The Village Inn

The Village Inn at the open-air museum. The main building of the Meyer Inn zu Lahr from Goldenstedt, built between 1780 and 1816.

Socialization and enjoyment

The gables of this business area come from Enneking Inn from Oldorf (Vechta County), built in 1747. Re-constructed at the open-air museum between 1955 and 1956
“Not everything has a reason: it goes past, it comes in”. This is the motto on an old door beam from Damme in the main hall of the inn at the open-air museum. As a place for meeting people, socializing and celebrating holidays, keeping an inn was an important element of in the life of a village. Many farmers as well as those from the neighboring Haake Inn operated a bar and pursued their livelihoods in both farming as well as entertaining guests.
As early as the Fifties, long before museum cafes became fashionable, the open-air museum re-designed the main building of the Meyer Inn zu Lahr in Goldenstedet as a village inn. In this, the internal arrangements remained the same, however a rectangular annex was added for the business areas and was completed by the mighty gable from the Enneking Inn from Oldorf near Damme.

Out to the country!

Surrounded by a 1900’s-style garden, the village inn exhibits the blooming culture of enjoyment from the preceding 19th century, when the city residents used their leisure time for country parties in large numbers. The creation of the first play areas near such inns belongs to the same period. The newly created village inn play area, which has been equipped with a swing board, a slide and a small, stationary carousel, follows this example.

 

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