Brusttuch House

Trapezoidal half-timbered guildhall covered in mischievous Renaissance carvings.

A four-storey wedge of a building on the Hoher Weg, near the market square — half-timbered above a stone ground floor, with one of the most elaborate carved fronts in Goslar. The name comes from the "bib" shape of the gable, and the house has stood on this awkward triangular plot since 1521.

The fascination is in the woodwork. The corner posts and beams are crowded with small humorous scenes: peasants drinking, monks misbehaving, hunters chasing a hare on a treadmill, a chained ape playing a flute. Bring a moment to look up — the upper storeys repay close attention, and a small printed guide at the tourist office identifies the more obscure carvings.

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A story
Among the carvings on the upper storeys is a famous one of a young woman sometimes called 'the Butter Hannah' — she is shown churning butter while a goat looks on. Tradition holds that she was placed there at the order of the mine owner Johann Tilg, who built the house in 1521, after she rejected his advances and he wanted her image preserved as gossip.