Ship mill

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Ship mill in front of Minden

A ship mill or ship mill is a water mill that is built on a ship's hull floating in the water. In German , the word forms Schiffs- and Schiffmühle (with and without Fugen -s) are used side by side.

First mention

Ship mills are documented as early as 540 AD, when the Ostrogoths under Witichis destroyed the fourteen aqueducts that supplied the city during the siege of Rome . This also caused the Trajan's aqueduct to dry up, which powered the water mills on the Ianiculum in Trastevere . In order to ensure the vital supply of the city with flour, Belisarius had floating mills anchored on barges in the Tiber , the wheels of which were driven by the current .

technology

The mill and grinding technology as well as the drive (water wheel) are built on a floating platform in this type of mill. Between the houseboat (the main ship facing the bank) and the wellboat (long ship) is the undershot water wheel , which is driven by flowing water. On the houseboat there is a wooden house with bed, table and armchair for the ship's miller and his assistants as well as the mill. There are references to ship mills that had a narrower water wheel on both sides, similar to what is known from old paddle steamers. The floating platform is anchored at the most flow-intensive point in the river, on bridge piers (because of the good access to the mill) or on the bank.

This means that the ship's mill can float up when the water level changes, and the mill always has the same water energy available. In the best case, the efficiency of a ship mill corresponds to that of an undershot water mill. Ship mills, however, had the advantage that their energy, unlike wind and conventional water mills, was always available, so that it was available as a base load machine (i.e. not particularly powerful, but constantly running). If necessary (shipping, rafting , ice drifts, low water levels) a ship mill could be pulled to the safe bank. Upstream this was done with the help of horses.

The hull was roughly assembled and sealed with tow . The permanent flow of water stressed the side walls , leading to cracks. The lifespan seldom exceeded 30 to 40 years. If management and maintenance were not carried out, a ship mill would quickly disappear. Because of this, and because they represented obstacles for the emerging river navigation, no historical ship mill has survived in Central Europe.

In summer 2010, the prototype of a modern power-generating ship mill was tested in Magdeburg within sight of the historic ship mill. It had a length of 16 m, a width of 6 m and a rated power of 4.5 kW. The water wheel had an immersion depth of 1.2 m. At the beginning of 2015 it was reported that a larger version under the name "Elb-Strom 2" was in operation on the Elbe. Previously, improvements had been made to this system after the first tests. "Elb-Strom 2" delivers up to 14 kW depending on the water level and flow speed of the Elbe. The Hanover-based electricity supplier EHG is behind the project. A comparable system is the power buoy .

  • Drawing 1: Schiffmühle after H. Ernst, 1805

  • Drawing 2: Schiffmühle after H. Ernst, 1805

  • Cologne ship mill around 1411 as a detail from a painting by the Ursulamarter in the WRM Cologne

  • Ship mill in Sveti Martin na Muri on the Croatia-Slovenia border

  • Prototype of a ship mill for power generation

Mill law

The ship mills, like the water and wind mills , were owned by the sovereigns or monasteries. This also regulated the legal situation ( mill law ).

Geographical distribution

Ship mills were operated on almost all rivers in Europe.

At the time of Maria Theresa (around 1750/1780) there were still over 100 ship mills.

  • Elbe : until 1911, e.g. B. Schiffsmühle Westerhüsen
  • Rhine : about Cologne Rhine mills , Strasbourg, Mainz; Proven locations from the 9th to the 20th century. In 1853 there were 61 ship mills from Alt-Breisach to Koblenz.
  • Danube : Regensburg - mentioned in a document in 1493; Vienna Kaisermühlen , Orth an der Donau (Lower Austria). In the Vienna area alone there were around 20 ship mills around 1770, some of which existed until the 20th century.
  • Or : Schiffmühle in the village of the same name, Schiffmühle near Bad Freienwalde , which existed until 1770 and fell victim to the relocation of the Oder river bed as a result of the drainage of the Oderbruch .
  • Mur : Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary
  • Weser : Minden - first mentioned in a document in 1326
  • First mentioned in Bremen in 1250; From the 16th century to 1838 there were around 8-11 ship mills on the Great Weser Bridge.
  • Rome on the Tiber
  • Salzach : Laufen - two ship mills already depicted in the oldest city view (1569/71); in operation until the 19th century.

