Kleinseebacher mill

The Kleinseebacher Mühle is a listed mill in the municipality of Möhrendorf in the Central Franconian district of Erlangen-Höchstadt .

location

Kleinseebacher and Baiersdorfer Mühle, site plan 1816

The Kleinseebacher Mühle is located half a kilometer east of Kleinseebach on the left bank of the Regnitz at river kilometer 38.7 at the Baiersdorf-Kleinseebach weir. Today's address is Mühlentheater 2, Möhrendorf. Opposite, at the other end of the weir, i.e. on the right bank, is the Baiersdorfermühle belonging to the town of Baiersdorf . The two mills used to be connected by a wooden walkway for horse-drawn vehicles, which was dismantled in autumn to protect against ice and debris and rebuilt in spring after the snow melted. The footbridge allowed horse-drawn vehicle traffic between Kleinseebach and Baiersdorf.

Ten historic Möhrendorfer water paddle wheels work upstream and irrigate the sandy meadows.

history

The Kleinseebacher mill was probably in operation as early as the 14th century. Oldest document entry 1368. In 1571, the first disputes between Seebacher and Baiersdorfer Mühle over the water level are documented, which were repeated regularly in the following centuries. In 1778, two grinding water wheels and a forged water wheel are described, with a secluded house, barn and stables. Until then, the mill was owned by the city of Nuremberg. In 1803 the mill was rebuilt. Three water wheels supplied the energy for the flour mill, one for the saw mill. A site plan from 1816 by Ambrosius von Amman shows the location of the Kleinssebacher mill on the left bank (above) and the Baiersdorfer mill on the opposite bank. In 1812 Joh. Michael Reindel was listed in the house cadastre as master miller and owner. Further details about the ownership can be found in the chronicle of the municipality of Möhrendorf.

The factory

In the 18th century, non-ferrous metals were ground into bronze powder in the “factory” .

On December 17, 1836, the mill was taken over by the Fischer family from Erlangen, who set up a branch of the "Foil and Mirror Factory". The mill was then called "The Factory". In 1838 a fire destroyed the factory building. The single house was built in 1839. The current factory building was completed in 1842.

When the mirror industry had to switch from amalgam to silver coating due to the new labor protection act of 1891, the decline of the company began as the market for tin foil fell into disrepair. In 1906 the large plant on the Regnitz was sold in the course of the dissolution of the AG.

New mill

Since the Kleinseebacher mill on the Regnitz was no longer available as a grain mill since 1836, the miller Johann Konrad Hüls from Baiersdorf built a new mill. It was a little closer to the town of Kleinseebach, directly on the Seebach , which at that time still flowed east of the old mill into the Regnitz. The new mill on the Seebach was first known under the name "Hülsenmühle", then as "Heinleinmühle". In 1838 the name "Kleinseebacher Mühle" was transferred to the new mill and still bears this name today, while the old mill was called "Die Fabrik" and later "Mühlentheater".

The further very changeable history of the new Kleinseebacher mill is described in detail in the chronicle of the community Möhrendorf. The mill was last operated by the Lange family and finally shut down in 1971. Today the buildings serve as apartments and commercially as a warehouse, gardening and carpentry shop.

Second World War

During the Second World War (1939–1945) “Die Fabrik” was used as accommodation for refugees from eastern Germany and bomb victims from the wider area. In 1945 the mill housed a "shared flat" of over a hundred women, men and children. The circumstances were pretty desolate. The drinking water was polluted by a lens factory in Fürth that processed glasses with a grinding paste and rinsed them with drinking water. Hunger led to mouth robberies in the potato fields, and a lack of fuel led to the clearing of the forest. A poppy cultivation by Sudeten residents was wrongly suspected of being an opium cultivation. The entire factory area was flooded during flooding. The spring floods that occurred every year were particularly bad, triggered by the deep Oberndorf pond. The mill was cut off from Kleinseebach. Blocks of ice destroyed the Möhrendorfer Bridge; it was replaced by a cable ferry until it was rebuilt. In spite of everything, the mill community lived on good terms and shared what little they had. They even planned to start their own church.

post war period

In the 1960s, Edmund Brockers bought the mill, who at that time was also the owner of the Baiersdorfer mill and the river power station between the two mills. First car washes were installed, later cleaning agents were filled. In the 1980s, the building was only used as a warehouse and became increasingly dilapidated. In 1992 the mill was sold to the cabaret artist Gerd Fischer , who extensively renovated it and used it as a cabaret under the name Mühlentheater until 2016 .

