Schiffmühlen: Eine Flotte, die fast immer vor Anker lag
Full details
| English title | Boat mills: (A fleet that almost always lay at anchor) |
| Authors & editors | |
| Publisher | Landschaftsmuseum der Dübener Heide |
| Year of publication | 1987 |
| Languages | German (main text) |
| Medium | Book |
| Edition | 1 |
| Topics | Wind & watermills > Other Europe (not GB) > Germany, Austria & Switzerland |
| Tags | |
| Scope & content | Summary Translation Research published in the GDR about floating mills, including excerpts from original documents. The sections cover: the invention and spread of floating mills, in general, in Europe and in Germany; the construction of the housing and grinding mechanism; the rights and duties of millers and havens to shelter the mills in case of natural disaster; two floating mills in Saxony, in Niedermuschütz and Wehlen; millers’ guilds; professional sidelines (fishing, brewing, ferrying etc); accidents and collisions; the heroic actions of a miller in the Napoleonic wars; the decline of floating mills after the Congress of Vienna’s decision to make river traffic open to all; conflict between the requirements of floating mills and chain tugs (which used a chain laid on the river bed to propel them); the disappearance of floating mills, the last of which ceased operation in 1901; traces of floating mills in place names along the Elbe and efforts to preserve them, included one now in the regional museum. The appendices list the number of mills on the Elbe in the 19th century, followed by more detailed lists of information about their location, their millers, whether they hinder river traffic, and notes about the conditions of the tenancies, their machinery and their condition etc. The book ends with a conversion table of weights, measures and currency for Prussia and Saxony.The book is richly illustrated with old prints, black-and-white photos, maps and diagrams. |
Copies held
Accession no. 230025
- Shelf location: F426
Divisions within this publication
- 1: The invention and expansion of floating mills, their expansion in Europe and in Germany;
- 2: The construction of the hull and grinding mechanism and a detailed description of a specific mill at Heinrichsberg near Magdeburg drawn up in 1867;
- 3: Privileges and tenancy regulations, with the tasks to be fulfilled and the obligation of peasants to use specific mills, and harbours for floating mills;
- 4: Description of two floating mills on the Elbe in Saxony;
- 5: Millers’ professional associations;
- 6: Auxiliary tasks carried out by millers, e.g. fishing, brewing, baking;
- 7: Accidents and collisions;
- 8: Anecdote about a brave miller in the Napoleonic wars;
- 9: The Congress of Vienna and its consequences for floating mills;
- 10: Competing needs of floating mills and chain boat navigation;
- 11: Germany’s last floating mills;
- 12: Keeping memories alive, including the preservation of the last floating mill as a monument.
