Müllenbach, Cochem-Zell
Encyclopedia
Müllenbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell
district
in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kaisersesch
, whose seat is in the like-named town
.
– was found west of what is today the sporting ground. Another ancient archaeological
find has been a Roman
cremation
site from the 1st century AD, found some 200 to 250 m southeast of the parish church in the cadastral area called “Rosenberg”.
. Müllenbach’s first unequivocal documentary mention came on 1 May 1333 when Aleidis, Heinrich von Molinbach’s widow, sold her inheritance from her mother in Düngenheim
for 100 Denare to the Stuben Monastery.
In the years 1349 and 1350, the Eifel was swept by the Plague. On 11 December 1357, Sir Konrad von Brohl, a knight, was enfeoffed by Rupert I, Elector Palatine with the village of Mollenbach, along with the Hause Kaldenbrunnen (Kalenborn
), Haurode (Hauroth
) and Gut Rode (later Gerhardsroth) in the Mastbrecht (Masburg) court district.
It is known that witch-hunt
s in the area reached a height between 1500 and 1650, and although there is no record of such things happening in Müllenbach, it is reasonable to assume that the village was caught up in this madness.
were lords of the court and landholders in Müllenbach (a Weistum – cognate with English
wisdom – was a legal pronouncement issued by men learned in law in the Middle Ages
and early modern times). The village was administered by the Electoral-Trier Amt of Mayen. In 1548, the Electorate of Trier received the same rights over Müllenbach as the Counts of Virneburg had had before.
Müllenbach’s earliest population figure dates from 1563, when the Electoral-Trier Feuerbuch (“Firebook”) stated that there were 23 hearths (for this, read “households”; this corresponds to a population of roughly 130 to 150).
A chapel
in Müllenbach was mentioned in 1621. In 1657, it was reported that the chapel in Müllenbach was consecrated to Saint Hubert
. Furthermore, it was the chaplain from Masburg
who said Mass
, for which he received 13 Gulden
from the municipality, but he had to obtain the sacramental wine
himself. In 1680, twenty families were living in Müllenbach, which works out to roughly the same population as in 1563 (130 to 150), which is somewhat remarkable, given that this was a time of wars – the Thirty Years' War
had ended in 1648 – and Plague. In 1695, records from the Mayen-Monreal financial administration mention for the first time slate
mining
in Müllenbach as a business subject to levies (called the Deckleyenzehnt, or roughly “roofing stone tithe”).
honour in Müllenbach. The first curate was Father Jakob Heinrich Jäger, who was introduced to his Müllenbach office by the parish priest from Masburg. Father Jäger was the curate until 1718.
In 1724, as the result of a new enfeoffment, H. Arendt from Müllenbach was assigned the slate mine in Hochpochten and was granted three tax-free years to offset the trouble and cost of putting the site in order. In 1725, the church books mentioned the Kaulenmühle (mill) for the first time when Nikolaus May from Müllenbach married his first wife Elisabeth Niederelz on 16 October 1725 in Masburg. In 1733, a new chapel was built to accommodate not only the village’s growing population, but also worshippers who came from Laubach
and Hochpochten to attend Mass. The new nave measured 21 × 21 (local, not British) feet, or about 7 × 7 m. However, it had no organ
, no sacristy
nor even a confessional
.
Another mill was first mentioned in 1741, the Kolfenmühle on the river Endert, along with its owner, Matthias Kolf. It was called the Zirwesmühle once Servatius Arenz took it over in 1750. It stood on the other side of the Müllenbach, where that stream empties into the Endert.
In 1749, Müllenbach’s curate was Heinrich Esch, born in Prüm
, who held the post until 1769, when Bartholomäus Gilles, born in Müllenbach, succeeded him. Father Gilles was known for – rather hamfistedly – fighting for his congregation’s “rights”. He held the post until 1786, but the records also mention another curate, Johann Peter Rhein, born in Metternich (today a Stadtteil of Koblenz
), in the years 1771 and 1772.
In 1770, after Head Forester Michels had caught the Müllenbach swineherd
unlawfully grazing his swine in Hochpochten for the third time, he was set on, despite threatening to shoot, by six or seven men from Müllenbach – among them the mayor – and beaten so badly “that only one man from Laubach who put himself between them saved his life”. Head Forester Michels’s troubles, however, were not over. In 1774, Father Gilles accused him of luring the clergyman into a house, where the forester threatened and insulted him, and then waylaid him in the forest in such a way that the pastor feared for his life. Head Forester Michels, for his part, claimed that he had demanded that Father Gilles hand over the money that Michels had had to pay at the Dingtag (the local moot) for some stolen brushwood. At this, Father Gilles had apparently become physically abusive and driven Michels out of the house, swearing at him by calling him such unchurchmanlike things as Hundspfott (“dog dropping”) and Scheisskerl (something akin to “bastard” in the colloquial sense, but literally meaning “shit-fellow”).
From 1781 to 1783, the rights to mine the slate deposit in Müllenbach were held by the Cologne
merchant Paffrath. He commissioned Karl Rido (or Rideaux) from Fumay
in France
to do the mining. Rideaux brought many of his kin along with him from Fumay. The French slate miners brought to Müllenbach valuable knowledge and saw to an upswing in the slate mining industry in the region. Since then, many French names have cropped up in the Müllenbach church register: Lefevre, Allard, Bourgeoise, Dardenne, Doudoux, Goffart, Pasfort, Regnier and Sarde, to name a few.
In 1784, there were 66 family heads living in 65 houses in Müllenbach, suggesting a population of just under 400. In 1785, a Visitation protocol from the parish of Masburg mentions that Müllenbach freeman Niclas Stoll was a Sendschöffe (a kind of judicial representative), and furthermore that he had held this post already for six years. In 1788, there were 60 family heads living in Müllenbach, and in 1789 there were 62. This year also saw a new curate arrive on the scene, Johann Thelen, born in Monreal
. He served until 1802. In 1790, there were 63 family heads living in Müllenbach. In 1791, records at Springiersbach Monastery showed that a parcel of cropland of 1.29 ha was auctioned to a farmer from Müllenbach named M. Steffen.
troops in 1794, Müllenbach was assigned to the Mairie (“Mayoralty”) of Kaisersesch. The first few years of the 19th century brought the village two new curates, Peter Joseph Pauli in 1802, born in Maring
and serving until 1805, and replacing him, Philipp Reichards. He served until 1818, and he has the distinction of being Müllenbach’s last curate and first parish priest, for in 1806, a longstanding goal was reached: Müllenbach was finally raised to parish. Father Reichards was born in Demerath
on 6 May 1754 and was ordained in Trier
on 27 March 1784. He died in Düngenheim
on 11 December 1830. In 1808, after the chapel at Martental had been deconsecrated
, the chapel bell was brought to Müllenbach, where it long served as the school bell and the fire bell. In 1810, Laubach was parochially annexed to Müllenbach.
After the French had been driven out by Blücher
, Müllenbach was still in the old Mairie of Kaisersesch, only now it was the Bürgermeisterei (also “Mayoralty”) of Kaisersesch under the new Prussia
n administration.
On 10 April 1815, a huge eruption
of Mount Tambora
on the now Indonesia
n island of Sumbawa
formed an ash cloud that darkened the atmosphere, which in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere
brought about the following year what has come to be known as the Year Without a Summer
. The winter leading up to this was especially harsh in the Eifel
. Snow lay on the ground until June. Harvesting could only be done in October, and then only in part, as new frost came, destroying the greater part of the crops. Famine followed. In 1817, 392 inhabitants were counted in Müllenbach, all of whom were Catholic. On 5 December of this year in the Hochpochten wooded area, 3 of the 9 members of the so-called Alfler Bande were caught. These people were suspected of having murder
ed the Kaifenheim
parish priest on 21 November; 5 further members were caught in Alflen
.
