53°33'39.1"N 9°36'38.7"E
Swan gable decorations, Ort 19

Swan gable decorations

There are three main types of swan gable decorations.

1. The Lühe swan, which is most clearly recognised as a swan; its head is placed on the chest and the neck forms an arch in which there is placed a cross or a four-spoked wheel as an ornamental decoration.

2. The Jork style is similar to the Lühe swan. Although it is more stylised, the swan is still close to its natural appearance. Especially a tulip decoration is used here instead of a cross. This form can now also found on new gable decorations in Hollern, Steinkirchen and Guderhandviertel.

3. The Este swan is the most traditional, but also the most controversial gable decoration, it was often difficult to recognise the swan.

In contrast to Lower Saxony's horse heads, swans as gable decorations are typical in the Altes Land. 

There is no clear explanation why swans are used. Is the swan a consort bird of the sun god?

A discussion has emerged in the last few years about the significance of the swan gable decorations. While it was previously assumed that the swan decorations, in contrast to Saxon horse heads, were a reminiscent of the Dutch settlement, it is now rather doubted that this was the case, as it is assumed that they first appeared in the 19th century.