Bongartz mill

In the past centuries there were a total of 18 mills in the municipality of Viersen. Four of them were Ross oil mills , as hammer mills . These were operated by horse power. There were also two windmills , the Hoser and Hüsterfeld windmills , both of which were privately owned.

It was different with the watermills. The pen St. Gereon in Cologne had the basic rule of Viersen and the water rights on the streams in Viersen. The construction of watermills required his approval. The monastery granted mill rights as a hereditary fiefdom and received an annual tenancy from them. This had to be delivered to the parish office of St. Remigius. These documents show that there were twelve water mills in Viersen as early as 1246. All mills, with the exception of the monastery mill , paid a sum (about one hundredweight) of malt annually as loan interest. In the glory of Viersen there was no pressure to mill . All farmers could have milled wherever they wanted.

These twelve mills were on:

" Dorfer Bach ": Kaisermühle , Kimmelmühle , Goetersmühle , Biestenmühle and Schricksmühle
" Hammer Bach ": Plinzenmühle , Schnockesmühle , Sgoedenmühle , Bongartzmühle, Hüstermühle and Hammer Mühle
" Rintger Bach ": Klostermühle

geography

The Bongartzmühle is located on Hammer Bach at Bachstrasse 39a in the Unterbeberich district in the town of Viersen, in the Viersen district. There was a pond in front of the mill . The water level of the Hammer Bach in this area was 43 m above sea level. Below the Bongartzmühle was the Hüstermühle, above the Sgoedenmühle.

The Hammer Bach supplied six mills with water for centuries. The care and maintenance of the water is the responsibility of the water and soil association of the Middle Niers, which is based in Grefrath .

history

In contrast to the other mills on Hammer Bach , the Bongartz mill , which was also called Portenmühle , is still there and in very good condition. It stands in line with the mills that were already mentioned in 1246. In 1408 the "Mölen ter Portzen" became the "Mühle am Bongart". Bongert or Bungert are old names for an orchard . From 1600 the place name became the family name Müller Bongartz. That was when "Jan auff dem Bungart aka Mueller's" bought the farm and mill. The property had previously belonged to the von Tüschenbroichs .

The mill was a grain mill with two grinders and an undershot water wheel. In 1809 the daily grindability of the mill was five Malter grain (one Malter = three hundredweight). The Bongartz dynasty stayed at the mill until 1963, although the mill was shut down in 1930. The slowly decaying mill house with its outbuildings was acquired in 1981 by a couple of craftsmen from Viersen and completely renovated with great personal commitment. The monument protection also came into play. The remaining parts of the grinding facility with its two grinding aisles were integrated into the living space. A new iron water wheel was also installed.

gallery

The Bongartz mill with water wheel
Horse cart and mill
Gable end of the mill
Street side with business section
Former Servants' House
Economic part of the mill
Mill pond with bridge
Mill and pond
Tranchot map from 1806
The figurehead of the Bongartzmühle
Mill drive in the living room
Mill equipment in the living room
Historic mill facility

Monument entry

The brick-faced building complex of the Bongartzmühle, stretching between Hammer Bach and Bachstraße, includes extensive stables and ancillary buildings as well as servants' houses , which form a triangular inner courtyard on the back gable of the actual mill building.

The mill building on the eaves side of the street is connected to the gatehouse ancillary building along what is now the slightly elevated street. A large barn - renewed and enlarged in 1864, renewal of the burned-down roof structure in 1955 - which stands across the street and to the front gable side of the mill, marks a larger courtyard in front of it, on which there is a recently found old pebble floor (Keienboden, Kieselboden).

The Hofanlage is performed largely in brick, wherein individual wall parts of the annexes in truss and field fire bricks - - or plaster surface towards the inner courtyard infilled are. The side of the mill facing the Hammer Bach still shows the remains of ashlar walls from a previous building as well as various construction seams . The window openings are arranged irregularly there.

The mill yard, in the place of which there was a predecessor mill in the 14th century and which is probably to be found among the 12 Viersener mills mentioned in 1246, is constructed in a post construction (oak construction). The stud work and other remains of the construction date from the 17th-18th centuries. Century (ca.1780). Today's appearance is essentially based on structural changes in the 19th century.

On the front gable side of the two-storey mill building, to the right of the entrance door, there are stacked window and door openings with the guide roller for the grain elevator. Windows and doors are covered by brick arches .

Inside the mill, the stand work and the still completely preserved grinder dominate, while the mill wheel itself is lost. The old millstones are embedded in the floor of the hall - when it was lifted, an old well was found - as well as in the vaulted cellar under the Opkamer. The chimney is still in its old place. Cologne ceilings decorate the living / sleeping rooms.

The Bongartzmühle has been restored since 1981. The current owner is striving to ensure that the grinder is fully functional after the repair work and the return of the Hammer Bach to the mill building.

The watermill on Hammer Bach was built in place of the previous mill mentioned in 1569 as Herdermolen, documented in 1408 as “Molen-ter-Poertzen”, and in 1423 as a fiefdom (“ with the good to the Portzen, with mills, with ponds, with meal - "Service and interest people ") came into the possession of the gentlemen of Tüschenbroich and has been known as the Bongartzmühle since 1578; it experiences its importance as a typical example of the numerous, mostly submerged, former water mills in the Viersen settlement area. The age and history of the Bongartzmühle are therefore of great importance for the local history of Viersen. In addition, it must be regarded as a typical example of the significant topographical settlement organisms that once shaped the Viersen area and is therefore essential for the history of the settlement. In addition to mediating previous work and production conditions, the well-preserved grinder offers technical and scientific information.

The preservation of the Bongartzmühle is therefore in the public interest in accordance with Section 2 (1) Monument Protection Act for historical, folklore, local and settlement-historical, technical-scientific reasons and as a testimony to the history of work and production conditions.

Viersen Monument List No. 4, entry: January 8, 1985

literature

Hans Vogt: Lower Rhine water mill guide. Verein Niederrhein, Krefeld 1998, ISBN 3-00-002906-0 , pp. 511-523.
Ferdinand Dohr: About the water being in the old Viersen. In: Heimatbuch des Kreis Kempen-Krefeld , 25th episode / 1974, pp. 47–55.

Web links

Commons : Bongartzmühle - Collection of images, videos and audio files

https://rheinischer-spiegel.de/bongartzmuehle-viersen-natur-in-viersen/

Website of the Bongartzmühle

Individual evidence

↑ Website of the water and soil association of the Middle Niers.

[1] Website of the water and soil association of the Middle Niers.