In 1818, Müllenbach’s parish priest was Johann Heinrich Schmitt, born in Ransbach
, who held the post until 1824. He was then succeeded by Franz Joseph Steffes, born in Alflen, who served until 1845. Also in 1824, the parish of Müllenbach was assigned to the Diocese of Trier
; in 1827, it was also assigned to the deaconry of Cochem. The first gallery mine in the slate mountains of the Rhine’s left bank was opened on the Escherkaul. The mine was called Höllenpforte – “Hell’s Gate”.
In 1832, there were 550 people living in Müllenbach, belonging to 140 families. In the same year, Philipp Reichard is named as the schoolteacher; the parish priest was apparently satisfied with him. In 1839, the Prussian administration allowed the municipality of Müllenbach to hold two markets: a trading market on the fourth Thursday after Easter
, and a livestock market on the second Monday before Saint Bartholomew’s Day (24 August). In 1840, there were 715 inhabitants in Müllenbach living in 115 houses. Plans were being made to build a new church. In 1842, Landrat (District Chairman) Schönberger sent Mayor Driesch of Kaisersesch a letter asking him to explain law-flouting incidents that had been happening in Müllenbach after abuse of alcohol
– notably one that had seen a young man stabbed several times. He asked him to address the situation and, if need be, hire police specially for the village – at the municipality’s own expense, of course.
On 19 March 1843, a great fire ravaged Müllenbach, and could not be put out until the following morning. The toll was 35 houses, 27 barns full of livestock, produce and equipment. Luckily, there were no human deaths. Joseph Schmitz was named in 1846 as Müllenbach’s mayor. It is unknown whether this was in fact Mathias Joseph Schmitz, the famous bell pourer. He was furthermore named as the endower of the windows at the parish church with the motif featuring Saint Matthew. Joseph Schmitz’s deputy was Peter Miesen. The same year, the economic crisis also made itself felt in Müllenbach as many slate miners lost their jobs in the wake of the downturn in the slate market. The new parish priest was Nikolaus Guldner, born in Dillingen. He is held to be the builder of the new parish church in 1855. He served until 1865.
Municipal council took a decision in 1847 to build the new church. Meanwhile, the economic crisis gave way the following year to another upheaval: revolution
. Locally, the bailiff Hartrath found his activities thwarted by Müllenbach inhabitants, and indeed he was hounded out of the village under “a rain of stones”.
Johann Steffes-hoff became in 1848 the first Müllenbacher to emigrate to the United States
; many others followed.
On 25 October of the same year, yet another bailiff in Müllenbach found himself at odds with the villagers. He had wanted to gather monies that were due the authorities, but he, too, was driven from the village, this time in the face of swearing and cursing, and under a rain of, not stones, but rather rotten fruit. Despite this somewhat less violent expulsion than the one that Hartrath had faced, this time there were consequences. Once the bailiff had reported to his employer what had happened, the monarchical leadership in Berlin
sent specially an infantry
company of 280 men to Müllenbach to restore order. Things had calmed down enough by 29 December, when the 28th Infantry Regiment under Major von Pannewitz withdrew. The costs for billeting the whole regiment had to be borne by the villagers.
In 1849, Peter Miesen was the mayor and his deputy was Johann Welling III. By 1850, the economic situation was improving, and slate, which had been stored or stockpiled, could be sold, meaning that the supply, bit by bit, had to be replenished; 150 men went back to work in the pits. In 1852, the old chapel was torn down so that a new church building could use the site. The foundation stone was laid on 29 September by Bishop Arnoldi, who also consecrated
the new church on 8 July 1855. Three bells had been poured for the new church by Mathias Schmitz of Müllenbach. The biggest one was a gift from Prince Wilhelm, who later became William I, German Emperor
.
On 9 March 1853, sixteen slate miners were trapped by a rockfall inside the “Olligskaul 1” mine. They spent 16 to 18 hours buried in the mine before they could be rescued. There were no deaths, nor even injuries.
In 1857, Joseph Schmitz was Müllenbach’s mayor, and his deputy was Johann Franzen. There were 765 inhabitants in Müllenbach in 1858, 762 of whom were Catholic, and three of whom were Evangelical
. In 1861, Johann Josef Köhn was Müllenbach’s mayor and in 1864 it was Johann Joseph Franzen. In 1865, there was a new parish priest, Johann Litzinger, born in Ehrenbreitstein (today a Stadtteil of Koblenz
); he served until 1871. In 1869, the parish of Müllenbach was assigned to the deaconry of Kaisersesch. In 1871, there were 800 inhabitants in Müllenbach. The new parish priest then was Johann Kowastch, born in Saarwellingen
; he served until 1884. In 1872, Anton Schmitt and Katharina Knauf were mentioned as schoolteachers. Father Kowastch’s observation about them was: “They do their duty”. In 1873, Johann Peter Bohr was Müllenbach’s mayor.
, which saw Father Pörzgen, the parish priest in Masburg, thrown out of his job and forbidden to practise spiritual guidance. The effect that this had was overcrowding in Müllenbach’s church, as the faithful from Father Pörzgen’s parish (Eppenberg, Hauroth and Kalenborn) made their way to Müllenbach to attend services. This led to trouble, with pews always full to overflowing, and resentment among Müllenbachers about having to stand in their church, and so on.
In 1878, Mathias Gilles was Müllenbach’s mayor, and the parish priest was Josef Miesen, born 28 March 1831 in Müllenbach. In 1880, in the cadastral area called “Wolfsburg” near Leienkaul (roughly 2 km from Müllenbach), the last wolf in the eastern Eifel was shot. In 1884, the parish priest was Matthias Weber (known as Kära Mattes), born in Körrig, an outlying centre of Merzkirchen
. He served until 1892. In 1885, Franz Steffes-Holländer was Müllenbach’s mayor, and in 1889, it was once again Johann Peter Bohr. There were 751 inhabitants in Müllenbach in 1890. This same year, Father Weber also became the school inspector.
Snow was still lying on the ground – about 60 cm of it – on 1 April 1891, and although the year was nowhere near as bad as the Year Without a Summer (1816), the unusually late frost killed most of the winter crops
.
In 1892, there was a new parish priest, Hugo Kirchgässer, born in Oberwesel
; he served until 1901. On 2 December 1895, a census
yielded 892 as Müllenbach’s population figure. Of these, 440 were male and 452 female, 881 were Catholic, 6 were Evangelical and 5 were Jewish
. Inhabited buildings numbered 148. In 1897, Peter Lefev was Müllenbach’s mayor, and in 1899, it was Peter Schmitz. Another census in 1900 revealed that 932 people lived in Müllenbach, among whom were 200 children attending primary school.