Showpieces

There are some working replicas of ship mills that can be viewed:

Historic ship mill on the Petriförder

on the Elbe :

  • in Magdeburg the ship mill on the Petriförder , where up to 23 pieces used to be, replica of a historic ship mill from 1874, the museum inside gives an overview of the history, but above all shows how ship mills work. (Completion 1999)

on the Danube:

  • Schiffmühle Orth an der Donau , Austria, replica based on plans from the 18th century and in historical construction (completion 2001)
  • the Gyurcsik mill in Ráckeve , Hungary, replica of until the 1950s regularly operated at the same location mill, which had been renovated as a historical monument in 1962, but in 1968 fell, the replica was made at the initiative of local residents and was a citizen project realized. The Gyurcsik mill runs both in regular and in tourist show operation.

on the Little Danube in western Slovakia

  • a Hungarian ship mill near Kolárovo , a not exactly true-to-original replica of the mill taken out of the water in Radvaň nad Dunajom in 1965 (completed in 1982), houses a water mill museum

on the hollow

  • in Höfgen (Saxony) , new building (completed in 1992), The aim of the project was to use the ship mill principle as the basis for a modern agricultural irrigation system. The Höfgener Schiffmühle has been supplying the water systems of the local historic landscape park since its completion. In the mill there is a museum that describes the history, rediscovery and modern application principles of ship mills with detailed display walls.
The Bartholomew Lorber on the border Austria-Slovenia in Mureck

on the Mur :

  • the "Bartholomäus Lorber", on the left bank in Mureck in Styria , Austria, true to the original replica (completed in 1997, sunk in flood in 2002, lifted and reopened in 2003, damaged in flood in 2004, sunk in frost in 2006, lifted and rebuilt in 2012), historical construction
  • the "Babič mill" (Slovenian: Babičev mlin) near Veržej , Slovenia, possibly the only ship mill in Central Europe that has been family-run from 1912 to the present day (apart from phases of reconstruction and renovation). The current building dates from 1947 and is largely the same as that of 1927, supplemented with an electric motor. The wheel swept away by floods had to be replaced in 1990. The peculiarity of this ship mill is the division into two parts. While the mill house is firmly on the bank, the wheel is between two moored boats.
  • the "floating mill" (Slovenian: Plavajoči mlin) in Ižakovci, which belongs to the entire municipality of Beltinci , Slovenia, new building based on historical models (completed in 1999), it is a grain-grinding ship mill in regular operation, but with a tourist focus. Like the ship mill in Sveti Martin na Muri, it is part of the cross-border Mura Ecomuseum .
  • in Mursko Središće , Croatia
  • in Sveti Martin na Muri , Croatia
Reconstructed ship mill in Ginsheim on the Rhine

on the Rhine :

  • in Ginsheim - opposite Mainz , replica of the last Rhine ship mill, which was in operation in Ginsheim until 1928 and was brought to Mainz in 1934 (completion 2011). In 1875 there were z. B. 22 mills in the stream

on the Weser :

  • in Minden / Westf. , Replica of a typical grain-grinding ship mill from the 18th century.

Ship mills as a memorial (not at the original location and not in operation):

  • a Hungarian ship mill on the Danube in the International Wind and Watermill Museum in Gifhorn (Germany), working replica (completed in 1989)
  • the Bergschiffmühle in Bad Düben , which used to be used to grind grain. It was operated on the Mulde until 1956 and was the last surviving ship mill on German rivers (end of reconstruction in 1967). You can see it in the castle garden of the landscape museum Dübener Heide / Burg Düben

See also

literature

  • Adam Meltzer: Mill construction . Merseburg 1805.
  • Heinrich Ernst: Instructions for practical mill construction . Leipzig 1805.
  • Karl Jüngel: ship mills. A fleet that was almost always at anchor . Landscape Museum of the Düben Heath, Bad Düben 1987, ISBN 978-3-940962-06-5 .
  • Johannes Mager , Günter Meißner, Wolfgang Orf: The cultural history of the mills . Edition Leipzig, Leipzig 1988. ISBN 978-3-361-00208-1 , driving forces and mill types. Schiffmühlen, pp. 69-72.
  • Josef Kläser: A hindrance to the rivers and shipping - ship mills on the Middle and Upper Rhine . In: Rhein-Museum Koblenz (Hrsg.): Contributions to the Rhine customer. Issue 44 . Koblenz 1992, pages 14-46.
  • Helmut Düntzsch, Rudolf Tschiersch, Eberhard Wächtler , Otfried Wagenbreth : Mills. History of the flour mills. Technical monuments in Central and Eastern Germany . German publishing house for basic industry, Leipzig / Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-342-00672-2 , 3rd mill types and mill locations. 3.3 Schiffmühlen, pp. 95-103.
  • Daniela Gräf: Boat Mills in Europe from Medieval to Modern Times (= publications of the State Office for Archeology of Saxony . Volume 51). State Office for Archeology with State Museum for Prehistory, Dresden 2006, ISBN 978-3-910008-73-1 .
  • Daniel L. Vischer: Ship mills on the Alpine and High Rhine . In: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings . 125th year, Konstanz 2007, pp. 55-66 ( digitized version ).
  • Sabine Bergauer, Gabriele Hrauda: Living with the Danube. Ship mills from Vienna to Bratislava . Böhlau, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 2011, ISBN 978-3-205-78555-2 .
  • Horst Kranz: The Cologne Rhine mills. Studies on shrine, property and technology (= Aachen studies on older energy history . Volume 1). 2nd, improved and supplemented edition, University Library of the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Aachen 2012, DNB 1031116842 ( full text ).
  • Herbert Jack: The Ginsheim Rhine Ship Mill. From the idea to the reconstruction . Roland Reischl Verlag / Verein Historische Rheinschiffsmühle Ginsheim, Ginsheim-Gustavsburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-943580-20-4 .

