Lameschmillen
Encyclopedia
Lameschmillen, also known as the Bergemer Mühle, is located halfway between Bergem
and Noertzange
(Commune of Mondercange
), at the confluence of the rivers Alzette
and Mess
. It is one of three watermills in Luxembourg
with the same name. It marks the southern limit of the Dumontshaff Project at Dumontshaff/Dumontshof which converted a stretch of the upper Alzette into a nature reserve. The area is rich in wildlife, especially waterbirds.
There has been a mill at the same site since at least the twelfth century when, along with Esch
, Mittendal and Bergem
it formed part of the parish (forerunner of the Commune) of Schifflange
. Existing buildings date from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, with further alterations in the 20th and 21st centuries.
1530: Johanna de Mercy
built the moated castle of Mittendal at Bergem, to which the rights over the Lamescher Mill belonged.
1664: A stone bearing this date was found in the millers cottage.
1700: Marie-Marguerite Bosch (Widow Gennetais) and Ludwina Petronella Bosch (Widow Stassin), let Lameschmühle to Jean Eydt and Marguerite Berchem.
1712: Lease signed between Ludwina Petronella de Bosch and Paul Schweich, husband of Ludwina Petronella Eydt.
1719: Paul Schweich marries Johanna Nicholas.
1723: Paul Schweich marries Catherine Calmes.
1731: Marie-Marguerite de Stassin (Widow Bost-Moulin) lets Lameschmühle to Nicolas Kribs of Huncherange
.
1743: Wilhelm Franck of the Lamescher Mühle marries Anna Helena Reuter of Altwies
.
1759: Countess de Chanclos leases the mill to Theodore Franck, son of Guillaume Franck and Madeleine Krips.
1765: Anna Franck of the Lameschmühle marries Nicholas Zeller of Budersberg
.
1766: The Land Registry of the Empress Maria Theresa
lists Theodore Franck as the Miller.
1768: Stable building erected.
1776: A door lintel of this date found in the Miller's cottage, with T. FA - 17 ihs 76 O. C.? inscribed. By this time the Franck family owned the Mill outright.
1820: Bastien Klensch of Bergem and Krips of the Udinger Mill take the Miller Michel Franck, son of Theodore Franck, to court, because Franck had raised the level of his waterwheel and the depth of the mill-race. It was decided that the mill-race should be lowered by 47 inches along its entire length. A sluice must be put back in the mill-race. This must be open for at least a full day to clean the by-flow, and for other specified reasons. It was forbidden to obstruct the race or the sluice. On the first Sunday of each January, April, July and October all the sluices must be open all day. In September the mill-race and canal must be thoroughly cleaned.
1824: The land register names the Widow of Michel Franck as owner.
1876: A new mill building was built (the door lintel was dated and initialled MP 1881 ML) with a turbine underneath.
1904: The owner was Peter Müller.
1922: New living quarters constructed between the Stable and the miller's cottage; a turret added with initials GW-1922-JS. The owners were Gustav Wilhelm and his wife Josephine Scheltgen. Wilhelm recalled that on his first evening at the mill upon taking possession, he shouted aloud to express his joy, knowing that all around him was his land, and nobody in earshot. Josephine's sister and her husband, Herr Diderich, also lived on the property. They named their son Gustav after his uncle, and he in due course inherited the mill.
1940: The mill was temporarily taken over by the German Army. Stores hidden by the Wilhelm and Diderich families (behind a false wall where the Mazout now stands)were not discovered. One of the mill's four dray horses was commandeered.
1960: Milling of wheat ceased; milling for fodder continued.
1970: All milling ceased, when the last miller, Paul Brockmeyer and his wife, Marianne Bauler, took to commercial stabling. Additional adjacent land was acquired by them in 1973, 1981 and 1990. The whole property was divided into two - the Stables and the Domaine.