In 1901, there was a new parish priest, Franz Kirchesch, born in Wissen
; he served until 1912. In 1903, Bartholomäus Schmitz was Müllenbach’s mayor. Another census held in 1905 found that the village’s population was “half male, half female”. It is unclear how this could be said when the total population figure was 905 – an odd number. Also in 1905, oil lamp
s were replaced with carbide lamp
s in the slate mines. They gave off a brighter light and were held to be more conducive to miners’ health. Another innovation came to the mines in 1908. The Müllenbacher Dachschieferwerk began using a diesel
-powered railway to haul slates. Another railway with cable-hauled slate cars was also built. This same year, Peter Schmitz was Müllenbach’s mayor once again. The 2 December 1910 census put the number of villagers at 946. In 1911, there was a murder
in Müllenbach: on the night of 2 to 3 February, a boy named Anton Lehnen, from Müllenbach, was done to death by five lads, also from Müllenbach. They were all found guilty in court in Koblenz on 3 May. One was released early, and the three ringleaders, Peter Krämer I, Reuter and Lefev, were, owing to mitigating circumstances, sentenced to prison terms ranging from 9 to 10 years. Peter Krämer II got half a year in jail. The newspaper
reported the crime, expressing revulsion at the murderers’ bestiality. In 1912, Müllenbach’s parish priest was Cornelius Mehren, born in Damscheid
, who held the post until 1921.
on the one side, and Russia
, France
and Serbia
on the other. On Friday 31 July, towards 5 o’clock in the morning, a rider had come from Kaisersesch, bringing the news of the declaration of war
. In 1915, Stephan Valerius was Müllenbach’s mayor, and his deputy was Mathias Josef Gilles. Later that same year, though, the deputy took over the mayor’s office, and his deputy was Mr. Scheider. Amid the general fear that the Great War would last longer than first expected, older youth were being readied for military service. The parochial company numbered 75 men, each of whom received a soldier’s cap. Because wages were so unsatisfactory at the slate mines, many younger and still spry older workers left their jobs at the pits and sought work and better wages in the Low Countries
or in munitions factories, especially in Siegburg
and Troisdorf
. Even many girls found paying jobs in these factories. In September, men who had already been declared unfit for military service were nonetheless mustered again, and this time, most of them were found to be fit.
From autumn 1915 to May of the following year, constant cannon fire could be heard from Verdun
, about 150 km from Müllenbach. To save on kerosene
, the clocks were all put ahead one hour on 30 April 1916 so that better use could be made of daylight. The oil shortage was mitigated somewhat by organized gathering of beechnuts. Schoolchildren managed to gather up some 100 kg to sell to the Royal Forest Administration, and were allowed to keep half their beechnuts. On 4 December 1916, the churchbells were set ringing on His Majesty’s orders on the occasion of the victory on the river Argeş
. This resulted in great jubilation in Müllenbach, and many thought that they were hearing a “peace peal”.
It was the last time the bells would announce such an event: in late July 1917, they were taken away to be used for war requirements. They were melted down to make munitions and weapons. By 1918, there was no dearth of soldiers who did not want to go back to their posts after taking leave, and about ten to fifteen deserters
lurked in the Müllenbach area, stealing chickens, livestock, food and even money. By autumn, though, the thieves were behind bars.
ordinance issued by the US occupational authorities in 1919 gives one an idea of the state of hygiene in Müllenbach at the time, and perhaps less importantly, of the state of linguistic ability in the United States Army
at that time, for it was written in humorously bad German
. It even went as far as to begin with the sentence: “Es ist streng verboten zu scheissen neben die Hauser oder auf die Strassen.” This one sentence alone contains several structural blunders (mostly involving word order and case
inflections), one swearword
(the sixth one, which means “shit”) and a word missing an umlaut (the ninth one). Nonetheless, the ordinance demonstrates a concern for the village’s state of cleanliness. The intended meaning was “It is strictly forbidden to defecate next to houses or on the streets.” The last US troops withdrew from Müllenbach in July of the same year.
Fear, however, still beset the area as “Stumpfarm” (“Stump-Arm”) – or Johann Wilhelm Mayer, to use his actual name – was still at large. He is said to have been the area’s most dangerous criminal, a serial killer
. He was caught on 10 August 1919, and beheaded
in 1923.
In late August 1919, Rheinische Basaltwerke AG
started new basalt
mines on the Hoechst. A railway spur was built to serve the operation. Electric lighting came to Müllenbach in 1920. The same year also brought industrial strife to the municipality, and there was a ten-day strike
at the slate mines. In 1921, there was a new parish priest, Peter Klein, born in Korweiler
; he served until 1925.
The rampant inflation in Germany
in the early 1920s led locally – and indeed nationally – to a great upswing in crop thefts and wood thefts in 1923. By 1925, the village’s population had shrunk to 726 (745 Catholics, 5 Evangelicals and 12 Jews), and the basalt mines were shut down owing to unprofitability. The slate mines, however, were doing well by this time. In 1926, there was a new parish priest, Wilhelm Zils, born in Trier
; he served until 1941. In 1927, all the slate miners ended up on welfare as all the slate mines were shut down.
The French, who had been occupying the Rhineland
since the First World War ended, withdrew from the Second Zone of Occupation on the night of 30 November to 1 December 1929, and on 30 June 1930, they also withdrew from the Third Zone of Occupation.
, the National Socialists’ seizure of power
was celebrated in Müllenbach with a torchlight parade through the village. Not long thereafter, shoppers were being harassed and blocked from entering the Mayer butcher shop at Dorfstraße 116 in Müllenbach – a Jewish-owned business. The harassers were Brownshirts
, at first ones from outside the village, but later also local ones. The mayor in Nazi times was Josef Steffes-Ollig. Nazi youth groups
were also formed in Müllenbach in 1934. In 1936, Emanuel and Moses Mayer’s butchering business was shut down by the Nazis. Brownshirts broke windows at their houses and shouted taunts.
With Hitler’s
Invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, the Second World War began. The need to guard Germany’s nearby western border saw to it that there were many troops in the village, usually about 500 to 600, but at times as many as 1,000 to 1,200. On 9 May 1940 came the marching orders as Hitler pursued the Battle of France
, which began the next day. On 30 April 1942, Müllenbach’s Jewish inhabitants (Emanuel, Johanna and Julius Mayer and a foster-child named Heinrich) were deported to a death camp in Poland
. Emanuel’s and Johanna’s names appear in a list of the dead from the Izbica ghetto
.
In 1942, there was a new parish priest, Alois Fuchs, born in Hüttigweiler (an outlying centre of Illingen
); he served only 10 months before being replaced later the same year by Theodor Gilen, born in Ehlenz
. He served until 1958.
On 6 March 1945, American forces overran Laubach, and after an ill-advised attempt by a lieutenant and a small group of soldiers to hold the Americans back, resulting in three of the group being killed, the Americans also came into Müllenbach, whose inhabitants put up no fight.
of Rhineland-Palatinate
.
In 1948, Franz Gilles was the mayor and his deputy was Johann Konz. Gilles died the next year and was succeeded by Johann Klotz; Johann Konz continued to be the mayor’s deputy. On 13 October 1949, Müllenbach’s last prisoner of war
came home after 5 years in Allied
prison camps. In late May 1950, rationing
, which had begun in 1939, was ended. A census on 13 September of that same year showed a population of 732 (347 male, 385 female; 782 Catholic, 9 Evangelical, 1 Russian Orthodox
). In early October, 3 refugee
families were housed by the municipality.
In late February 1952, work began on a munitions camp in Hochpochten, thus bringing jobs to those in need of a livelihood, if only for a matter of months. Johann Klotz became the mayor this year; his deputy was Franz Schmitz. In 1953, two women who were burning off grass at the edge of one of their fields caused a great explosion, badly injuring the two. The fire had spread to a neighbouring former anti-aircraft gun
facility, setting off munitions stored there.
By 1956, Müllenbach’s population had shrunk to 699. In 1957, the Bundeswehr
took over the munitions camp in Hochpochten, and this created jobs for older men and senior citizens who could serve as watchmen or munitions workers. In 1958, there was a new parish priest, Richard Koch, born in Saarbrücken
; he served until 1969.
On the night of 8 to 9 January 1959, nature put an end to all slate mining in Müllenbach, Laubach and Leienkaul. Meltwater from snow breached the three pits of the one mining operation that had remained open, “Maria Schacht”, and within one night flooded the whole operation, destroying tools, machines and explosives. The flood
was too much even for the pumps that had been installed to keep the pits free of water. This catastrophe threw all the pitmen out of work, and they had to seek jobs elsewhere.
