Aurora (windmill)
The mill Aurora , also called Borsteler Mühle , is a windmill in Borstel , a district of Jork in the Altes Land . It is a gallery Dutch built in 1856 by the miller Adolf Friedrich Peters.
Naming
The mill "Aurora" in Jork was named in honor of Aurora, Countess von Königsmarck (born April 28, 1662 in Stade , † February 16, 1728 in Quedlinburg ). Marie Aurora was the daughter of Count Conrad Christopher von Königsmarck and his wife Maria Christina von Wrangel (1637-1691); whose half-brother was the Swedish marshal Carl Gustav Wrangel , Count of Salmis. She was the granddaughter of the first Swedish governor general in Stade. For Voltaire, next to Catherine II, she was "the most famous woman in two centuries". She came from the Altmark noble family Königsmarck and was the lover of August the Strong and then provess of the Quedlinburg monastery .
The French poet André Maurois set Aurora a literary monument in his book about George Sand (German under the title “Dark Sehnsucht - the life of George Sand” - published in Munich in 1953 ).
History of the property
This location is occupied for post windmills until the 17th century. When the first windmill was built in Jork- Borstel, there was no freedom of trade . Nobody, even if they had the necessary funds, was allowed to build and operate a new mill without a privilege or permission from the sovereign. The Archbishop of Bremen ( Johann Friedrich von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf ) granted the privilege to Count Dietrich Schulte, who built a post mill. The first mill on the dike did not last long. In 1633 it is said that Count Nicolas Dehmel rebuilt the now completely dilapidated mill for his own benefit. The mill remains in the possession of the Dehmel family until 1672.
In 1671 there was an accident when a young man (15/16 years) came too close to the comb with his hand while his flour was running through, which pulled him to itself and crushed him. At that time, things like mills that had caused a fatal accident fell into the hands of the state. In May 1672 the Swedish king announced that the mill could be bought for 100 Reichstaler . The new purchaser was Otto Wilhelm von Königsmarck , son of the governor general for the duchies of Bremen / Verden, who was buried in Stade in 1663.
Otto Wilhelm von Königsmarck died in 1688. Of the descendants of his brother, Maria Aurora (26), Amalia Wilhelmine (25) and Philipp Christoph (23) were still living . You must have inherited the mill, because later the two countesses Aurora and Amalia were listed as lessors.
It is not entirely clear how the ownership structure has developed since 1725. But it seems to be the case that after Aurora's death, Amalie Wilhelmine still owned the mill until her death in 1740 - she died in Stade . In the same year, George II of Hanover acquired the Agathenburg possessions of Königsmarck and thus also the Borsteler mill for 45,000 thalers . But the Hanover government wanted to get rid of the expensive mill, but keep the regular income. The appointed bailiff Mensing therefore offered the building in need of repair as a hereditary interest mill against the highest bid. Hinrich Wölcken was awarded the contract for only 117 thalers a year, but first had to invest 2200 thalers in the repair of the mill. Wölcken died in 1744 and his widow let Franz Dietrich Cordes run the mill for 5 years until her son, Heinrich Wölcken, took over the apparently highly stressed business. Because of over-indebtedness he gave up the operation of the mill.
Then Hinrich Gerkens and his son Albert Wilhelm took over the mill. The storm surge of 1825 , which was a flood of the century and was only exceeded in height by the flood of 1962, fell in his son's time . After 1825 the dike was raised by "four feet ". This was not without consequences for the post mill, now no longer on the dike, but more or less in the dike. Gerckens could not raise the capital required to increase the mill. In 1831 there was a forced sale to the Buxtehude merchant Fischer, who left the mill to his brother-in-law Johannes Hinrich Peters. This brought the business up again, although mills were built everywhere under the sign of the prevailing freedom of trade. His son and successor Adolf Friedrich Peters had the post mill demolished and in 1856 built today's Dutch mill.
History of the "Aurora" mill in Jork Borstel
The builder of the mill, Adolf Friedrich Peters died in 1861, only 28 years old. His widow married the grain shipper Gerd Pickenpack, who continued to run the mill. In 1881 he renovated the house next door and set up a bakery. In 1922 Harms and Wahlen took over the windmill from Pickenpack, who kept the mill house. By 1932 at the latest, Franz Wahlen became the sole owner of the mill. In 1943 the wing cross was badly damaged in a bomb attack. From now on you can only grind with a motor.
