Half-Timbered Houses at Simeonstraße, Trier

Group of three half-timbered houses built next to each other around 1600 at the junction of the main market and Simeonstraße (the sculpted year 1605 on facade no. 22 and the painted construction date 1607 on facade no. 23 are not original. The houses are located on the eastern border of the medieval , existing Jewish quarter until 1418. The two northern ones are built over the so-called Small Jewish Gate (1406: cleynen Jews porten), which can be proven to have existed since the second third of the 13th century.

The half-timbered house (in Switzerland Riegelhaus) is the most well-known use of timber framework in building construction in Germany and large parts of Switzerland. It is a skeleton construction made of wood, in which the horizontal bracing (e.g. to withstand the wind load) is done by means of diagonally installed struts and the spaces (partitions) are filled with a wooden mesh plastered with clay or with masonry. With the exception of the late period of this type of construction, round timber was used as construction timber using a broad ax or adze to form single-stemmed beams with a square cross-section. The timbers were joined by carpenters, with metal fasteners such as nails or screws being largely dispensed with.

The market has a particularly romantic flair due to the half-timbered houses and the other houses with historical facades.