On 4 December 1960, a hurricane raged over the area knocking down telegraph poles, blowing windows in, lifting roofs off and littering roads and railways with fallen trees. In 1961, the population had sunk to 652. In 1966, Erhardt Franzen became Müllenbach’s mayor; his deputy was Josef Berenz. In 1967, after a ministerial edict on 12 June and an order from the district chairman’s office on 16 August to the effect that the municipality of Müllenbach should voluntarily merge with that of Laubach-Leienkaul, Müllenbach municipal council unanimously voted to refuse to do so.
In 1969, Josef Gilles was the mayor and his deputy was Heinz Peters. There was also a new parish priest, Dr. Bernd Bothe, born in Schelmkappe, an outlying centre of Löningen
; he served only until the next year, when he was replaced by Peter van Iersel, born in Best in the Netherlands
, but he did not last long, either. He died unexpectedly of heart failure in 1972. In 1970, there were 713 people in Müllenbach (679 Catholics, 28 Evangelicals and 6 others).
A crime spree came to an end in Müllenbach in 1970. Police from Cochem were pursuing a car thief who had been stealing cars all over West Germany
. Police fired warning shots and the car that the thief was driving ended up in a roadside ditch. He fled on foot but was arrested the next morning in Müllenbach. The 17-year-old and his accomplice, also 17, were charged with stealing about 30 cars throughout the country.
The new parish priest in Müllenbach in 1972, succeeding to the post after Father Peter van Iersel’s death, was Konrad Flatau, born in Heilsberg, East Prussia
(now Lidzbark Warmiński
, Poland); he served until the next year when he was succeeded by Wilhelm Freytag, born in Ankum
. Father Freytag served until 1979. In 1974, Heinz Peters was the mayor and his deputy was Paul Klotz and then, after Peters’s reelection in 1979, Walter Tholl, and after his reelection in 1984, Rudi Gilles. Also in 1979, Johannes Walhorn, born in Osnabrück
, became the new parish priest; he served until 1993. In 1989, Rudi Gilles was the mayor and his deputy was Josef Lanser.
In the early morning of 13 April 1991, towards 3:20, a strong earthquake
shook the region. Its epicentre lay near Roermond
in the Netherlands. It registered 5.9 on the Richter scale. In 1993, there was a new parish priest, Ferdinand Koch, born in Henri-Chapelle, an outlying centre of Welkenraedt
in Belgium
; he served until the next year when he was succeeded by Hubert Goebel (or Göbel), born in Mundersbach, who served until 2008.
In October 1994, there was an uproar when, in a marquee full of people, a 30-year-old man from neighbouring Kaisersesch chose the occasion of the playing of the National Anthem to give the Nazi salute
. In June of the following year, a court in Cochem fined him 1,800 marks for this indiscretion.
In 1997, a population of 730 was reported for Müllenbach, of whom 45 maintained a secondary residence in the municipality. By 1999, this had risen to 754 in 349 families living in 269 houses (381 male, 373 female; 652 Catholics, 48 Evangelicals, 54 others). In 1999, Josef Lanser was the mayor. In the same election, Nicole Laux became the first woman to serve on municipal council. In 2000, Müllenbach’s municipal forest became one of the first to receive Forest Stewardship Council
certification.
businesses and agricultural land amounted to 94 ha. In 2004, Andreas Klotz was the mayor and his deputy was Dirk Barbye. By 2006, the population figure was 737 (370 men and 367 women). In mid November, the new development area “Am Heiligenhäuschen/Im Seufen” was opened up. By the end of the year, AJE Consulting, a company based in Roes
, had brought wireless Internet
service to the municipality. On 18 and 19 January, the windstorm Kyrill swept across Germany. Locally, there was not much damage – a few roof tiles were blown away and a few trees were brought down – and nobody was injured. On 4 August 2007 at about 4:50 AM, an earthquake measuring 4 on the Richter scale shook the area; the epicentre was in Plaidt
.
On 1 December 2008, Father Ernst-Walter Fuß, who had taken over as parish priest from Father Hubert Göbel, was named by Bishop Robert Brahm as Dean of the deaconry of Karden-Martental for the coming seven years. In 2009, the population was 680 (328 men and 352 women). This same year, Andreas Klotz became mayor of Müllenbach, and for the first time, the local school had no beginners at all, a result of the shrinking birthrate. Volker Malburg became the new parish priest.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
might be described thus: Per saltire first vert a stag’s head caboshed attired and ensigned with a cross Latin Or, second Or a waterwheel spoked of four sable, third Or a bell of the third, and fourth vert two pickaxes in saltire argent.
The charge
in the first field, the stag’s head with the cross on top, is Saint Hubert’s
attribute, thus representing the church’s patron saint. The waterwheel in the second field refers to the origin of the name Müllenbach (“mill” is Mühle in German
). The bell in the third field refers to the former Matthias Schmitz bellfounding
business. The charge in base, the two pickaxes, refers to the former slate mining industry.
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
Municipalities of Germany
Municipalities are the lowest level of territorial division in Germany. This may be the fourth level of territorial division in Germany, apart from those states which include Regierungsbezirke , where municipalities then become the fifth level.-Overview:With more than 3,400,000 inhabitants, the...
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell
Cochem-Zell
Cochem-Zell is a district in the north-west of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Mayen-Koblenz, Rhein-Hunsrück, Bernkastel-Wittlich, and Vulkaneifel.- History :...
district
Districts of Germany
The districts of Germany are known as , except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where they are known simply as ....
in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kaisersesch
Kaisersesch (Verbandsgemeinde)
Kaisersesch is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Cochem-Zell, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Kaisersesch....
, whose seat is in the like-named town
Kaisersesch
Kaisersesch is a town in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde, to which it also belongs.- Location :...
.
Prehistory and antiquity
A razor blade dating from between 700 and 500 BC – Hallstatt timesHallstatt culture
The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Central European culture from the 8th to 6th centuries BC , developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC and followed in much of Central Europe by the La Tène culture.By the 6th century BC, the Hallstatt culture extended for some...
– was found west of what is today the sporting ground. Another ancient archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
find has been a Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
cremation
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
site from the 1st century AD, found some 200 to 250 m southeast of the parish church in the cadastral area called “Rosenberg”.
Middle Ages
Müllenbach may have had its first documentary mention in 1036 as Michelembach sup Cumitato, but historians are doubtful that this refers to Müllenbach. However, if it does, Archbishop Poppo of Trier had holdings in the village at this time. In 1052, the Hochpochten Forest had its first documentary mention when Archbishop Eberhard of Trier donated the forest of Puthena to Saint Martin’s Foundation in MünstermaifeldMünstermaifeld
Münstermaifeld is a town in the district Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is part of the Verbandsgemeinde Maifeld. It is situated south-east of Mayen, a few km from the Moselle River and the castle Eltz. The first residents of the region were Celts...
. Müllenbach’s first unequivocal documentary mention came on 1 May 1333 when Aleidis, Heinrich von Molinbach’s widow, sold her inheritance from her mother in Düngenheim
Düngenheim
Düngenheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kaisersesch, whose seat is in the like-named town.- Location :Düngenheim lies in...
for 100 Denare to the Stuben Monastery.
In the years 1349 and 1350, the Eifel was swept by the Plague. On 11 December 1357, Sir Konrad von Brohl, a knight, was enfeoffed by Rupert I, Elector Palatine with the village of Mollenbach, along with the Hause Kaldenbrunnen (Kalenborn
Kalenborn, Cochem-Zell
Kalenborn is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
), Haurode (Hauroth
Hauroth
Hauroth is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kaisersesch, whose seat is in the like-named town.- History :In 1103, Hauroth had its...
) and Gut Rode (later Gerhardsroth) in the Mastbrecht (Masburg) court district.
