1022 – Cheese Storehouse from Niederried, Berne, 1652

The building date, two Bernese bears and the names of the owner and of the carpenter are carved above the door in the south wall: KHRISTEN BLATER IM 1652 IAR DURCH HANS BOS DÄR ZIMERMAN. This granary from Niederried on the Lake of Brienz is almost completely preserved in its original substance: when re-erecting the building in the Ballenberg Open-Air Museum in June 1980 we only had to replace the foundation sills and the rafters with new wood, just as it always has had to be done from time to time.

Other cheese storehouses in the Bernese Oberland are usually scantly decorated. In comparison to the sober granaries from the Lütschen valley (1012) or from Leissigen (1362), this proud Niederried building is more like the granary of a rich farmer in the Midlands. And even though the usual stubby posts to raise the main body of a building above the ground are missing, the granary still fulfils its purpose. The further building elements correspond to those of usual storage buildings: fieldstone foundation, foundation sills resting on it, wide eaves and tight walls, in the lower storey cheese storage and in the upper space room for all kinds of tools, wood and preserved food.