The mill is located in the Ihne valley in the farming community of Mühlhofe (east of the Valbert district) and, together with the mills in Fretter and Eslohe, is the last surviving bone mill in Westfalen. It was built around 1849 as a quarry stone building and took the place of a Kornmühle that had existed since 1548.
The neighbouring residential building dates from 1892. The purpose of the mill was to crush animal bones to produce flour, which was used as a fertilizer in agriculture. The necessary drive energy was supplied by the Ihne, from which water was diverted approx. 250 m from the mill and dammed in a pond. Since the renovation, the water has continued underground in the adjoining mill ditch and drives an overshot water wheel on one side of the building, which is connected to a thumb shaft inside the mill.
This sets in motion the tamper suspended in a wooden frame, which crushes the bones in a trough-shaped depression in front of it. The bones themselves were either delivered by the butchers or brought from the surrounding abattoirs to Kraghammer station, from where they were transported to the mill by horse and cart.
The first owner of the mill was Wilhelm Stamm, who traded extensively in the bone meal produced. Until the beginning of the Second World War, the flour was used exclusively as fertilizer. In 1939, this was prohibited for all such mills by a decree of the then Reich government, so that for a short time soap and glue were produced from the crushed bones.
The mill was shut down in 1944/45 and then began to fall into disrepair. In the 1980s, extensive renovation work was carried out with the support of the town of Meinerzhagen, the Märkischer Kreis, the Office for Agricultural Regulation and the Westfalen Office for the Preservation of Monuments: Among other things, the tampers and the water wheel were restored, the pond was newly dredged and the weir was renewed. The bone mill has been a listed building since 1986 and has been fully functional again since 1989.
An outside tour is possible at any time, from May 1st until the beginning of winter every first Wednesday of the month from 15:00-17:00 or by individual arrangement with the Meinerzhagen local history association. Please contact in this regard:
Mr. Pätzold - Telephone 02358-1624
Opening hours: every 1st Wednesday of the month (May until the beginning of winter) from 3 to 5 pm, on Open Monument Day and on German Mill Day.
Please note: the bone mill will remain closed until the end of 2023!
Tourist information of the town of Meinerzhagen: 02354 / 77-132
Text source © Heimatverein Meinerzhagen
All information without guarantee!