It is known that witch-hunt
Witch-hunt
A witch-hunt is a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, often involving moral panic, mass hysteria and lynching, but in historical instances also legally sanctioned and involving official witchcraft trials...
s in the area reached a height between 1500 and 1650, and although there is no record of such things happening in Müllenbach, it is reasonable to assume that the village was caught up in this madness.
Early modern times
In 1534 came a report of a “doerfflein nudorff nit weit von Mollenbach gelegen” (“little village Nudorff lying not far from Müllenbach”), which could refer to the place now known as Neuhof. In 1543, a Weistum showed that the Counts of VirneburgCounty of Virneburg
The County of Virneburg was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire in the region of the Eifel in present-day Rhineland-Palatinate.- History :The Counts of Virneburg first appear in the 11th century as witnesses in documents. The center of the county and family seat castle was the like-named Castle...
were lords of the court and landholders in Müllenbach (a Weistum – cognate with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
wisdom – was a legal pronouncement issued by men learned in law in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and early modern times). The village was administered by the Electoral-Trier Amt of Mayen. In 1548, the Electorate of Trier received the same rights over Müllenbach as the Counts of Virneburg had had before.
Müllenbach’s earliest population figure dates from 1563, when the Electoral-Trier Feuerbuch (“Firebook”) stated that there were 23 hearths (for this, read “households”; this corresponds to a population of roughly 130 to 150).
A chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
in Müllenbach was mentioned in 1621. In 1657, it was reported that the chapel in Müllenbach was consecrated to Saint Hubert
Hubertus
Saint Hubertus or Hubert , called the "Apostle of the Ardennes" was the first Bishop of Liège...
. Furthermore, it was the chaplain from Masburg
Masburg
Masburg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kaisersesch, whose seat is in the like-named town.-Location:The municipality lies in...
who said Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
, for which he received 13 Gulden
Rhenish guilder
Rhenish guilder is the name of the golden, base currency coin of the Rhineland in the 14th and 15th centuries.- Formation :...
from the municipality, but he had to obtain the sacramental wine
Sacramental wine
Sacramental wine, Communion wine or altar wine is wine obtained from grapes and intended for use in celebration of the Eucharist...
himself. In 1680, twenty families were living in Müllenbach, which works out to roughly the same population as in 1563 (130 to 150), which is somewhat remarkable, given that this was a time of wars – the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
had ended in 1648 – and Plague. In 1695, records from the Mayen-Monreal financial administration mention for the first time slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
in Müllenbach as a business subject to levies (called the Deckleyenzehnt, or roughly “roofing stone tithe”).
18th century
In 1703, 16 families from Müllenbach built up a fund of money and other tangible assets to establish a benefice in the village. On 17 March of the following year, the ecclesiastical authorities establish the first benefice in Saint Hubert’s and Saint Anthony’sAnthony of Antioch
Anthony was an early Christian priest who suffered martyrdom with Anastasius, Julian, Celsus and Marcionilla, during the persecutions of Diocletian. He lived his life as a desert hermit and denounced the Roman way of life. He practiced celibacy and lived off roots and plants. He also shunned any...
honour in Müllenbach. The first curate was Father Jakob Heinrich Jäger, who was introduced to his Müllenbach office by the parish priest from Masburg. Father Jäger was the curate until 1718.
In 1724, as the result of a new enfeoffment, H. Arendt from Müllenbach was assigned the slate mine in Hochpochten and was granted three tax-free years to offset the trouble and cost of putting the site in order. In 1725, the church books mentioned the Kaulenmühle (mill) for the first time when Nikolaus May from Müllenbach married his first wife Elisabeth Niederelz on 16 October 1725 in Masburg. In 1733, a new chapel was built to accommodate not only the village’s growing population, but also worshippers who came from Laubach
Laubach, Cochem-Zell
Laubach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kaisersesch, whose seat is in the like-named town...
and Hochpochten to attend Mass. The new nave measured 21 × 21 (local, not British) feet, or about 7 × 7 m. However, it had no organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, no sacristy
Sacristy
A sacristy is a room for keeping vestments and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.The sacristy is usually located inside the church, but in some cases it is an annex or separate building...
nor even a confessional
Confessional
A confessional is a small, enclosed booth used for the Sacrament of Penance, often called confession, or Reconciliation. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church, but similar structures are also used in Anglican churches of an Anglo-Catholic orientation, and also in the...
.
Another mill was first mentioned in 1741, the Kolfenmühle on the river Endert, along with its owner, Matthias Kolf. It was called the Zirwesmühle once Servatius Arenz took it over in 1750. It stood on the other side of the Müllenbach, where that stream empties into the Endert.
In 1749, Müllenbach’s curate was Heinrich Esch, born in Prüm
Prüm
Prüm is a town in the Westeifel , Germany. Formerly a district capital, today it is the administrative seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Prüm.-Geography:...
, who held the post until 1769, when Bartholomäus Gilles, born in Müllenbach, succeeded him. Father Gilles was known for – rather hamfistedly – fighting for his congregation’s “rights”. He held the post until 1786, but the records also mention another curate, Johann Peter Rhein, born in Metternich (today a Stadtteil of Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
), in the years 1771 and 1772.
In 1770, after Head Forester Michels had caught the Müllenbach swineherd
Swineherd
A swineherd is a person who looks after pigs. The term has fallen out of popular use in favour of pig farmer.-Swineherds in literature:* Hans Christian Andersen wrote a Fairy tale called, "The Swineherd"....
unlawfully grazing his swine in Hochpochten for the third time, he was set on, despite threatening to shoot, by six or seven men from Müllenbach – among them the mayor – and beaten so badly “that only one man from Laubach who put himself between them saved his life”. Head Forester Michels’s troubles, however, were not over. In 1774, Father Gilles accused him of luring the clergyman into a house, where the forester threatened and insulted him, and then waylaid him in the forest in such a way that the pastor feared for his life. Head Forester Michels, for his part, claimed that he had demanded that Father Gilles hand over the money that Michels had had to pay at the Dingtag (the local moot) for some stolen brushwood. At this, Father Gilles had apparently become physically abusive and driven Michels out of the house, swearing at him by calling him such unchurchmanlike things as Hundspfott (“dog dropping”) and Scheisskerl (something akin to “bastard” in the colloquial sense, but literally meaning “shit-fellow”).
From 1781 to 1783, the rights to mine the slate deposit in Müllenbach were held by the Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
merchant Paffrath. He commissioned Karl Rido (or Rideaux) from Fumay
Fumay
Fumay is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France, very close to the Belgian border.-Geography:It is situated in the Meuse valley, the main part of the town being surrounded by a large meander of the river.-Population:-Economy:...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to do the mining. Rideaux brought many of his kin along with him from Fumay. The French slate miners brought to Müllenbach valuable knowledge and saw to an upswing in the slate mining industry in the region. Since then, many French names have cropped up in the Müllenbach church register: Lefevre, Allard, Bourgeoise, Dardenne, Doudoux, Goffart, Pasfort, Regnier and Sarde, to name a few.
In 1784, there were 66 family heads living in 65 houses in Müllenbach, suggesting a population of just under 400. In 1785, a Visitation protocol from the parish of Masburg mentions that Müllenbach freeman Niclas Stoll was a Sendschöffe (a kind of judicial representative), and furthermore that he had held this post already for six years. In 1788, there were 60 family heads living in Müllenbach, and in 1789 there were 62. This year also saw a new curate arrive on the scene, Johann Thelen, born in Monreal
Monreal, Germany
Monreal is a municipality in the district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-References:...
. He served until 1802. In 1790, there were 63 family heads living in Müllenbach. In 1791, records at Springiersbach Monastery showed that a parcel of cropland of 1.29 ha was auctioned to a farmer from Müllenbach named M. Steffen.
