Göpel

Lonely witness to historical agriculture

A round, small half-timbered house bears witness to its historical use: the (pitiful) draught animals that drove threshing machines or choppers via a shaft ran in the round.

This octagonal half-timbered building, which belongs to the adjoining farmyard, housed a horse-drawn cart. A göpel is a driving device that was usually set in motion by horses.

The draught animals were harnessed in front of a long lever arm and ran constantly in circles. The lever arm turned a shaft that transmitted the power to the actual machine, e.g. a threshing machine or chopper, via a gearbox.

With the introduction of the electricity supply in Ravensberg after 1910, the number of göpel quickly declined. Today, only two of these relics of old agricultural technology still exist in the Herford district. The göpel in Hiddenhausen is lovingly preserved and looked after by the local history association.

Further information: www.fahr-im-kreis.de