Schiefes Haus

Schiefes Haus is a late Gothic timber-framed building in Ulm, Germany, beside the Blau River. Its southern foundation meets the Blau River directly. The building leans between nine and ten degrees, giving its projecting upper floors a distinctive profile above the water. Uneven foundation settlement caused the building’s tilt over time. Originally, the house sheltered Ulm’s shipmasters, whose boats could dock beneath the overhanging floors. The Blau River shaped its practical design. The basement once held fishermen’s nets and live fish in chambers supplied with fresh water. Early seventeenth-century supports later stabilised the leaning structure. In 1995, renovation converted Schiefes Haus into a hotel while preserving its characteristic angle. Steel bands in the attic and ceilings counter the building’s leaning direction. The rooms retain noticeable slopes, reaching forty centimetres across their width. Bed-mounted water levels show how a sleeping surface can remain horizontal inside the leaning building. Its late Gothic timber frame remains clearly visible.