Napoleonic times and 19th century
After the annexation of the Rhine’s left bank by Napoleon’sNapoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
troops in 1794, Müllenbach was assigned to the Mairie (“Mayoralty”) of Kaisersesch. The first few years of the 19th century brought the village two new curates, Peter Joseph Pauli in 1802, born in Maring
Maring-Noviand
Maring-Noviand is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
and serving until 1805, and replacing him, Philipp Reichards. He served until 1818, and he has the distinction of being Müllenbach’s last curate and first parish priest, for in 1806, a longstanding goal was reached: Müllenbach was finally raised to parish. Father Reichards was born in Demerath
Demerath
Demerath is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
on 6 May 1754 and was ordained in Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
on 27 March 1784. He died in Düngenheim
Düngenheim
Düngenheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kaisersesch, whose seat is in the like-named town.- Location :Düngenheim lies in...
on 11 December 1830. In 1808, after the chapel at Martental had been deconsecrated
Deconsecration
Deconsecration is the act of removing a religious blessing from something that had been previously consecrated by a minister or priest of that religion. The same act when performed by a member of a differing religion may be considered a curse by some religions and not a complete removal of the...
, the chapel bell was brought to Müllenbach, where it long served as the school bell and the fire bell. In 1810, Laubach was parochially annexed to Müllenbach.
After the French had been driven out by Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt , Graf , later elevated to Fürst von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall who led his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 with the Duke of Wellington.He is...
, Müllenbach was still in the old Mairie of Kaisersesch, only now it was the Bürgermeisterei (also “Mayoralty”) of Kaisersesch under the new Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n administration.
On 10 April 1815, a huge eruption
Types of volcanic eruptions
During a volcanic eruption, lava, tephra , and various gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior has been observed...
of Mount Tambora
Mount Tambora
Mount Tambora is an active stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia. Sumbawa is flanked both to the north and south by oceanic crust, and Tambora was formed by the active subduction zone beneath it. This raised Mount Tambora as high as , making it...
on the now Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n island of Sumbawa
Sumbawa
Sumbawa is an Indonesian island, located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba further to the southeast. It is in the province of West Nusa Tenggara....
formed an ash cloud that darkened the atmosphere, which in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...
brought about the following year what has come to be known as the Year Without a Summer
Year Without a Summer
The Year Without a Summer was 1816, in which severe summer climate abnormalities caused average global temperatures to decrease by about 0.4–0.7 °C , resulting in major food shortages across the Northern Hemisphere...
. The winter leading up to this was especially harsh in the Eifel
Eifel
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
. Snow lay on the ground until June. Harvesting could only be done in October, and then only in part, as new frost came, destroying the greater part of the crops. Famine followed. In 1817, 392 inhabitants were counted in Müllenbach, all of whom were Catholic. On 5 December of this year in the Hochpochten wooded area, 3 of the 9 members of the so-called Alfler Bande were caught. These people were suspected of having murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ed the Kaifenheim
Kaifenheim
Kaifenheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
parish priest on 21 November; 5 further members were caught in Alflen
Alflen
Alflen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
.
In 1818, Müllenbach’s parish priest was Johann Heinrich Schmitt, born in Ransbach
Ransbach-Baumbach
Ransbach-Baumbach is a town in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Ransbach-Baumbach is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Ransbach-Baumbach, a kind of collective municipality.-Location:...
, who held the post until 1824. He was then succeeded by Franz Joseph Steffes, born in Alflen, who served until 1845. Also in 1824, the parish of Müllenbach was assigned to the Diocese of Trier
Roman Catholic Diocese of Trier
The Roman Catholic diocese of Trier is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in Germany. As former archbishopric and Electorate of Trier it was one of the most important as both an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire, and as a diocese of the church...
; in 1827, it was also assigned to the deaconry of Cochem. The first gallery mine in the slate mountains of the Rhine’s left bank was opened on the Escherkaul. The mine was called Höllenpforte – “Hell’s Gate”.
In 1832, there were 550 people living in Müllenbach, belonging to 140 families. In the same year, Philipp Reichard is named as the schoolteacher; the parish priest was apparently satisfied with him. In 1839, the Prussian administration allowed the municipality of Müllenbach to hold two markets: a trading market on the fourth Thursday after Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
, and a livestock market on the second Monday before Saint Bartholomew’s Day (24 August). In 1840, there were 715 inhabitants in Müllenbach living in 115 houses. Plans were being made to build a new church. In 1842, Landrat (District Chairman) Schönberger sent Mayor Driesch of Kaisersesch a letter asking him to explain law-flouting incidents that had been happening in Müllenbach after abuse of alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
– notably one that had seen a young man stabbed several times. He asked him to address the situation and, if need be, hire police specially for the village – at the municipality’s own expense, of course.
On 19 March 1843, a great fire ravaged Müllenbach, and could not be put out until the following morning. The toll was 35 houses, 27 barns full of livestock, produce and equipment. Luckily, there were no human deaths. Joseph Schmitz was named in 1846 as Müllenbach’s mayor. It is unknown whether this was in fact Mathias Joseph Schmitz, the famous bell pourer. He was furthermore named as the endower of the windows at the parish church with the motif featuring Saint Matthew. Joseph Schmitz’s deputy was Peter Miesen. The same year, the economic crisis also made itself felt in Müllenbach as many slate miners lost their jobs in the wake of the downturn in the slate market. The new parish priest was Nikolaus Guldner, born in Dillingen. He is held to be the builder of the new parish church in 1855. He served until 1865.
Municipal council took a decision in 1847 to build the new church. Meanwhile, the economic crisis gave way the following year to another upheaval: revolution
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution – part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe – were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire...
. Locally, the bailiff Hartrath found his activities thwarted by Müllenbach inhabitants, and indeed he was hounded out of the village under “a rain of stones”.
Johann Steffes-hoff became in 1848 the first Müllenbacher to emigrate to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
; many others followed.
On 25 October of the same year, yet another bailiff in Müllenbach found himself at odds with the villagers. He had wanted to gather monies that were due the authorities, but he, too, was driven from the village, this time in the face of swearing and cursing, and under a rain of, not stones, but rather rotten fruit. Despite this somewhat less violent expulsion than the one that Hartrath had faced, this time there were consequences. Once the bailiff had reported to his employer what had happened, the monarchical leadership in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
sent specially an infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
company of 280 men to Müllenbach to restore order. Things had calmed down enough by 29 December, when the 28th Infantry Regiment under Major von Pannewitz withdrew. The costs for billeting the whole regiment had to be borne by the villagers.
In 1849, Peter Miesen was the mayor and his deputy was Johann Welling III. By 1850, the economic situation was improving, and slate, which had been stored or stockpiled, could be sold, meaning that the supply, bit by bit, had to be replenished; 150 men went back to work in the pits. In 1852, the old chapel was torn down so that a new church building could use the site. The foundation stone was laid on 29 September by Bishop Arnoldi, who also consecrated
Consecration
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...
the new church on 8 July 1855. Three bells had been poured for the new church by Mathias Schmitz of Müllenbach. The biggest one was a gift from Prince Wilhelm, who later became William I, German Emperor
William I, German Emperor
William I, also known as Wilhelm I , of the House of Hohenzollern was the King of Prussia and the first German Emperor .Under the leadership of William and his Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Prussia achieved the unification of Germany and the...
.
On 9 March 1853, sixteen slate miners were trapped by a rockfall inside the “Olligskaul 1” mine. They spent 16 to 18 hours buried in the mine before they could be rescued. There were no deaths, nor even injuries.
