Excursion | On the Trail in the Bregenzerwald Farmhouse at Göttehalden

What does an old house tell when you listen closely? Barbara and Thomas Mohr are renovating a farm house from the Bregenzerwald region that is approximately 560 years old at its core. Carefully, curiously, and with great respect for the historical substance, they embark on a quest for traces alongside dendrochronologist Klaus Pfeifer (dendrochronology = tree age determination) and architect Thomas Mennel: in beams, joints, surfaces, and constructions that have developed over generations. Barbara Mohr is a carpenter, a design graduate, and a cultural mediator at the Werkraum Bregenzerwald. Her research into the history of the building opens up perspectives on the hidden stories and what we can learn from them for the present. Thomas Mohr contributes his craftsmanship expertise as a carpenter with a special understanding of traditional building elements and their significance in a historical context. Klaus Pfeifer reads these traces like an open book: annual rings become witnesses of time, wooden constructions serve as historical evidence. His dendrochronological analyses and work in building research make it visible when construction, alteration, and rethinking took place. Accompanying them is architect Thomas Mennel, who has been intensively involved with the building culture of the Bregenzerwald and house research for many years. From his experience in the sensitive handling of listed and anonymous building substance, he provides insights into how tradition and contemporary ways of living can be harmonized. Together, they pose questions that extend beyond this house: How do you read a building? What can the past teach us about sustainable construction? And how can historical substance be transformed into contemporary use without losing its character?

Program:
1:00 PM - Joint lunch at the Werkraum Café (optional, at your own expense, with registration at info@werkraum.at)
2:00 PM - Meeting point at Werkraum Bregenzerwald and walk to the farmhouse
2:30 PM - Searching for traces in the farmhouse at Göttehalden
Approx. 5:00 PM - Return to Werkraum Bregenzerwald

Date: Fri, April 24, 2026
Registration: info@werkraum.at
Cost: €32
Note: The house is a construction site - entry is at your own risk. Good footwear is required. The upper floor is only accessible via a ladder.

Photo: Barbara Mohr