multipurpose space that allowed both husband and wife to keep busy side by side yet maintain their independent spheres and consequent sanity during the long, snowy winters.
Mill-driven machine rooms at the Museumsdorf Bayerischer Wald
I loved the museum. It fed my passion for old, shabby spaces undergoing genteel decay. Readers of my books know how much I love that.
Outdoor stairs at the Museumsdorf Bayerischer Wald
More tomorrow…
To read my latest blog posts, please click on the “Green and Pleasant Land” logo at the top of this page. All photos taken in May, 2014, in at the Museumsdorf Bayerischer Wald, Tittling, Germany. Photos and text copyright 2014 by Clare B. Dunkle.