Kriemhildmühle

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The Kriemhildmühle in Xanten

The Kriemhildmühle is a historic windmill in Xanten and the only mill in the Lower Rhine that is operated daily.

The mill was built as part of the Xanten city ​​fortifications in the form of a watchtower and defense tower (known as a bear windmill ) at the end of the 14th century . The towers, which were badly damaged in the Thirty Years 'War , which lasted until 1648 , served as living quarters for city officials until the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763. At that time , the Kriemhildmühle was called the night watch tower, because the city's night watchmen were quartered there.

In the period that followed, the towers were sold for cost reasons and large parts were torn down by buyers. In 1778 the watchdog tower was sold to the merchant Gerhard Schleß, who had the walls of the tower renewed and a garden house was set up in the tower. In 1804 he converted the tower into an oil mill in the form of a 19.3 m high windmill. Soon after, he sold the mill to a miller , whereupon the Kriemhildmühle became a grain mill and later came into the possession of the city of Xanten. In 1843 the demolition of the mill and the nearby Klever Tor was rejected by the Xanten city council after large parts of the city fortifications had already been demolished.

Bread has been baked in the mill again since 1992 and sold there as well as at weekly markets in the area. The mill can be visited during opening hours.

The wings of the mill are equipped with old Dutch-style sail gates. Since 1992 the pianos have been equipped with a Fokwiek based on the patent of the Dutchman PL Fauël (1891–1992).

The Kriemhildmühle owes its name to Kriemhild from the Nibelungen saga . A mill, which was named Siegfried von Xantens , also existed, but it is no longer in operation.

Web links

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

Coordinates: 51 ° 39 ′ 49 ″  N , 6 ° 27 ′ 2 ″  E