For centuries, men, women, and children worked as day laborers on farms, but also in craft workshops, in road and railway construction, and in industry. For a small wage, they had to show up every day and perform heavy physical labor. Few day laborers tended their own gardens, while others were able to purchase a house through thriftiness and family solidarity. In the museum, the Leibzucht Rischenau (A 13), Haus Rösebeck (A 30), and Haus Vinsebeck (A 38) bear witness to these precarious living conditions.
The building was constructed in 1824 as a poorhouse in the parish village of Rinkerode (Drensteinfurt, Warendorf district) in the Münsterland region. It dates back to a charitable foundation established in 1628 by the noble von Kerckering family. Four poor, single, elderly women lived in four small rooms, sharing a kitchen and living room. Each of the women also had a small piece of garden at her disposal. In the living room, the women had to pray daily for the salvation of the souls of their noble benefactors.
The small half-timbered house originates from the Lindhorst farm in Rischenau (Lüdge, Lippe district). It was built in 1732 by smallholder Wilhelm Schröder and was used or rented out as a retirement home (known as a Leibzucht). Around 1900, the Uhe family moved in. After the death of her husband, the widow Anna Marie Uhe had to support their three children on her own as a day laborer. There was neither electricity nor running water in the house and only one room that could be heated – everyday life for the poor rural population until the 1930s. The family kept two goats, a pig, and two chickens in the barn to provide for themselves.
