Fortuna Mill
The Fortuna mill is a pearl mill in the North Frisian municipality of Struckum . It was built in 1806, is the symbol of the community and is included in the list of cultural monuments in Struckum .
location
The mill is located directly at the Mühlenweg / Blumenhofweg intersection and can be seen from afar from the marshland coming from Diekshörn . If you drive through the town to the south on federal highway 5 , you will see it at the end of a large pasture in the west.
history
The pearl mill was built in 1806 by Martin Momsen. Until 1910, when the mill remained in private hands under changing owners, groats and pearl barley were ground exclusively with wind power. When the wind was good, the mill had the equivalent of around 80 hp , with which 20 to 25 quintals of grain could be ground per hour. In order to improve performance in weak winds, the owner at the time had a Deutz petrol engine installed in 1910. Ten years later, this was replaced by an electric motor that operated the grinder until the end of 1960.
In 1972 the songwriter Hannes Wader acquired the mill, had it completely renovated and converted into a residential mill. For the next 26 years, Hannes Wader lived and worked in the mill and the grain shed converted into an apartment. The Müllerhaus, which was later acquired and is no longer part of the mill, was mainly used as a recording studio (the Folk Friends session records were made here in 1978 ) and as a seminar room for Berlin music students. During that time, the mill was repeatedly partially restored. In 1998 Hannes Wader moved to the vicinity of Itzehoe and sold the listed mill to Conrad Stein, the founder of a travel book publisher. Among other things, he set up a whiskey brand museum on the top floor of the mill. On the occasion of the mill's 200th birthday, Conrad Stein organized another party in the mill's garden, but left Struckum soon afterwards. Towards the end of 2007 the mill was taken over by a new owner.
In 1999 a strong storm destroyed the wings of the mill, which had only been renewed nine years earlier. In a joint action by the municipality, the state, sponsors, the development association and the owner, it was restored. It is also symbolically represented in the coat of arms of the municipality of Struckum, which was redesigned in 2006.
In the summer of 2003 the mill was completely overhauled, so that the compass rose turned the mill head into the wind again by itself, which it did until around 2007. The large wings could - provided there was enough wind - rotate again from then on. However, they were usually held in place by a traditional belt brake. With this old belt brake, however, a hurricane almost caused a catastrophe. The violent storm exerted so much pressure on the wings that they began to turn despite the brakes. Overheating could be avoided through the timely intervention of the Struckum volunteer fire brigade . Since then, the wings have been held in one of four traditional positions by additional measures, whereby the different wing positions on windmills have a deeper meaning. They signal z. B. a long break from work (also called celebration, see photo above) or create the joy gap.
The thatched body of the Fortuna was completely renewed in April 2010 and the hood was given a new outer skin in June. The wings were also given a new coat of paint and since this restoration, the wings have shown a “long break from work” facing south-west into the march.
On the whole, the mill withstood hurricane “ Christian ” in October 2013. Only the tip of a wing was cut off at that time, but this loss was replaced shortly afterwards. A violent storm in 2019, however, affected the Fortuna mill much more. Among other things, three quarters of the vertical wing tree including the blinds broke off above the shaft and fell on the rear buildings. Soon afterwards, both wing trees (the rods with blinds) were completely dismantled so that only the fastening cross for the rods sitting on the shaft could be seen.
On Valentine's Day 2020, the Fortuna mill got new wings again.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Welcome to the website of the community of Struckum! Municipality of Struckum, accessed on January 6, 2018 .
- ↑ List of monuments North Friesland. (pdf) SH State Office for Monument Preservation, December 21, 2017, p. 160 , accessed on January 6, 2018 .
- ↑ Hannes Wader and the songs of an eventful life. Husumer Nachrichten, March 12, 2012, accessed on January 6, 2018 .
- ^ Website of the Fortuna mill
Coordinates: 54 ° 35 '22.27 " N , 8 ° 59' 27.15" O