Museumsdorf Cloppenburg, an open-air museum near Löningen, documents rural life in the 18th and 19th century in northwestern Germany. The founders, beginning in the 1930’s, dismantled these old structures before they were lost to time, relocating and rebuilding them on their present site. Life was very hard for most – not enough food, too much disease, and very high mortality rate. Only the land owners, the rich few, had enough land to make ends meet. The others had few good options – try to survive, marry well, or go to America. We were able to make connections to our experience at the Auswandererhaus in Bremerhaven.

18th Farmhouse (of a rich farmer)

Museumsdorf – village church in background