Dickendorfer mill
Coordinates: 50 ° 44 ′ 49.6 ″ N , 7 ° 51 ′ 15.4 ″ E
The Dickendorfer Mühle is a water mill in the northern Westerwald in the Elbbachtal near Molzhain and served as a grain mill. The location was mentioned as a mill as early as 1529, but the building was replaced by a new one, probably in 1818, due to its disrepair.
Building description
The building consisted of natural stone masonry on the ground floor , and a half-timbered upper floor . It offered only cramped living space, as most of it was intended for the mill. Upstairs were two rooms and a chamber of which one Stübgen probably served as a lounge for customers because it contained a tin furnace which had been purchased by the Mahlgästen. Finally there was the so-called ice house in the mill . In the 18th century the mill consisted of the main building and a stable built by the guests. The flour was made in a grinding gear driven by a water wheel . The thickness of the two millstones was different. The fixed bottom block was measured 12 inches and the rotating runner block was 6 inches wide.
Water catchment area
The water for operating the mill is diverted from the nearby Elbbach , which originates in the headwaters around the Elkenrother Weiher , via a mill ditch. There are also two other bodies of water that flow into the Elbbach. So the Lindians soap and the Kausener Bach are used to drive the water wheel . The catchment area has a size of 14.1 km 2 . The inflow of water is regulated by a weir at the beginning of the mill ditch.
history
The Dickendorfer mill was first mentioned in 1529 and appears to be the oldest mill in the entire Gebhardshain parish . From the beginning it belonged to the property of the Counts of Grafschaft Sayn . Under their rule the mill was leased, but the miller was bound to provide the count's family with part of the flour.
In 1691 eight stately mills belonged to the Freusburg office . Since the surrounding villages were subject to the mill ban, the farmers of these communities had to have their grain ground in the prescribed mill. It was also part of the miller's job to remind the farmers of this ban on mills in order to ensure his survival. Every time the tenant changed, it was inspected by an "expert" and the inventory was taken. It happened more and more often in the further course that the tenants changed, which the county used as an opportunity to let the rent rise further. As a result, some millers did not care much about the building due to financial difficulties. For this reason, the condition of the mill building and its furnishings gradually deteriorated. So there were often strong conflicts between the owner, the miller and the guests.
When Johann Wilhelm Hassel took over the lease on January 1, 1772, the mill came into the family ownership of today's Zöller family. During his lease there were three mills in the Gebhardshain parish. In addition to the Dickendorfer Mühle, these include the Dauersberger Mühle and the Elkenrother Mühle. Due to the mill ban, the villages Dickendorf , Kausen , Molzhain , Kotzenroth (today's Rosenheim ), Hommelsberg and Steineberg (which together make up Malberg ) were obliged to have the Dickendorfer mill milled.
In 1773 the mill was supposed to be rebuilt, but the local councilors did not agree to do so. Hassel had to do without a renewal. At the beginning of his activity he did not meet the expectations and wishes of the farmers. Only after some time did he improve his working posture, so the lease contract was repeatedly extended until 1795.
After his death his wife took over the mill and took care of its maintenance. From 1812, her son Christian Hassel received a new lease, which was no longer issued by the previous owners, the lords of the County of Sayn-Altenkirchen , but by the Nassau government .
Economic difficulties
Although the banned localities were obliged to keep the mill in an acceptable condition, they did not take up their task first. So it came about that Hassel submitted the notice of termination two years before the lease expired. The reason for this was, firstly, the poor turnover that he generated, as the guests avoided his mill and, secondly, the impending collapse of the building. The now ruling Prussian government did not comply with his request for early release from the contract. But she felt responsible, and so the mill was demolished in 1816 due to the poor state of construction. The only thing that was not destroyed was the inventory, as it belonged to the Müller family.
Since the government did not want to cancel the lease, but continued to collect the monthly fees, a remedy had to be found. For example, the miller had a new, temporary roof built for his milling equipment so that he could at least go about his work when there was no wind and dry weather. Because of these unsatisfactory conditions, the farmers tried to avoid the mill despite the ban. This resulted in losses in sales and earnings.
When the lease contract expired in 1817, the government tried to close the Dickendorfer mill by reallocating the banned villages to the neighboring mills. This project failed because the Elkenrother mill was difficult to reach for the guests and the Dauersberger Mühle could not supply any other customers.
Since the government wanted to free itself from the burden, a public auction took place. There Christian Hassel submitted the highest bid for the transfer of the long lease. However, he wanted to be released from the contract if the meal obligation was lifted. In 1818 he was awarded the contract by the government under the following conditions:
- There should be no discount on the lease fee
- If the mill ban is lifted, his taxes are reduced
- Christian Hassel has to rebuild the mill at his own expense
- The meal guests have to take care of the maintenance
A short time later, the construction of the mill began. For this he had to obtain the necessary financial means through loans. Since he could not cover his expenses, he asked in 1824 to be released from the contract. This time, too, his request was not granted. In the further course of the proceedings, he sued the villages subject to the ban because they did not meet their obligations to maintain the building. After extensive correspondence and lengthy processes, Christian Hassel obtained financial support from the state through his skillful behavior.
