ABSTRACT
Culturally and regionally specific construction methods are rarely as pronounced as in historical timber construction. But even in the Middle Ages, essential construction elements were already similar in regions that were separated at least by political borders. At that time, the wanderings of builders helped the spread of various construction methods and building traditions. Builders also often developed region-specific skills that respond to local characteristics. Bridge construction and hydraulic engineering, for example, reached great maturity where they were in particularly high demand. Climatic conditions have caused the same construction tasks to be carried out very differently from region to region. With the beginning of the early modern era, the first efforts to communicate the construction methods that had proven themselves in many places in the past found a new medium: the treatise. Notably, in the 18th and 19th centuries examples of constructions typical in a region were drawn and published in numerous specialist books alongside constructions that followed scientific findings or theories. For this thematic session, valuable contributions were submitted that address the range of these influences on timber construction and more.
