Is peace possible in the house despite an unprotected railway crossing (honking)?

The towns and municipalities would have to have only vacant plots in the town center, the church is there and can be heard every 15 minutes, you get used to it after a week, or keep looking

in a new development area

I would be thinking about completely different noise sources :D Depending on the location, wind, and terrain, you can always hear something; there is a reason why people reacted with surprise to the question. If that should be your only concern, I would consider you lucky. When you fixate on one noise or problem, it always becomes bigger than it really is. I had a normal Poroton house for 30 years and the S-Bahn on the other side of the hill. Depending on the wind, you could occasionally hear it or also the federal highway. But it was never a disturbance....... I would just build with a normal sound standard and not take oversized measures; this is not an airport or next to the highway. In a few years, you will laugh about it and have forgotten it.

150m is really nothing; at that distance, the house’s structure should actually be shaking from the driving noise. We have a highway 10km away, and depending on the wind, it is still clearly noticeable, but only outside.

I also think that’s exaggerated. We live 1-2km as the crow flies from the highway, and yes, you can hear the highway as a slight background noise when the wind is right and the surroundings are quiet. But that’s only outside and not inside behind 36cm aerated concrete. Of course, it also depends on what’s between the house and the highway. An open field or valley is different from forest or buildings.

I lived for several years between a stream and a small road on a mountain, completely secluded. Because of the stream, there was always a rustling noise, similar to the highway now. Eventually, you don’t notice it anymore. Only when the water level rose in spring, the rushing sound was noticeably louder than the highway and could be heard inside as well. And when cars or motorcycles revved on the mountain, that was by far louder.

As a child, I also lived right next to the church. Eventually, you didn’t notice the bell ringing anymore either.

Of course, there are also people for whom such soundscapes are more disturbing than for others. In our area, our local police officer wanted the city to implement noise protection measures via a petition. But nobody else was bothered at all. He actually ended up moving away because of the noise.

I would be worrying about completely different noise sources :D Depending on location, wind and terrain you can always hear something, there is a reason why people reacted with surprise to the question. If that would be your only concern I would consider you lucky. If you fixate on a noise or problem it always becomes bigger than it is. I lived 30 years in a normal Poroton house and the S-Bahn was on the other side of the hill. Depending on the wind you could occasionally hear it or also the federal highway. But it was never a disturbance.......I would just build with a normal sound standard and not take oversized measures, it’s not an airport or next to a highway. In a few years you will laugh about it and have forgotten it.

I also find it exaggerated. We live 1-2 km as the crow flies from the highway and yes, you hear the highway as a slight background noise when the wind is in the right direction and the surroundings are quiet. But only outside and not inside behind 36 cm aerated concrete. Of course, it also depends on what is between the house and the highway. Open field or valley is different than forest or buildings. I lived for several years very secluded between a stream and a small road on a hill. Because of the stream there was always a rustling noise, similar to the highway now. Eventually you don’t notice it anymore. Only when the water level rose in spring was the rustling clearly louder than the highway and you could also hear it inside. And when cars or motorcycles accelerated up the hill, it was by far louder as well. As a child I also lived right next to the church. Eventually you stopped noticing the church bells ringing. Of course, there are also people who are more bothered by these soundscapes than others. In our area, our policeman also wanted to have noise protection measures enforced by the city through a petition. But nobody else was bothered at all. He actually moved away again because of the noise.

OK that was indeed exaggerated, I measured on the map and we live 3 km as the crow flies from the highway. There is a lot of forest in between. Still, with certain wind conditions you can hear it loudly in the garden. But as was also said above, in a new housing development there are often many children. Nothing is as annoying as children, not even an ICE train through your living room :D. So I can only advise accordingly, if you are sensitive to noise, to build accordingly. 30-year-old houses had much better sound insulation than today’s Energy Saving Ordinance cardboard houses. They are energetically top, but absolutely flops in sound insulation. It helps to have a massive heavy shell (calcium silicate brick, filled Poroton) and definitely to design windows/connections/roof etc. accordingly. Overall, everything should achieve at least 40 dB, better 50 dB.

In total, it should meet at least 40dB, preferably 50dB.

By the way, 36.5 Ytong is at 47.3dB, the PP4 even at 51dB. The mentioned "tent feeling" is usually caused more by the windows.

My wish, however, is to have the house as a retreat, where there is peace from everything outside, including honking.

If that is the premise, this will definitely not be for you. Outside, you can't do anything about honking except let trees grow for 20 years that somewhat absorb the noise. But it also depends on where the honking happens. So, where is the crossing and when does the train honk. The train does not honk directly in front of the crossing anyway; that’s hopeless ;-)

In general, a new development area is not for you, too many children and years of construction noise. Here, some older residents have already taken down their tents after 2-3 years. A new development area is not a retirement home.

Besides the right masonry and windows, you can especially consider in the floor plan not to sleep on the side facing the railway.

150m is basically nothing; the house should actually be shaking from the noise of the vehicles. We have a highway 10 km away and depending on the wind it is still clearly audible, but only outside.

That is exaggerated, I myself am regularly a (sleeping) guest in such a property that is at best 40m from the track. In between is a bend with shrubbery. The house doesn’t shake at all. The passing train is completely irrelevant, especially since it does not run at night (whether that remains the case, of course, is unknown). It is also already electrified and not diesel, and it neither brakes there nor starts or accelerates. It just rolls through. That is really totally irrelevant and not noticeable, even as a guest. The noise occurs only twice an hour and lasts 2 seconds. That is miles away from constant noise from a highway or a loud freight train.