Wehber's mill
Wehbers Mühle is a building complex in Himmelpforten in the Stade district , which consists of a four-story windmill in the style of a gallery Dutchman and Wehber's watermill . The former mills are among the landmarks of the place and are under monument protection .
history
In 1653 the monastery bailiff Michael Wehber received the water mill in Himmelpforten as a fief . At that time the monastery water mill was closer to the old Heerstraße, today's federal highway. After the mill was demolished in 1739, it was rebuilt at its current location at the weir. The basis for the operation of the watermill was the damming right of the Mühlenbach, which was temporarily suspended in 1958 by contractual arrangements between the Kuhlaer Wassergenossenschaft and the mill owner.
In 1871 the windmill that still exists today was built to complement the existing water mill. Originally, the wings of the mill were covered with sails, which always had to be hauled in during storms. Later, the sails were replaced by flaps that could be adjusted from the gallery depending on the wind strength. The windmill had three grist passages , a grinding passage for fine milling and a pointed passage for peeling the grain. In addition, the windmill received a sifting machine that separated the flour from the shell parts with the help of sieves. In 1907 a steam engine was installed in the mill, which made it independent of wind and water. However, since the operation of the steam engine took a long time, the 6 hp steam engine was replaced in 1923 by a gasoline engine with 20 hp. Because of the high fuel prices, the engine was replaced in the late 1920s, this time with a 25 hp diesel engine. The engines were only used as an alternative when there was not enough wind or water. In the 1950s, the mill was converted to modern milling machines so that the daily output of the previous 2 tons in wheat and rye flour production could be increased to 13 tons. At that time the flour was delivered to bakeries and bread factories, sometimes even to Cuxhaven or Hamburg .
In 1937 a storm tore off the windmill's wings and compass rose . Since the tin roof of the windmill was so damaged in 1958 that a repair was inevitable, the entire mill was renovated. The operation of the windmill was stopped in 1971 because the price of flour had fallen so that the mill no longer seemed profitable in the long term. After that it served as a storage room. In 1986 the mill was restored.
Today there is a garden and home improvement market in the old mill building. The mill tower was expanded into a restaurant in 2001, to which a roof terrace is attached. Individual areas of the old mill can be viewed, individual parts are integrated into the shop as exhibits.
The mill has been owned by the Wehber family for centuries and is now managed by the 12th and 13th generations of Hans Wehber and his son Wilhelm Wehber.
The Lower Saxony Mühlenstrasse leads past the mill.
Web links
Coordinates: 53 ° 36 '55.3 " N , 9 ° 18' 6" O .