1996: Stables sold to Marcel Biddinger and Pamela Pöschl, to become the Team Lameschmillen riding school.
2002: Domaine Lameschmillen being sold to Henry von Blumenthal
and Nieves Buenechea
Oñate. By now the mill building and cottage next to it were a wreck.
2004: The mill, cottage and corner building with turret amalgamated to form a single dwelling. Facade of the cottage building altered to include a front door and two large ground floor windows, with a gabled window above.
Bergem
Bergem is a town in the commune of Mondercange, in south-western Luxembourg. , the town has a population of 1,474. Nearby at Lameschmillen is the confluence of the Alzette and the Mess. In the Middle Ages it belonged to the de Mercy family, together with the aforementioned mill and the castle at...
and Noertzange
Noertzange
Noertzange is a small town in the commune of Bettembourg, in southern Luxembourg. , the town has a population of 961.Noertzange is the site of a railway junction, with Line 10 dividing between the main line, which leads to Niederkorn, and a branch line, which leads to Rumelange. Noertzange...
(Commune of Mondercange
Mondercange
Mondercange is a commune and town in south-western Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette, which is part of the district of Luxembourg., the town of Mondercange, which lies in the west of the commune, has a population of 3,179...
), at the confluence of the rivers Alzette
Alzette
The Alzette is a river with a length of 73 kilometers in France and Luxembourg. It is a right tributary of the Sauer.It rises in Thil near the town Villerupt in the Meurthe-et-Moselle département, France. It crosses the border with Luxembourg after a few kilometres. In Lameschmillen it is joined...
and Mess
Mess
A mess is the place where military personnel socialise, eat, and live. In some societies this military usage has extended to other disciplined services eateries such as civilian fire fighting and police forces. The root of mess is the Old French mes, "portion of food" A mess (also called a...
. It is one of three watermills in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
with the same name. It marks the southern limit of the Dumontshaff Project at Dumontshaff/Dumontshof which converted a stretch of the upper Alzette into a nature reserve. The area is rich in wildlife, especially waterbirds.
There has been a mill at the same site since at least the twelfth century when, along with Esch
Esch
Esch may refer to:Places* Esch-sur-Alzette, the second largest city in Luxembourg* Esch-sur-Sûre, a village in Luxembourg* Esch, Bernkastel-Wittlich, a municipality in the district Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Mittendal and Bergem
Bergem
Bergem is a town in the commune of Mondercange, in south-western Luxembourg. , the town has a population of 1,474. Nearby at Lameschmillen is the confluence of the Alzette and the Mess. In the Middle Ages it belonged to the de Mercy family, together with the aforementioned mill and the castle at...
it formed part of the parish (forerunner of the Commune) of Schifflange
Schifflange
Schifflange is a commune and town in south-western Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette, which is part of the district of Luxembourg., the town of Schifflange, which lies in the west of the commune, has a population of 7,849....
. Existing buildings date from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, with further alterations in the 20th and 21st centuries.
1530: Johanna de Mercy
De Mercy
The De Mercy family rose to increasing power during the Middle Ages in the region of what is now southern Belgium, Lorraine and Luxembourg.By the fifteenth century Jean de Mercy was lord of Clémarais ; in 1477, Roger de Mercy was appointed Captain and Provost of Longwy by Duke René II of Lorraine...
built the moated castle of Mittendal at Bergem, to which the rights over the Lamescher Mill belonged.
1664: A stone bearing this date was found in the millers cottage.
1700: Marie-Marguerite Bosch (Widow Gennetais) and Ludwina Petronella Bosch (Widow Stassin), let Lameschmühle to Jean Eydt and Marguerite Berchem.
1712: Lease signed between Ludwina Petronella de Bosch and Paul Schweich, husband of Ludwina Petronella Eydt.
1719: Paul Schweich marries Johanna Nicholas.
1723: Paul Schweich marries Catherine Calmes.
