Holtzmühle

Holtzmühle
The wood mill in Viersen-Süchteln
Location and history
Coordinates	51 ° 17 '15 "  N , 6 ° 22' 53"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 17 '15 "  N , 6 ° 22' 53"  E
Location	Germany North Rhine-Westphalia District of Viersen City of Viersen
Waters	Niers
Built	1404 first mention
Shut down	Unprofitable in 1965
technology
use	Grain mill
Grinder	up to 8 grinding courses
drive	Watermill
water wheel	undershot

The Holtzmühle is a former watermill in Viersen on the Niers , with several undershot water wheels .

geography

The Holtzmühle is located on the Niers on Tönisvorster Strasse in the Süchteln district , a district of the North Rhine-Westphalian district town of Viersen . The area on which the mill buildings stand is approx. 38 m above sea level.

The Niers in its old river bed supplied the wood mill with water for centuries until it was regulated in 1930. 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

The wood mill was originally called the Süchtelner mill . But it was also known at times under the name of the fly mill . It probably carried this from the old water designation “Flieg” (Vlies, Flieth, Fleth or Flöth). The mill was first revealed in 1404 when Duke Reinald IV of Jülich and Geldern received it from the abbot of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Gereon in Cologne . Together with the windmill in Süchteln, the fly mill had the compulsory meal in the Süchteln parish . It was managed and leased by the bailiff in Brüggen .

In 1792, the miller Franz-Anton Holtz took over the grain and oil mill, initially as a tenant , and after the secularization as the owner . The able and daring entrepreneurial family had leased both windmills in Süchteln. Furthermore, in the 19th century she owned the Borner Mühle , the Nelsenmühle , the Broicher Mühle and the Oedter Mühle alone or as a participant . The family chose the Süchtelner Mühle as its seat and systematically expanded it. No less than eight grinders were installed, plus a steam engine and modern oil presses. A new fortress-like building showed the dominant role of the Holtzmühle to the outside world.

1888 was edible oil - production by Commerce Franz Holtz with the production of oil Veerter Müller Reinhard Willemsen on the Rhine after Uerdingen relocated to transport costs to save. From now on, only flour was produced in Süchteln . Despite all efforts, both companies were overwhelmed by the market-dominating large mills in the 20th century. With the Niers regulation around 1930, the water wheels of the Holtzmühle were also dismantled. The Holtzmühle ceased operations around 1965. A few years later, the Holtz & Willemsen edible oil factory in Uerdingen was also closed.

gallery

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  The fort-like mill building

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  Parts of the former wheel house

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  Walled-up openings for the wheel axles

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  Wall anchors and bricked-up openings in the wheel axles

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  Tranchot map from 1806

Monument entry

The white brick building, which was probably built in different phases of construction in the 19th century, most of which was built before 1880, is multi-winged and has three floors. Its flat gable roof is hidden behind a high, decorative pinnacle wreath with individual pinnacles raised over the main axes and on the corners of the building, as well as stepped pinnacles on the narrow sides. This crowning of the wall is emphasized by a surrounding brick-walled arched frieze . The partly blind, narrow, high arched windows underneath are arranged in pairs and sit axially above the partly segmented and partly arched windows on the two lower floors. Almost all window and door openings are original (exception, for example, are the three windows on the east side that have been enlarged to form arched entrance doors). The window sills are made of stone or are brick-walled. Most of the windows have preserved cast frames; Most of the cast-iron bars have been preserved in their original form. The rung division was retained. On the south and west side there are planked exits on the first floor. The wheel for loads is still preserved on the south side. The anchor pins have been preserved on all sides of the building, some in plate form.

Inside, the beam ceilings have only been renewed where necessary. The cast-iron, load-bearing columns on the ground floor and the six round wooden columns supporting the central purlin on the first floor (two of which are freely visible) are original, as are the exposed beam structures and the studs on the top floor . The Holtzmühle, originally also shaping the landscape, today an outstanding marking on the way to Süchteln, is significant in terms of settlement topographical and settlement history.

Important for the history of the Süchteln watermills is the centuries-old tradition of the miller's trade, which went on well into the 20th century. The change from the water-driven mill wheel to the modern age of technical machines can also be seen. The structural extensions of the 19th century can be seen along with this in terms of content. Because the Holtzmühle is a very typical and now rare example of the formulation of the then modern industrial buildings in medieval castle style for the 19th century.

The building is important for the history of industrial architecture, especially since the remains of an older mill building are still in it and are partly visible. For scientific, in particular settlement topographical, settlement and architectural-historical reasons, today shaping the street scene, furthermore as a testimony to the miller's trade in the transition to industrial-mechanical production technology and ultimately as a document for the creative power of an entrepreneurial family that is important for the Süchteln area, especially the early days of the last century , conservation and use of the Holtzmühle are in the public interest according to § 2 (1) Monument Protection Act NRW.

Viersen Monument List No. 10, entry: January 11, 1985

literature

• Hans Vogt: Lower Rhine water mill guide. 2nd Edition. Niederrhein Association, Krefeld 1998, ISBN 3-00-002906-0 , pp. 521-523.

Web links

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

• Website of the Niersverband

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.mittlereniers.de/