Claim: The Treppenspeicher which was  typical of the Lower Saxony (he largest heathland area of Germany) area used to be built within sight, but at a distance from the main farmhouse to ensure that if the farmhouse caught fire, the fire would not spread to the stores.
Evidence: A Treppenspeicher (literally "staircase store") is the German term for a granary or secondary farm building used for storage and typical of the Lüneburg Heath area in northern Germany.