House found with everyday objects from around 1400

The building on Molkenmarkt in the Mitte district near the Spree was apparently filled in a short time and contained a wealth of materials, as the Senate Culture Administration announced on Tuesday. The number and variety of the finds recovered are for Berlin unique.

Large quantities of a typical 15th-century household have been preserved in the building; including vessels, tools, furnishings and flat glass that was used as window glass in the residential building. A cradle doll, bone cubes, marbles and metal objects were also found. Leather shoes, textile remnants and the smallest bits of food, such as cherry, grape and plum stones, as well as hazelnuts and walnuts, are uniquely well preserved.

The building was said to be seven meters long and three meters wide. It was therefore probably a wooden-lined basement of a larger residential building. 48 cubic meters of filling were taken from the house, which is up to four meters below the current ground level. This was passed through sieves with water in order to be able to recover the smallest objects. The building egg had been removed because the wood used was not well preserved, it said.

Archaeological finds of this richness and diversity are extremely rare in a city shaped by construction activity like Berlin, said Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer (left). The finds deepened and enriched knowledge about the everyday culture of Berliners in the 15th century.