Wiekhaus, also Wikhaus, Wieckhaus (Low German Wikhus), Wieke, Wiechhaus, Weichhaus, Wichhäuschen is a special form of defensive buildings that occur primarily in northeastern Germany (Mecklenburg, Western Pomerania and Brandenburg) and as Wiechhaus on the Lower Rhine.
Wiekhäuser were used for observation and defense in the Middle Ages. The term was also used for extensions to sloping roofs, which created space for a guard post. Wiekhäuser can be found in and on the walls and towers of city fortifications as well as on church towers and towers of castles and palaces. The most important medieval city wall, that of Cologne, had a number of vicarage houses on the less endangered and lower Rhine wall. The city fortifications of Neubrandenburg had 56 such Wiekhäuser.
In Neubrandenburg, since the 17th century, the conversion of mostly stone, fortified houses into half-timbered houses ensured that the medieval wall around the city remained intact and at the same time created living space for members of the lower social classes of the city. This program of social housing in the form of second-generation shelters had a lasting impact on the city's tourism image. (Excerpt from Wikipedia).