[12] Station 12 - Upper mill

Description

Mill histories

The jurisdiction of the mills, especially on the border between the imperial city and Württemberg, was the subject of constant dispute, which is why some information about the mills in Kirchentellinsfurt, Wannweil and Reutlingen has been handed down in old documents. In a letter from the imperial town council to the Tübingen bailiff it says: ‘...Furthermore, at that time, a quarter of an hour from here in Wannweyl, there was a mill in which the Custerdinger and Jettenbrügger mainly milled, but which has now perished and burnt down and there is no hope that it will be rebuilt. Since the mill of the town of Reutlingen was badly destroyed by flooding last year, Imhof also has milling customers from Reutlingen, so that in addition to Kirchentellinsfurt, Wannweil, Kusterdingen and Jettenburg, he also has customers from Pfrondorf, Altenburg and Sickenhausen and thus has enough to grind in his mill day and night’.
Imhof’ refers to the aristocratic owner of the Kirchentellinsfurt mill. The Wannweiler Schultheiß Johann Jakob Kern assures in writing on 14 November 1717 that he was never forbidden by his authorities to grind in Kirchentellinsfurt. Schultheiß Steffan Walkher from Kirchentellinsfurt sends Kern´s letter to Pape, the Tübingen bailiff, and attests to its contents on 15 November 1717. He adds ‘that for the other Reutlingen villages, Betzingen, Ohmenhausen, Bronnweiler and Stockach, Betzingen has a mill which is also used by Ohmenhausen and Bronnweiler (1/2 and 3/4 hours away respectively), but Stockach, which is 2 hours away, grinds in Dußlingen.’ 
Since the Wannweil mill belonging to the hospital was lost during the Thirty Years´ War, which is mentioned in the letter to the Tübingen bailiff, there were no mills in Wannweil until 1832 and 1835. The farmer Jakob Walz, born 30 November 1801 in Wannweil, built a grain mill as a grinding and tanning mill with 5 gears on the Echaz in 1832/33 so that the farmers no longer had to go out to grind. After Wannweil got a second mill in 1835 with the lower mill, it was called the upper mill. Walz sold the mill in 1839 and moved to Oferdingen. The sequence of millers until the mill was shut down in January 2015: they were Walz, Weiß, Raiser, Wetzel, Schlayer, Werner, Genossenschaftsmühle, Wandel, Möck and finally Hennig.
In 1909, the municipality of Wannweil concludes a contract with Müller Werner for the supply of electricity for local lighting. Electricity was to be supplied for 10 street lamps for 210 marks per year. However, the municipality cancelled the contract and awarded the electricity supply to the Herrenberg power station. After Müller Werner, a co-operative took over the Obere Mühle. It traded as Genossenschaftsmühle Wannweil GmbH. The lack of a personal owner was a danger during earlier floods because the traps were not pulled in time. The municipality was therefore pleased when Georg Wandel from Kusterdingen bought the mill at auction. Wandel moved away from Wannweil in 1936, his son Georg, co-owner of the mill, went to America. 
Johannes Möck, master miller from Willmandingen and his wife Margarethe, née Schrade, took over the Obere Mühle Wannweil from Georg Wandel on 1 May 1936. The purchase price was RM 44,000. In the 1960s, Johannes Möck´s widow leased the mill to master miller Kurt Hennig. He acquired the property a few years later. Margarethe Möck bought the water rights before the sale. Until then, it was still possible to grind using water power. Around 1980, the mill was modernised by the Hennig and Albrecht families. The external appearance of the building changed due to the high grain silos. The last grinding took place in January 2015. The Hennig and Albrecht families parted with their life´s work with a heavy heart due to their age. In February 2015, the entire mill equipment was removed so that the mill building could be converted into a residential building. However, the mill shop was preserved and continues to operate with local mill products.

Dr Peter Maier dedicated an entire chapter to the local mill in the Kirchentellinsfurt local history book from 2007. The Kirchentellinsfurt mill has been mentioned in documents since 1292 and has always given rise to disputes over inheritance, water rights and mill rights until more recent times. In 1847, for example, the Einsiedel domain tenants and new mill owners complained that the commissioning of the new Wannweiler mills would deprive them of half of their clientele. The answer from the authorities: ‘The tenants were rich and able-bodied men anyway and should not allow it to occur to them to cut off other legal citizens from their income’.

Link to further information: https://simonwolperth.blogspot.com/2010/05/eichzeichen-der-oberen-muhle-in.html