in this section, photos from four towns are presented, hameln, hoexter, lemgo and schmalenberg, which are situated in the eastern part of westfalen, at or near to the river weser.
these
towns have two distinctive features - they were flourishing
trade places in medieval and early modern times, and
timber-framing architecture was a strong facet. (in this
region, customary house-building is also true for eschwege,
goslar, korbach, schmalenberg; see map).
for both reasons hameln, hoexter and lemgo excel in historic
architecture. these three were member of the "hansa", the
hanseatic league, a european trading confederation which
prospered from the 13th to the 17th century. the little town
schmalenberg was too small for the hansa, yet also stands out
in colourful wooden houses.
most buildings survived world-war 2, and are now part of the
heritage status of these impressive townships.