In 1857, Joseph Schmitz was Müllenbach’s mayor, and his deputy was Johann Franzen. There were 765 inhabitants in Müllenbach in 1858, 762 of whom were Catholic, and three of whom were Evangelical
Evangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
. In 1861, Johann Josef Köhn was Müllenbach’s mayor and in 1864 it was Johann Joseph Franzen. In 1865, there was a new parish priest, Johann Litzinger, born in Ehrenbreitstein (today a Stadtteil of Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
); he served until 1871. In 1869, the parish of Müllenbach was assigned to the deaconry of Kaisersesch. In 1871, there were 800 inhabitants in Müllenbach. The new parish priest then was Johann Kowastch, born in Saarwellingen
Saarwellingen
Saarwellingen is a municipality in the district of Saarlouis in Saarland, Germany. As of 2002 it has a population of 13,940.-External links:*http://www.saarwellingen.de...
; he served until 1884. In 1872, Anton Schmitt and Katharina Knauf were mentioned as schoolteachers. Father Kowastch’s observation about them was: “They do their duty”. In 1873, Johann Peter Bohr was Müllenbach’s mayor.
Imperial Germany
By 1876, the municipality’s population had dropped to 790. This same year also brought the KulturkampfKulturkampf
The German term refers to German policies in relation to secularity and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, enacted from 1871 to 1878 by the Prime Minister of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck. The Kulturkampf did not extend to the other German states such as Bavaria...
, which saw Father Pörzgen, the parish priest in Masburg, thrown out of his job and forbidden to practise spiritual guidance. The effect that this had was overcrowding in Müllenbach’s church, as the faithful from Father Pörzgen’s parish (Eppenberg, Hauroth and Kalenborn) made their way to Müllenbach to attend services. This led to trouble, with pews always full to overflowing, and resentment among Müllenbachers about having to stand in their church, and so on.
In 1878, Mathias Gilles was Müllenbach’s mayor, and the parish priest was Josef Miesen, born 28 March 1831 in Müllenbach. In 1880, in the cadastral area called “Wolfsburg” near Leienkaul (roughly 2 km from Müllenbach), the last wolf in the eastern Eifel was shot. In 1884, the parish priest was Matthias Weber (known as Kära Mattes), born in Körrig, an outlying centre of Merzkirchen
Merzkirchen
Merzkirchen is a municipality in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
. He served until 1892. In 1885, Franz Steffes-Holländer was Müllenbach’s mayor, and in 1889, it was once again Johann Peter Bohr. There were 751 inhabitants in Müllenbach in 1890. This same year, Father Weber also became the school inspector.
Snow was still lying on the ground – about 60 cm of it – on 1 April 1891, and although the year was nowhere near as bad as the Year Without a Summer (1816), the unusually late frost killed most of the winter crops
Winter cereals
Winter cereals, also called winter grains, fall cereals/grains, autumn-sown grains, etc.) are the cereals which are sown in the autumn. They germinate before the winter comes, may partially grow during mild winters or simply persevere under a sufficiently thick snow cover to continue their life...
.
In 1892, there was a new parish priest, Hugo Kirchgässer, born in Oberwesel
Oberwesel
Oberwesel is a town on the Middle Rhine in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Sankt Goar-Oberwesel, whose seat is in the town.-Location:...
; he served until 1901. On 2 December 1895, a census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
yielded 892 as Müllenbach’s population figure. Of these, 440 were male and 452 female, 881 were Catholic, 6 were Evangelical and 5 were Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
. Inhabited buildings numbered 148. In 1897, Peter Lefev was Müllenbach’s mayor, and in 1899, it was Peter Schmitz. Another census in 1900 revealed that 932 people lived in Müllenbach, among whom were 200 children attending primary school.
In 1901, there was a new parish priest, Franz Kirchesch, born in Wissen
Wissen
Wissen is a town in the district of Altenkirchen, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Sieg, approximately 12 km northeast of Altenkirchen.Wissen is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Wissen....
; he served until 1912. In 1903, Bartholomäus Schmitz was Müllenbach’s mayor. Another census held in 1905 found that the village’s population was “half male, half female”. It is unclear how this could be said when the total population figure was 905 – an odd number. Also in 1905, oil lamp
Oil lamp
An oil lamp is an object used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and is continued to this day....
s were replaced with carbide lamp
Carbide lamp
Carbide lamps, properly known as acetylene gas lamps, are simple lamps that produce and burn acetylene which is created by the reaction of calcium carbide with water....
s in the slate mines. They gave off a brighter light and were held to be more conducive to miners’ health. Another innovation came to the mines in 1908. The Müllenbacher Dachschieferwerk began using a diesel
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
-powered railway to haul slates. Another railway with cable-hauled slate cars was also built. This same year, Peter Schmitz was Müllenbach’s mayor once again. The 2 December 1910 census put the number of villagers at 946. In 1911, there was a murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
in Müllenbach: on the night of 2 to 3 February, a boy named Anton Lehnen, from Müllenbach, was done to death by five lads, also from Müllenbach. They were all found guilty in court in Koblenz on 3 May. One was released early, and the three ringleaders, Peter Krämer I, Reuter and Lefev, were, owing to mitigating circumstances, sentenced to prison terms ranging from 9 to 10 years. Peter Krämer II got half a year in jail. The newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
reported the crime, expressing revulsion at the murderers’ bestiality. In 1912, Müllenbach’s parish priest was Cornelius Mehren, born in Damscheid
Damscheid
Damscheid is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, who held the post until 1921.
First World War
On 1 August 1914, war broke out between Germany and Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
on the one side, and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
on the other. On Friday 31 July, towards 5 o’clock in the morning, a rider had come from Kaisersesch, bringing the news of the declaration of war
Declaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...
. In 1915, Stephan Valerius was Müllenbach’s mayor, and his deputy was Mathias Josef Gilles. Later that same year, though, the deputy took over the mayor’s office, and his deputy was Mr. Scheider. Amid the general fear that the Great War would last longer than first expected, older youth were being readied for military service. The parochial company numbered 75 men, each of whom received a soldier’s cap. Because wages were so unsatisfactory at the slate mines, many younger and still spry older workers left their jobs at the pits and sought work and better wages in the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
or in munitions factories, especially in Siegburg
Siegburg
--122.148.78.228 05:06, 14 November 2011 Siegburg is a city in the district of Rhein-Sieg-Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany...
and Troisdorf
Troisdorf
Troisdorf is a town in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis , in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Troisdorf is located approx. 22 kilometers south of Cologne and 13 kilometers north east of Bonn.-Division of the town:...
. Even many girls found paying jobs in these factories. In September, men who had already been declared unfit for military service were nonetheless mustered again, and this time, most of them were found to be fit.
From autumn 1915 to May of the following year, constant cannon fire could be heard from Verdun
Verdun
Verdun is a city in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc.- History :...
, about 150 km from Müllenbach. To save on kerosene
Kerosene
Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...
, the clocks were all put ahead one hour on 30 April 1916 so that better use could be made of daylight. The oil shortage was mitigated somewhat by organized gathering of beechnuts. Schoolchildren managed to gather up some 100 kg to sell to the Royal Forest Administration, and were allowed to keep half their beechnuts. On 4 December 1916, the churchbells were set ringing on His Majesty’s orders on the occasion of the victory on the river Argeş
Arges River
Argeș is a river of Southern Romania. It starts at the junction of headwaters Buda and Capra in the Făgăraș Mountains, in the Southern Carpathians and flows into the Danube at Oltenița.The main city on the Argeş is Piteşti...
. This resulted in great jubilation in Müllenbach, and many thought that they were hearing a “peace peal”.
It was the last time the bells would announce such an event: in late July 1917, they were taken away to be used for war requirements. They were melted down to make munitions and weapons. By 1918, there was no dearth of soldiers who did not want to go back to their posts after taking leave, and about ten to fifteen deserters
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...
lurked in the Müllenbach area, stealing chickens, livestock, food and even money. By autumn, though, the thieves were behind bars.
