Station: [11] Club Room
The Club Room has a really steamy past.
In 1890, one of the mill’s former owners, the miller Johannes Wilhelm Fallier, built an extension that included a tall chimney – 15 metres tall, almost fifty feet. The extension was equipped with a steam engine, so that an extra pair of millstones could operate at the mill even when there was no wind. Take a look at your screen to see a photograph of the extension.In 1954, the miller’s son, Alois Fallier, demolished the chimney, leaving just the building housing the steam engine. Later, our support group restored the latter, and we’ve been using the space as a club room ever since. The building that houses the museum was built into the mound on which the mill stands.Why not sit down for a moment? We’d like to tell you a thing or two about the miller's trade.
Did you know that millers used to have a terrible reputation? No? Let me tell you why: milling was of immense importance to society, but millers were regarded as dishonest rogues! That was because they kept part of every bushel of flour for themselves. The farmers often wondered why they got so little flour for so much grain, but they were never able to prove anything. Were all millers such rogues? Nobody knows.
Even now, Müller – Miller – is still Germany’s most common surname. That’s because in the 12th century, almost every village had at least one mill – a windmill, a water mill, a sawmill, an oil mill ... So the miller’s trade was very common, and that’s reflected in the surname’s prevalence.
Photos: © Dagmar Trüpschuch und Förderkreis Alte Mühle Donsbrüggen