Web links

Commons : Shipmills  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ferdinand Gregorovius : History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages , Vol. I, Cotta, Stuttgart 1859, p. 356ff.
  2. ↑ Joachim Varchim (text), Gerd Schröder (drawings): wings, waves, wheels. Old mill technology in models . Booklet for the special exhibition in the Museum of Transport and Technology May 24 - November 1996. Museum of Transport and Technology Berlin, Berlin 1996, DNB 949224723 , Schiffmühle, p. 10.
  3. ↑ Floating hydropower plant on the Elbe in operation , IWR press release of July 28, 2010, accessed on February 8, 2015.
  4. ↑ Elbstrom from the socket on Volksstimme.de, accessed on January 8, 2015.
  5. ↑ Murecker Schiffsmühle steiermark.com, accessed March 20, 2019.
  6. ↑ Ernst Grohne: The former ship mills and their names , in: Niederdeutsche Zeitschrift für Volkskunde 20, 1942, pp. 68–75; Heinz Schecker Schiffsmüller and Teerbrenner , in: Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch 1938, pp. 32–37.
  7. ↑ History of the ship mill Orth an der Donau Website of the mill operators, accessed on May 26, 2015.
  8. ↑ History of the Ráckever ship mill website of the citizens' project, u. a. also in German and English, accessed on May 26, 2015, only the Hungarian-language version contains all information.
  9. ↑ Film of the citizens' project on construction and operation , on: Youtube, accessed on May 26, 2015.
  10. ↑ Vodný mlyn Kolárovo, accessed on February 14, 2010.
  11. ↑ Múzeum vodného mlynárstva, Vodný mlyn Kolárovo, Water Mill Museum Kolarovo on: Muzeum.sk - Tourist internet project of the company DECUS sro in cooperation with the National Museum Bratislava as well as the cities and municipalities (Slovak), accessed on May 26, 2015.
  12. ↑ Innovation and History. Technical exhibition and research facility , on: Website of the municipality of Höfgen, accessed on May 26, 2015.
  13. ^ The ship mill "Mureck" , website of the mill owner, accessed on December 20, 2015.
  14. ↑ Bojana Karba: Babičev mlin v Veržeju - panonski plavajoči mlin na Muri Article from June 21, 2013 on: News portal of the Pomurja region (Slovenian), accessed on May 26, 2015.
  15. ^ Location Ižakovci , on: Website of the Mura Ecomuseum. Location of the attractions, detailed information only in Slovenian and Croatian, alternative in the English-German download brochure, accessed on May 26, 2015.
  16. ↑ Rijeka Mura , on: Website of the municipality of Mursko Središće (Croatian), accessed on May 26, 2015.
  17. ↑ Location Sveti Martin na Muri, Žabnik , on: Website of the Mura Ecomuseum . Location of the attractions, detailed information only in Slovenian and Croatian, alternative in the English-German download brochure, accessed on May 26, 2015.
  18. ^ Project reconstruction on: Website of the Association Historische Rheinschiffsmühle Ginsheim e. V., accessed on May 26, 2015.
  19. ^ Sven Lüthje: Ship mills - 1400 years of floating mills powered by water power, now rebirth in Ginsheim am Rhein in 2011. In: DWhG - Ten years of water historical research and reports, writings of the DWhG, Volume 20.2, Siegburg 2012, pp. 587-592.
  20. ↑ The ship mill Minden on: Website of the ship mill Minden e. V., accessed on May 26, 2015
  21. ↑ Winfried Hedrich: Faszination Westfälische Mühlenstraße , Erfurt 2011, p. 78.
  22. ↑ Gifhorn International Wind and Watermill Museum (ed.): 25 years. 1980-2005. A Festschrift , Gifhorn 2005, p. 8.
  23. ↑ Bergschiffmühle ( Memento of the original dated February 2, 2017 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. on: Website of the Heimatverein Bad Düben e. V., accessed on May 26, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.heimatverein-bad-dueben.de