Jon, travel to Switzerland or Southern Germany and examine this statement. (This being the region where this style of framing was developed) See such wonders as the Black Forest, or the great alpine forests with their impressive timber. In other parts of Europe deforestation was a huge reality, but in these places it has never occurred. My family comes from the village of Wattenwil in Canton Bern, 48.5% of the district of Wattenwil is forested, compared to only 7.4% which is settled and 42.2% which is farmed. Wattenwil lies at the end of the Gürbetal (a valley) at the foot of the alps, not far from the city of Thun. The situation here is far different than in England.

Also consider the fact that Switzerland has no navy, and most of Germany's regions historically had no navy, all being landlocked.

Rather, German short timbered style developed for the reasons dovetail pointed out, they figured out it was a much more efficient way of doing things, and a better use of their resources. My research has led me to the conclusion that short/small timbering spread to Europe from the Germans, and they adopted it for the reasons you bring out, but that was not the cause of its origins.

Swiss historians that I have read state that the younger Rähmbauweise developed in Switzerland as a cheaper alternative to the then prevalent style of stone building.

DLB