Fessler mill
The Fessler Mühle is a mill on the Metter in Sersheim in the Ludwigsburg district . It is one of the oldest mills in Baden-Württemberg and is used today as a flour mill, a museum and a cultural and cabaret stage.
history
The grain mill was first mentioned in documents in 1396, when the lower miller contributed to an early measurement foundation for the Sersheim church. The designation as lower mill comes from the distinction to another, namely the upper mill , also attested in Sersheim in the 14th century . The upper mill was upstream on the Metter and therefore had more favorable water conditions, which is why the lower mill was also called thirst mill in old documents . Both Sersheim mills were fiefdoms from Württemberg . In 1561/62, the lower mill included a courtyard , a barn and a garden in addition to the mill building with a grinding passage . The millers from the upper and lower mills also worked three acres of garden space together. In 1578 two grinding courses are mentioned in the lower mill.
In the late 17th century, French troops also devastated and plundered the area around Sersheim in the War of the Palatinate Succession . The French general Mélac , known as the “murder burner” , set up his quarters in the lower mill in Sersheim in 1692, which was partly devastated and plundered.
The miller Christian Schmidt and his family died in the hungry winter of 1693/94. The miller Adam Messerlin rebuilt the mill from 1701 to 1705. In his honor, the Messerlin all-around competition takes place in Sersheim every year. The mill passed into the ownership of the respective miller in the following years. Despite several bankruptcies, it was constantly expanded. In 1793, the mill is described as a grinding mill with one tanning and two grinding cycles. According to the Oberamtsbeschreibung from the Oberamt Vaihingen in 1856, the mill now had a gypsum mill and an oat grater in addition to the two grinding courses and the tanning course.
In 1876 the Enzberg miller Johann Caspar Block and his bride, the Enzberg miller's widow Christine Fessler b. Engel, the mill by Jakob Agster. The bride and groom came from the neighboring Oberamt Maulbronn . There the family owned the former monastery mill of the Maulbronn monastery in Hohenklingen . Her ancestor Jakob Fessler came from Backenreute near Bregenz to Enzberg at the end of the Thirty Years' War and there married into the respected and wealthy Holzwarth family. The Fessler Mühle in Hohenklingen continued to operate at the same time as the Sersheimer Mühle by Wilhelm Fessler, son of Christine Block's first marriage.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the mill was supplied with electricity. In 1905 the two water wheels were replaced by a Francis turbine in order to use the Metter's water power more effectively.
Wilhelm Fessler took over the mill in 1930 from his father of the same name. Wilhelm Fessler was an opponent of the National Socialists . The mill was closed in 1943. When Wilhelm Fessler opposed a captain when his mill was closed and his vehicles were confiscated, the captain threatened to shoot him immediately. His two sons Gerhard and Wilhelm were drafted into the front. Documents in the museum of the mill remind of these events. After the end of the war, Wilhelm Fessler was able to put the mill back into operation, installed a second turbine and fed the water from the Aischbach, a small tributary of the Metter, into the Metter via a mill channel in front of the mill in order to achieve greater efficiency.
In 1964 Gerhard Fessler took over the mill from his father and on July 1, 1983 the mill was passed on to the current operator Wolfgang Fessler and his wife Gerlinde. Wolfgang Fessler renovated the original mill equipment and decided to keep the historical parts. In 1984 he built a grain cleaning system into the existing historic mill, without the mill losing its traditional character. Wolfgang Fessler set up a mill and local history museum in the 1980s and offered artists from Baden-Württemberg a platform with the Fessler Mühle's culture and cabaret, the “bag box”. In 2013 a special whiskey and gin distillery (fesslermill 1396®) was integrated into the company.
The Sersheimer Fessler Mühle became known through television programs in which the mill on the Metter was presented as a historical-traditional specialty with modern operation. Gerlinde Fessler was honored for her commitment in the craft for child and youth work and for her honorary position as a nationwide master and entrepreneur in 2002.
Structural systems
The half-timbered house of the mill from 1705 is considered a "jewel" in the region. In addition, a shotgun passage from 1870 has been preserved in the Fessler Mühle. The mill has a historic bakery with a wood-burning oven and a silo for collecting the grain. The weir of the Fessler Mühle on the Metter dates back to the 1930s. A mill shop, a museum, a cabaret, a seminar kitchen, a bakery and a rehabilitation and fitness center have been added in recent years.
The mill is a backfill mill, of which only a few work in Germany. The mill and local history museum houses u. a. five noteworthy collections: A collection with over 600 historical jute sacks, from the period 1800 to the middle of the 20th century, to which the grain and flour used to be delivered. A collection from all over Germany of grinding stones and grist stones weighing up to 750 kilograms from the years 1700 to the end of the grinding stone era in the middle of the 20th century. A collection of old grinders and grist rolls from mills in Baden-Württemberg that went out of business between 1880 and 1930. A collection with over 400 different waffle irons and spaetzle presses from different eras. The collection of hand-painted millers' guild mugs from the period from 1850 to the middle of the 20th century is a historical feature.
The turbine from 1905 was restored and is still used to drive the grinders. It also provides energy for the distillery and the mill's own bakery, where bread is made according to traditional recipes.
Awards
Evidence: see
- 2017 Lifetime Award for Gerlinde and Wolfgang Fessler
- In 2015 Wolfgang Fessler was made an honorary senator of the German University for Prevention and Health Management.
- 2014 Baden-Württemberg state badge for Wolfgang Fessler
- 2012 environmental protection award of the district of Ludwigsburg
- 2011 European Business Award Goldjupiter
- 2010 plaque of honor of the Grand Prix for medium-sized companies
- 2008 Grand Prize for Medium-Sized Enterprises
- 2006 Certificate of Honor from the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce
- 2003 Producer Award of the Stuttgart Region
- 2001 VR Innovation Award
- 2000 Service Provider of the Year (Ministry of Economic Affairs)
- 1995 Silver Prize Coin (Ministry of Agriculture)
- 1890 Merit Medal for Merit in Agriculture (Kingdom of Württemberg)
- 1471 family coat of arms awarded by Emperor Friedrich III of Augsburg
literature
- Hie gut ', Württemberg - 600 years of the Lower Mill in Sersheim (Thomas Schulz)
- Enzberger Heimatbuch (Friedrich Wissmann, 1951)
- Enzberg (Konrad Dussel, 2000)
- Sersheim - History and Stories (Municipality of Sersheim 1992)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from August 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ https://fessler-muehle.de/fessler1396/auslösungen/
- ↑ https://www.kompetenznetz-mittelstand.de/de/app/account/fessler-muehle
Coordinates: 48 ° 57 '47.5 " N , 9 ° 1' 5.9" E