Schwangeres Haus

The office of the scale master – where weights and measures were adjusted to standard - gave Waagestraße its name (“Waage” is the German word for “scale”). In the middle of the street, on the opposite side of the town hall garden, you can see a house with a belly-like concavity. These are a common sight in Lüneburg, natives mockingly call them “pregnant houses”.
For centuries, the brick houses in Lüneburg were built with gypsum mortar, which was hewn from the Kalkberg massif, ground and fired.

Unfortunately, the plaster kilns were too hot and too much humidity was extracted from the bricks. They were “burned to death”.

Over time, the plaster absorbed much of the missing humidity and the walls started to bulge to the outside.