Smallest House

The smallest house in Wernigerode is located at the end of Kochstrasse. A structural filler, it really does look to be squeezed in between two adjoining buildings. The half-timbered structure is actually held up by its neighbours, and has neither its own firewalls nor its own strutting.The dimensions of this house will leave you speechless – it is less than 3 metres wide and just 4 metres 20 centimetres high. The entrance is 1 metre 70 centimetres tall. The house is so narrow that even the shutters barely have enough space and are folded into each other. The house you see today was built in 1792, but 17th century records mention an earlier construction of similar size. Kochstrasse was a street of tradesmen at the time, and for a long time it went by the name of Tescherstrasse, or bag makers’ street. It was renamed in 1751 after a cook that resided here, Christian Hildebrand. Tradesmen also lived in the Smallest House, among them shoemakers and clothmakers...