Powder mill
After the invention and spread of black powder in the late Middle Ages to modern times (around 1918), the ingredients required for powder production, charcoal , sulfur and saltpeter, were ground or crushed in a powder mill (formerly also called powder pounder) and combined to form an explosive mixture. Since the silt trees, which are often used for the production of charcoal, were to be found especially in valleys and most powder mills with the help of water powerwere driven, the mills were mostly on flowing waters. Because of the danger of explosion, the mills were built outside of built-up areas.
Powder mills are not only used to produce black powder. They are also used in metallurgy ( powder metallurgy ) to produce powder for production processes.
technology
In the powder mills, the water wheel was used to drive rollers made of marble or metal or pegs made of wood, the abutting surfaces of which had a brass coating . The pounders, each arranged in a pair, fell alternately into the recesses of the 'pit' and crushed the ground material.
First, the sulfur and charcoal were cleaned, crushed and mixed. The potash nitrate was moistened with water in order to avoid unintentional ignition, and then placed in the mine, where it was finely crushed with the pounders and mixed thoroughly. The rammers had to be stopped and the moist mass mixed every half an hour. Again every three hours, the pulp was taken from the individual stamped holes in the pit tree, mixed together, re-moistened and redistributed into the holes in the pit. This process was repeated over a period of 30 to 36 hours. The powder was then divided into different grain sizes by forcing the still moist mass through the holes of a sieve. A finer grain caused the powder particles to come into closer contact and caused them to burn evenly. By choosing the grain size, the powder could also be tailored to the respective gun .
hazards
These mills often exploded (“shattered”). The cause could be a single spark that occurred when a nail was hammered in, or electrostatic charges, the potential danger of which was unknown for a long time. The explosions therefore happened often enough without a cause being identified. In a period of 170 years z. B. the mill in Wöhrd near Nuremberg eight times. In order to limit the damage of such a powder explosion, a two to three meter high earth wall was often drawn around the individual mills, but also storage and loading facilities, which were each open on one side (horseshoe shape) so that the explosion pressure only destroyed the individual building but not the neighboring plants. Remnants of such ramparts, but also remnants of walls from a larger mill, can be found, for example, in the Dhünntal near Altenberg in the Bergisches Land .
Since black powder is still needed for special applications (sports, fireworks, defense technology, etc.), there are still black powder mills in operation. The only remaining powder mill in Switzerland is the Aubonne powder mill , which was built in 1853.
Historic black powder mills
Locations of abandoned powder mills:
- Royal powder factory near Berlin , built in 1717 on the northern side of the Spree , relocated to Spandau in the 1830s, closed in 1919.
- Pulvermühle Dresden , in the Dresden district of Löbtau , built in 1576, exploded in 1613, 1638, 1640 and 1689, shut down in 1875.
- Kraut mill in Düsseldorf - Bilk , probably converted from a mill built before 1144, powder production in the 16th century, ceased before 1600, rebuilt around 1637 as a powder and saw mill, from around 1645 combined powder, oil and fulling mill, powder production up to shut down in the 18th or 19th century, 1867.
- Powder mill Elisenthal in Windeck , district Dattenfeld , Rhein-Sieg-Kreis / North Rhine-Westphalia , founded in 1871, closed in 1918.
- Pulvermühle Grüningen near Markgröningen in the Baden-Württemberg district of Ludwigsburg , built in 1652, exploded in 1665, operated until around 1750.
- Powder mills from Gut Schiff in Herrenstrunden and Sand near Bergisch Gladbach in North Rhine-Westphalia , first of four mills approved in 1762, discontinued in 1910.
- Pulvermühle Heinsberg , in the North Rhine-Westphalian district of Heinsberg in the administrative district of Cologne , approved in 1608, exploded in 1652, shut down in 1752.
- Powder mill near Lamboy , today a district of Hanau , set up by the Prussian military in 1880, exploded in 1888, shut down in 1914 and replaced by a neighboring munitions factory.
- Powder mill Lehrberg near Lehrberg in the district of Ansbach , Middle Franconia , documented as a powder mill since 1809 , date of installation not mentioned.