Today the property consists of the large mill building, an attached and a detached house and ancillary buildings and is privately owned.

Population development

year	001818	001840	001861	001871	001885	001900	001925	001950
Residents	^*	49	40	9	45	37	5	15th
Houses	^*	2			2	2	1	1
source

^* Place is included in Kleinseebach.

religion

The place has been predominantly Protestant since the Reformation and parish after St. Oswald and Martin (Möhrendorf) . The inhabitants of the Roman Catholic denomination are parish according to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Erlangen) .

Monument protection

The mill is included as an architectural monument in the list of architectural monuments in Möhrendorf under the number D-5-72-142-46. There it says: “Mühlentheaterstraße 2. Grinding and powder mill, so-called Kleinseebacher Mühle, now Möhrendorfer Mühlentheater: residential building, two-storey sandstone block construction with saddle roof, bat dormers and cornice structure, 1836, probably older in the core, two-storey mill construction, 18th / 19th century. Century; former loop, after 1900 powder mill, elongated two-storey classicist sandstone block building with three-storey central projection, 1839-42, inscribed. 1839. "

A total of 46 architectural monuments are listed in Möhrendorf, including the numerous water pumping wheels on the Regnitz.

Mill theater

Gerd Fischer

In 1992, cabaret artist Gerd Fischer (1943–2017) took over the now run-down property and expanded it into a theater. The opening was on September 18, 1993. The Mühlentheater was used as a cabaret for 24 years and for Gerd Fischer was the second mainstay next to the Tassilo Theater in Nuremberg. He was the owner and director of both theaters and he also performed both stages as a cabaret artist himself.

program

Theater, musical and cabaret performances as well as cabaret: cabaret, comedy, children's theater, musicals, magic were offered. With his piece “Operetta himself who can”, a musical short version of Mozart's Magic Flute , Fischer gave over 1,500 performances. Guest artists on the cabaret included: Heinz Erhardt , Ottfried Fischer , Jürgen Lechauer, Rena Schwarz , Die Avantgardinen, Andrea Gonze, Dominik Herzog, Miller the Killer, Andre Hartmann, Angelika Beier, Bernhard Reil. The theater in the old town , Klanggenuss Erlangen, Purzeltraumtheater, Ballet School Erlangen and others were also guests.

gastronomy

The affiliated restaurant "Mühlenstube" opened two hours before the performance and offered 3 and 5-course menus for theater guests. The mill room and mill theater were also available for exclusive celebrations. On Sundays there was a matinee “With Brez'n - Roast - and Program”, in which Fischer parodied operas in Franconian under the title “Da Capo”, according to the motto: “Not one opera in three hours, but three 'Obbers' in a". Or he played pieces by well-known Bavarian cabaret artists.

Furnishing

A beautiful inner courtyard welcomed the guests and was also used for outdoor events. In the building on the left was the entrance area with the till, cloakrooms and guest toilets. Behind it, in the left part of the original mill building, was the bar foyer with historic cast-iron columns. And in the right part the actual theater room for up to 300 people (seating only) or for 200 people (tables and chairs), and a three-sided gallery. The stage was around 50 m² in size, with a height of 5 m and a back stage of 20 m². A complete lighting and sound system and a Steinway concert grand piano (first performance on September 20, 1993) completed the facility. Artists' cloakrooms, toilets, showers for staff and artists were behind the stage.

The “Mühlenstube” restaurant with its old wooden beam ceiling, furnished with historical natural wood furniture, could seat up to 80 people. The "Toscana Room" was used for special events for up to 45 people. In summer there was a beer garden and a 50 m² river terrace.

Thanks to its good location in the Nuremberg – Fürth – Erlangen triangle and the good transport links via the Frankenschnellweg A 73 and the Nuremberg motorway junction, the Mühlentheater was easily accessible. The access road was named "Mühlentheater". The parking lot in front of the wrought iron gate was enough for up to 150 vehicles.

The End

The Mühlentheater in Möhrendorf finally closed in 2016 after 24 years of playing due to the artistic director's serious illness.

literature

Die Chronik der Gemeine Möhrendorf , Agenda 21, Working Group “Culture and Home Care”, 2007
Dorothea Fastnacht: Erlangen: former city and district (= historical book of place names of Bavaria, Middle Franconia . Volume 7 ). Commission for Bavarian State History, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-7696-6869-8 , p. 176-177 .