Because of the lifting of the mill ban on January 17, 1845, he demanded another compensation, which he was not granted. Now the mill was once again in a desolate state. This was the main reason why only the guests from the neighboring communities of Molzhain, Dickendorf and Kausen visited the mill. As in the past, this led to the miller getting into financial difficulties. He then tried to set up new negotiations with the Prussian government. In 1857, after a permanent correspondence, a new contract was signed. It stated that Christian Hassel became the unrestricted owner of the mill property. However, he still had to pay the remaining obligations. So the last obligations of the once stately and later state mill to the seller were lifted.
Regulated succession
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Since the mill has now been owned by the Hassel family, it has continued to be managed as a regular succession . Christian Hassel handed over the building to his son Friedrich Wilhelm Hassel, who paid outstanding debts. Due to his early death, his son-in-law Ferdinand Dietermann took over the property. He transferred the mill to his daughter Auguste and son-in-law Karl Zöller, Wilhelm Zöller's parents. Together with his wife Marie, he was one of the last active operators of the Dickendorfer mill.
After the Elkenrother mill ceased operations in 1957, Wilhelm Zöller took over the Elkenrother mill operation on a lease basis for two years and supplied its customers with flour. After the lease expired, the new customers were supplied from Dickendorfer Mühle. When the Dauersberger Mühle slowly stopped work at the end of the 1960s, some of its areas were also taken over. Due to a lack of demand, Dickendorfer Mühle also stopped its main occupation in 1972. Nevertheless, it was a wish of the owners that they could continue to offer mill products to the remaining customers.
Since that time, the Michelbacher Mühle from near Altenkirchen has been supplying the Dickendorfer Mühle with flour and grains. This ensured resale of baking cereals and flour. Until 1976, the mill was continued by the master miller Wilhelm Zöller as a sideline and, after his death, was run by his wife Marie Zöller until the 1990s.
Hydroelectric power generation
By taking over the mill, the water rights entered in the water book of the Koblenz district government were also transferred. However, this right, which permits the use of water, is only maintained if it is used. (For this reason, for example, in North Rhine-Westphalia on December 31, 2007, all water rights that were not used or not registered for use were deleted without replacement.) In order to prevent such a situation from occurring, parallel to the mill operation for the mill building and The apartment in the building has been producing electricity for its own use with the existing turbine since around 1960 . However, only a small part of the incoming water was used for our own electricity consumption. Therefore, the current owners decided in 2005 to renew the turbine system. First of all, the demand in the property should be covered by generating electricity. The existing surplus of electricity can be fed into the public grid . The plant was commissioned on Mill Day 2006.
literature
- Hubert Adler: Statistics from Molzhain .
- Heinrich Arndt: The Elkenrother prospective mill, in: Heimat-Jahrbuch des Kreis Alten-kirchen, 29th year, 1986, pp. 292-293.
- Eugen Ernst: Mills through the ages , Konrad Theiss Verlag GmbH, Stuttgart 2005.
- Johann Heinrich Lamprecht: The offices of Freusburg and Friedewald in 1741 , ed. by D. Wilhelm Güthling.
- Josef Kläser: The Dickendorfer mill - the last still active customer mill of the Altenkirchen district , Part I, in: Heimat-Jahrbuch des Altenkirchen district, 32nd year, 1989, pp. 97-101.
- Josef Kläser: The Dickendorfer Mühle - the last still active customer mill of the Altenkirchen district , Part II, in: Heimat-Jahrbuch des Altenkirchen district, 33rd year, 1990, pp. 79–85.
- Josef Kläser: On the history of the Dickendorfer mill / VG Gebhardshain, Krs. AK .
- Paul Kohlhaas: Small hydropower plant Dickendorfer Mühle , Regelsysteme Kohlhaas GmbH.
- Theodor Solbach: Chronicle of the Stinner family of millers .
- Daniel Schneider: The mill trade in the county of Sayn-Altenkirchen , in: Heimat-Jahrbuch des Kreis Altenkirchen, 59th year, 2016, pp. 219–237.
- Bruno shoes: local and school chronicle of the community Molzhain .
Web link
- Detailed history of the Dickendorfer mill. Retrieved October 6, 2019 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Daniel Schneider: The mill trade in the county of Sayn-Altenkirchen, pp. 219–223.
- ↑ On the mill ban in Sayn-Altenkirchen cf. Daniel Schneider: The milling industry in the county of Sayn-Altenkirchen, pp. 223–224.
- ↑ See Daniel Schneider: The mill trade in the county of Sayn-Altenkirchen, pp. 223-233.