- Powder mill Rüdenhausen , near Rüdenhausen in Lower Franconia , was built in the 15th century as one of the first gunpowder mills in the Franconian Empire, frequent explosions, cessation after 1931.
- Waischenfeld powder mill , near Waischenfeld in Upper Franconia , exploded in 1806 and discontinued.
- Wöhrder powder mill near Nuremberg , built in 1532, exploded in 1610, 1643, 1687, 1703, 1764, 1766 and 1780, then discontinued.
Switzerland
- Aubonne powder mill , the only one still in operation today.
- Pulvermühle in Chur , Canton of Graubünden , founded in 1843, in operation until 1976, today a museum.
- Powder mill in Höngg near Zurich , on the Werdinsel, from 1753 to around 1817.
- Powder mills in Ittigen , Canton Bern and Worblaufen , first mentioned in 1619, the last one closed in 1919.
- Powder mills in Kriens , Canton Lucerne , from 1499 until the 19th century there were several powder mills.
- Powder mill in Langnau im Emmental , closed.
- Powder mill Steffisburg in the canton of Bern, founded in 1586, in operation until 1862.
- Pulvermühle in Biberist , before 1848 belonging to the Canton of Solothurn
- Powder mill in Altstetten near Zurich.
- Powder mill in Echandens an der Venoge , Canton of Vaud .
- Powder mill in Sion , Canton of Valais , private before 1848.
- Pulvermühle in Bellonenthal, St. Josefen , before 1848 private.
- Marstal powder factory near Gossau . Before 1848 private.
After the nationalization in 1848, all but four powder mills were shut down by 1876 (Worblaufen, Aubonne, Kriens and Chur). Today, Aubonne is only operated as a black powder mill, the product is sold worldwide.
Western Europe
- Ballincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills, Cork, Ireland
- Faversham explosives industry, Faversham, England
- Grenelle Mill - France
- Poudrerie nationale de Vonges, Vonges, Cote-d'Or, France
- Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills, Waltham Abbey, Essex, England
In some places place names, street or field names refer to former powder mill locations:
- Pulverbach is the name of a left tributary of the Franconian Rezat .
- Powder mills are called, for example, parts of the municipality Ederheim in the district of Donau-Ries and the market Schopfloch in the district of Ansbach , Bavaria .
- Powder mill routes can be found, for example, in Berlin-Spandau and Berlin-Haselhorst , in Freiberg or in Speyer , where the route is reminiscent of the powder mills on Woogbach (1602) and on Schießberg .
literature
- Peter Nikolaus Caspar Egen : powder mills . In: ders .: Studies on the effect of some existing waterworks in Rhineland-Westphalia , ed. from the Ministry of the Interior for Trade, Industry and Construction, Part I-II. A. Petsch, Berlin 1831, pp. 176–184 ( Google Books ) (detailed presentation of mechanics and technology)
- Powder mill. In: Pierer's Universal Lexicon. Volume 13. Altenburg 1861, pp. 690-691.
Individual evidence
- ^ Copper engraving by Georg Andreas Böckler (1661). Source: Deutsche Fotothek (Saxon State Library).
- ↑ See also: Mills in the Oberbergisches Land
- ↑ See website of the Poudrerie d'Aubonne SA
- ↑ Hilde Fendrich: “It didn't catch the powder maker”. The big bang. In: Müller, Mühlen, Wasserkraft . Volume 5 of the series Through the City Glasses , ed. v. Working group for historical research, heritage and monument preservation Markgröningen, Markgröningen 1995, pp. 128–141.
- ↑ Detlef Sundermann: In the beginning there was the powder mill , in Frankfurter Rundschau on March 17, 2009
- ↑ See history of the Wöhrder powder mill at Nürnberg-Info
- ↑ Gaudenz Schmid-Lys: Churer mill streams and powder mill. Tardis Verlag, Chur 2013, ISBN 978-3-9524106-1-5 .
- ↑ Bruno Campiotti: From private and cantonal powder to federal powder , self-published? Bern 1973
- ↑ Christoph Schennen: The powder mill was a dangerous workplace , in Speyerer Morgenpost from June 7, 2014, p. 1.
