Swiss and German Roof Framing

[D L Bahler]

I thought I'd put some pictures of real world examples to illustrate some of these concepts.

First, here is a structure with a very large roof with a large unsupported space on the inside, so the joist plane is braced to resist wind loads perpendicular to the eaves. In this particular example, the "joists" are stub joists and don't go much into the interior, so as a result the bracing is as we see here, entirely on the cantilevered exterior (this wide soffit is typical)


 

I've mentioned a "verzahnte balken" a few times. Here's an example, in this case used to make an arch for a free-span bridge, but the same principle can be used for wide span beams as well.



 

Next, for some perspective here are some of the farmhouses like we've talked about, where a "liegender stuhl" would be the typical roof support:


 


 
Since we've also talked about Swiss/German bridge trusses, here are some:


 
This first bridge is the sort of complex polygonal design that's fairly typical. Next, the massive kings posts of the Neubrügg north of Bern, built in the 1500's


 

 

 

 
And finally, a few church buildings so that we can get an idea of the sort of structures we're talking about:
First, the Bern Münster, with a high nave and side aisles with shed roofs:


 
Next, the late Romanesque Zürich Grussmünster, with a large single roof:


 
and finally, a small retangular church more typical of the German style, in contrast to the "basilica" style of the Lombard churches that we've reviewed: