Craft meets science - master carpenter visits the FG Ecology

Eight master carpenters visited the ecology department of Prof. Dr. Ewald Langer at the AVZ on March 16, 2023, with their instructor Michael Ochsler from the Federal Training Center Kassel (fourth from left) to learn about building fungi. The carpenters are taking a continuing education course to become a restorer in timber framing. Northern Hesse has a rich landscape of half-timbered buildings, some of which are several hundred years old. Within the framework of monument protection, building owners can renovate buildings worthy of preservation with state support. Renovation mistakes of the past often leave behind half-timbering damage caused by fungi such as dry rot (Serpula lacrymans). In the Ecology Department, the master carpenters were able to learn about the diagnostic possibilities offered by modern molecular biology.

Harmful building fungi can be detected directly from infested wood using specific DNA sequences. This helps to optimize costly timber frame renovations and to detect damage at an early stage.

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Ewald Langer
University of Kassel
FB 10 / Institute of Biology
Department of Ecology
E-mail: ewald.langer@uni-kassel.de