1731: Marie-Marguerite de Stassin (Widow Bost-Moulin) lets Lameschmühle to Nicolas Kribs of Huncherange
Huncherange
Huncherange is a small town in the commune of Bettembourg, in southern Luxembourg. , the town has a population of 591.There is a watermill there, formerly the site of an old castle. According to a story recorded in the nineteenth century, the place is haunted by two women in white....
.
1743: Wilhelm Franck of the Lamescher Mühle marries Anna Helena Reuter of Altwies
Altwies
Altwies is a small town in the commune of Mondorf-les-Bains, in south-eastern Luxembourg. , the town has a population of 557....
.
1759: Countess de Chanclos leases the mill to Theodore Franck, son of Guillaume Franck and Madeleine Krips.
1765: Anna Franck of the Lameschmühle marries Nicholas Zeller of Budersberg
Budersberg
Budersberg is a small town in the commune of Dudelange, in southern Luxembourg. As of 2005, the town has a population of 350....
.
1766: The Land Registry of the Empress Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
lists Theodore Franck as the Miller.
1768: Stable building erected.
1776: A door lintel of this date found in the Miller's cottage, with T. FA - 17 ihs 76 O. C.? inscribed. By this time the Franck family owned the Mill outright.
1820: Bastien Klensch of Bergem and Krips of the Udinger Mill take the Miller Michel Franck, son of Theodore Franck, to court, because Franck had raised the level of his waterwheel and the depth of the mill-race. It was decided that the mill-race should be lowered by 47 inches along its entire length. A sluice must be put back in the mill-race. This must be open for at least a full day to clean the by-flow, and for other specified reasons. It was forbidden to obstruct the race or the sluice. On the first Sunday of each January, April, July and October all the sluices must be open all day. In September the mill-race and canal must be thoroughly cleaned.
1824: The land register names the Widow of Michel Franck as owner.
1876: A new mill building was built (the door lintel was dated and initialled MP 1881 ML) with a turbine underneath.
1904: The owner was Peter Müller.
1922: New living quarters constructed between the Stable and the miller's cottage; a turret added with initials GW-1922-JS. The owners were Gustav Wilhelm and his wife Josephine Scheltgen. Wilhelm recalled that on his first evening at the mill upon taking possession, he shouted aloud to express his joy, knowing that all around him was his land, and nobody in earshot. Josephine's sister and her husband, Herr Diderich, also lived on the property. They named their son Gustav after his uncle, and he in due course inherited the mill.
1940: The mill was temporarily taken over by the German Army. Stores hidden by the Wilhelm and Diderich families (behind a false wall where the Mazout now stands)were not discovered. One of the mill's four dray horses was commandeered.
1960: Milling of wheat ceased; milling for fodder continued.
1970: All milling ceased, when the last miller, Paul Brockmeyer and his wife, Marianne Bauler, took to commercial stabling. Additional adjacent land was acquired by them in 1973, 1981 and 1990. The whole property was divided into two - the Stables and the Domaine.
1996: Stables sold to Marcel Biddinger and Pamela Pöschl, to become the Team Lameschmillen riding school.
2002: Domaine Lameschmillen being sold to Henry von Blumenthal
Von Blumenthal
The von Blumenthal family are German nobility from Brandenburg-Prussia. Other, unrelated, families of this name exist in Switzerland and formerly in Russia, and many unrelated families called "Blumenthal" without "von" are to be found worldwide.The family was already noble from earliest times ,...
and Nieves Buenechea
Buenechea
Buenechea is a the Spanish spelling of a Basque surname which also occurs in the variants Bonechea, Buonechea, Boenechea and Bonachea. The modern Basque spellings are Buenetxea and Bonetxea...
Oñate. By now the mill building and cottage next to it were a wreck.
2004: The mill, cottage and corner building with turret amalgamated to form a single dwelling. Facade of the cottage building altered to include a front door and two large ground floor windows, with a gabled window above.