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The structure of chromatin fibers is dynamically changing. In the condensed state, each nucleosome is associated with an H1 (or H5) to form a solenoid structure. H1 and H5 are called linker histones. They are essential in stabilizing the solenoid conformation. This can be demonstrated by extracting the condensed chromatin at a low salt concentration, which will release H1 or H5. Then, the "beads-on-a-string" conformation may be observed by the atomic force microscopy (web link).
Figure 3-D-4. Chromatin's beads-on-a-string conformation and the solenoid structure.
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