Janus Pannonius Múzeum Évkönyve 34 (1989) (Pécs, 1990)

Néprajztudomány - Zentai Tünde: A dél-dunántúli parasztházak tetőszerkezete

A DÉL-DUNÁNTÚLI PARASZTHÁZ 225 Roofing of peasant houses in Southern Transdanubia Tünde ZENTAI The main characteristics of the Southern Transdanubian dwelling houses are the following: I. — Prop-and-purlin roofing is the simplest and probably the oldest, to be traced back to the Arpadian age (896—1301) in Southern Transdanubia. Ethnographical data registrate a rather rare occurrence in the County of Tolna, along the river Danube and the Lake Balaton. — Blades of scissors, a variety of the purlin roof gaining ground in the direction of Austria and Slovenia, is much more widely spread. In the 19th century it was the most common type in the Northern part of the region. According to statements of timber sales, rafter framing was present in the Southern parts of the region in the late Middle Ages and in the 18th century. In the 19th century, it slowly drove out the purlin roof and became exclusive after 1880. — In the middle of the 19th century, following the example of the manorial architecture of towns, and as a result of fir-wood available in large quantities, chair framing became increasingly popular (first of all along the River Danube, and in the Counties of Baranya and Zala); by the turn of the century it had grown to be predominating. — Up to the 19th century, roofs had been hipped at both ends; later, the end looking on the street was half-hipped, in the second half of the century with ornamented decking. Propped houses mostly had perpendicular pediments. Buildings with solid walls usually had the same form of roof. II. — In Southern Transdanubia, the material most often used for roof covering was straw: shaken straw up to the end of the 18th century. Besides, in waterside settlements, reed, bulrush, and sedge were also used. Data of the turn of the 18—19th centuries reveal that the use of bundled rye-straw or thatch covering gained ground in vernacular architecture. In the course of the 19th century, thatch became predominating in the region, driving out even locally growing reed (for example, along the river Dráva). In the second half of the 19th century, laid thatching, similar to the technique of reeding, was adopted in the Counties of Tolna and in Outer Somogy. From Styria and Slovenia, it spread over to the County of Zala and a few villages of the region of Drávaszél towards the end of the century. — In the Counties of Somogy and Baranya of the 18th century, oak shingles were made at various places; not widely used, however, among peasants. — Tile roofing emerged in the mid-19th century, first of all in Baranya. By the end of the century, it had been applied to a greater extent than the country-wide average in all the Transdanubian counties. III. — At what time ceilings began to be used could not yet be stated. Available data allow to draw the conclusion that the Southern Transdanubian peasant house of the 18th century was already provided with ceiling (apart from extremely poor ones, and vineyard huts). — Among the medium and lower peasant classes, softwood ceiling spread in the early 19th century, whereas hardwook plank ceilings had remained in use for kitchens with open chimneys in them right up to the disappearance of timber constructions. — The ceiling rests on the pair of wall-plates. According to 18th-century data, girders were widely used, going out of fashion in the 1880s. In the Western parts of Southern Transdanubia and in the region of Inner Somogy crossgirders were in use, spraed towards Burgenland, and the Counties of Veszprém and Vas. — Among flat ceilings, those made from bundled straw gained ground in Somogy and in the Eastern parts of the area from the mid19th century. — The varieties and structural members of roofing display regional differences within the large area under discussion: some reflect influences of the West, others of the Great Hungarian Plain. — The characteristic features of the 20th century are up-to-date materials and integrating tendencies also in the field of roof framing.