The existing house extension was built in 1953. In addition to the Wahlen couple, their son-in-law and last miller, Walter Legenstein, lived there with his family. The restructuring of the economy at the time made the operating conditions more and more difficult and in 1961 the “end” for the Borsteler Mühle came. It was quiet on the stone floor with the grinders , where there was activity for 100 years. Kestrels nested in the framework of the cap. The Müller Wahlen and later the son-in-law Legensteiun were unable to repair the building.
A lot changed in the area around the mill at the end of the 1970s. The dike line was up to the island Hahnöfersand brought forward, the county road Grünendeich-Cranz new as main road traced out .
The mill stump on the rest of the old dike suddenly took on a new meaning for the wider area. For the Lower Elbe region , the district road is the connection to Hamburg ; conversely, the people of Hamburg like to use the road for trips into the Elbe-Weser triangle . You all see the mighty ruin that was dawning. The 13 m high substructure made of meter-thick brick walls defied the decay to some extent, but the sheet metal cladding of the 11 m high octagon with its rotating hood rusted at breakneck speed.
At the time, the district of Stade was negotiating the purchase with the owner, but no deal was reached because no agreement could be reached on the price. In the autumn of 1981, the miller Walter Legenstein told the district that the mill property should be sold to a private person who would use the mill for residential purposes.
That was depressing news for the district, because the impressive mill tower marks the entrance into the heart of the old country . With the Wehr'schem Hof, Graefenhof and Haus Portau, a restored windmill would be the crowning glory of this picture - this no longer seemed possible. At that time there was neither a budget nor any other financial means in the district to buy the mill. Nevertheless, it had to be acted quickly and, after consulting the then senior district director Dieter Diekmann , an agreement had to be reached with the mill owner. The district committees were informed immediately, confirmed the decision and passed the necessary resolutions. All those involved felt it was a special reward that the Hamburg-Lower Saxony development fund recognized the district initiative and approved a significant amount as a grant. Nothing stood in the way of the restoration of the Dutch gallery “Borsteler Mühle”.
Construction data
The Dutch windmill has a circumferential gallery above a 10 m high, four-story brick substructure. From there, the actual mill rises another 14 meters above the octagonal floor plan. The mill has sail-covered wings ( sail gate wing ) and nine levels with a total height of 24 meters. In 1907 Gerd Pickenpack had the Mühlensteert removed and a compass rose with an adjusting gear installed, which probably never worked properly because the mill had already sagged and was slightly inclined. In 1911 it was switched to motor operation in order to be able to take advantage of times of low wind, for which an annex was built.
restoration
It was not until more than 20 years later, namely in 1984, that a comprehensive restoration was carried out by the district of Stade . After the district of Stade had bought the old Galerieholländer along with the property, the order for the renovation of the historic mill was placed. At the same time, the rotatable hood with attached codend as well as the shear and spret beam was to be reconstructed. The damage to the valuable structure had already reached alarming proportions.
Extensive additions and repairs had to be carried out in and on the mill tower with its massive substructure and the sheet metal-clad wooden construction of the octagon with its nine levels, such as repairing the damaged masonry, adding a new gallery, cladding the octagon with cedar wood and copper covering the hood. In addition, work had to be carried out for the operational preparation of the historical 'entrails' such as the installation of a new main and vertical shaft with comb and spur gear , preparation of the grinding passage , attachment of codend, wing cross, roller ring and many more details. Technical, manual and craft skills were required here. The renovation and impregnation of all the construction timbers against pest infestation were also of great importance and demanded great skill and responsibility from all those involved. In order to ensure error-free operation, the inclination of the mill tower that had occurred over the decades by around 30 cm towards the north (old dike) had to be compensated for in the transmission and mechanics.
The mill technology in the mill is still there, but no longer works. Today there is a restaurant on three levels.
The Jork mill from 1984 to the present day
Aurora windmill in February 2011
Interior view of the gallery in the windmill
The mill room 2011
Web links
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 53 ° 32 ′ 22.8 " N , 9 ° 41 ′ 34.1" E