Occupation and Weimar Republic
On 11 November 1918 came the Armistice. On 27 November came the first German soldiers marching home from the now ended war. They kept coming through the area until 2 December. A week later, American soldiers showed up and took over the schoolrooms as their billet, leaving again on 11 December. More Americans came on 15 December. These ones stayed until 4 April 1919. A hygieneHygiene
Hygiene refers to the set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the preservation of health and healthy living. While in modern medical sciences there is a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations, what is considered hygienic or not can vary between...
ordinance issued by the US occupational authorities in 1919 gives one an idea of the state of hygiene in Müllenbach at the time, and perhaps less importantly, of the state of linguistic ability in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
at that time, for it was written in humorously bad German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. It even went as far as to begin with the sentence: “Es ist streng verboten zu scheissen neben die Hauser oder auf die Strassen.” This one sentence alone contains several structural blunders (mostly involving word order and case
Grammatical case
In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun is an inflectional form that indicates its grammatical function in a phrase, clause, or sentence. For example, a pronoun may play the role of subject , of direct object , or of possessor...
inflections), one swearword
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
(the sixth one, which means “shit”) and a word missing an umlaut (the ninth one). Nonetheless, the ordinance demonstrates a concern for the village’s state of cleanliness. The intended meaning was “It is strictly forbidden to defecate next to houses or on the streets.” The last US troops withdrew from Müllenbach in July of the same year.
Fear, however, still beset the area as “Stumpfarm” (“Stump-Arm”) – or Johann Wilhelm Mayer, to use his actual name – was still at large. He is said to have been the area’s most dangerous criminal, a serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
. He was caught on 10 August 1919, and beheaded
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
in 1923.
In late August 1919, Rheinische Basaltwerke AG
Aktiengesellschaft
Aktiengesellschaft is a German term that refers to a corporation that is limited by shares, i.e. owned by shareholders, and may be traded on a stock market. The term is used in Germany, Austria and Switzerland...
started new basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
mines on the Hoechst. A railway spur was built to serve the operation. Electric lighting came to Müllenbach in 1920. The same year also brought industrial strife to the municipality, and there was a ten-day strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
at the slate mines. In 1921, there was a new parish priest, Peter Klein, born in Korweiler
Korweiler
Korweiler is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
; he served until 1925.
The rampant inflation in Germany
Inflation in the Weimar Republic
The hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic was a three year period of hyperinflation in Germany between June 1921 and July 1924.- Analysis :...
in the early 1920s led locally – and indeed nationally – to a great upswing in crop thefts and wood thefts in 1923. By 1925, the village’s population had shrunk to 726 (745 Catholics, 5 Evangelicals and 12 Jews), and the basalt mines were shut down owing to unprofitability. The slate mines, however, were doing well by this time. In 1926, there was a new parish priest, Wilhelm Zils, born in Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
; he served until 1941. In 1927, all the slate miners ended up on welfare as all the slate mines were shut down.
The French, who had been occupying the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
since the First World War ended, withdrew from the Second Zone of Occupation on the night of 30 November to 1 December 1929, and on 30 June 1930, they also withdrew from the Third Zone of Occupation.
Third Reich
In 1932, the Nazis were gaining in popularity. Their supporters’ numbers rose in this year from 19 to 52, and at elections in 1933, 118 Müllenbachers cast votes for the NSDAP. On 21 March of that year, with the opening of the ReichstagReichstag (Weimar Republic)
The Reichstag was the parliament of Weimar Republic .German constitution commentators consider only the Reichstag and now the Bundestag the German parliament. Another organ deals with legislation too: in 1867-1918 the Bundesrat, in 1919–1933 the Reichsrat and from 1949 on the Bundesrat...
, the National Socialists’ seizure of power
Machtergreifung
Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...
was celebrated in Müllenbach with a torchlight parade through the village. Not long thereafter, shoppers were being harassed and blocked from entering the Mayer butcher shop at Dorfstraße 116 in Müllenbach – a Jewish-owned business. The harassers were Brownshirts
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
, at first ones from outside the village, but later also local ones. The mayor in Nazi times was Josef Steffes-Ollig. Nazi youth groups
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...
were also formed in Müllenbach in 1934. In 1936, Emanuel and Moses Mayer’s butchering business was shut down by the Nazis. Brownshirts broke windows at their houses and shouted taunts.
With Hitler’s
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
Invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, the Second World War began. The need to guard Germany’s nearby western border saw to it that there were many troops in the village, usually about 500 to 600, but at times as many as 1,000 to 1,200. On 9 May 1940 came the marching orders as Hitler pursued the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
, which began the next day. On 30 April 1942, Müllenbach’s Jewish inhabitants (Emanuel, Johanna and Julius Mayer and a foster-child named Heinrich) were deported to a death camp in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. Emanuel’s and Johanna’s names appear in a list of the dead from the Izbica ghetto
Izbica concentration camp
The Izbica ghetto was a Jewish ghetto created in Izbica in occupied Poland during World War II, serving as a transfer point for deportation of Jews from Poland, Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia to Belzec and Sobibor extermination camps. SS-Hauptsturmführer Kurt Engels was the commandant of the...
.
In 1942, there was a new parish priest, Alois Fuchs, born in Hüttigweiler (an outlying centre of Illingen
Illingen, Saarland
Illingen is a municipality in the district of Neunkirchen, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approx. 10 km northwest of Neunkirchen, and 17 km northeast of Saarbrücken...
); he served only 10 months before being replaced later the same year by Theodor Gilen, born in Ehlenz
Ehlenz
Ehlenz is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany....
. He served until 1958.
On 6 March 1945, American forces overran Laubach, and after an ill-advised attempt by a lieutenant and a small group of soldiers to hold the Americans back, resulting in three of the group being killed, the Americans also came into Müllenbach, whose inhabitants put up no fight.
After the Second World War
Müllenbach’s first post-Nazi mayor was Johann Konz. On 1 October 1945, the local school opened its doors once again to schoolchildren, rather than to soldiers as it had had to later in the war. In 1946, Phillip Lanser succeeded Johann Konz as mayor. That same year, a census yielded a figure of 226 households in Müllenbach with 746 inhabitants. This year also saw Müllenbach become part of the then newly founded stateStates of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
of Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
.
In 1948, Franz Gilles was the mayor and his deputy was Johann Konz. Gilles died the next year and was succeeded by Johann Klotz; Johann Konz continued to be the mayor’s deputy. On 13 October 1949, Müllenbach’s last prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
came home after 5 years in Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
prison camps. In late May 1950, rationing
Rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.- In economics :...
, which had begun in 1939, was ended. A census on 13 September of that same year showed a population of 732 (347 male, 385 female; 782 Catholic, 9 Evangelical, 1 Russian Orthodox
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
). In early October, 3 refugee
Flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland during and after World War II
The flight and expulsion of Germans from Poland was the largest of a series of flights and expulsions of Germans in Europe during and after World War II...
families were housed by the municipality.
In late February 1952, work began on a munitions camp in Hochpochten, thus bringing jobs to those in need of a livelihood, if only for a matter of months. Johann Klotz became the mayor this year; his deputy was Franz Schmitz. In 1953, two women who were burning off grass at the edge of one of their fields caused a great explosion, badly injuring the two. The fire had spread to a neighbouring former anti-aircraft gun
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
facility, setting off munitions stored there.
By 1956, Müllenbach’s population had shrunk to 699. In 1957, the Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
took over the munitions camp in Hochpochten, and this created jobs for older men and senior citizens who could serve as watchmen or munitions workers. In 1958, there was a new parish priest, Richard Koch, born in Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
; he served until 1969.
On the night of 8 to 9 January 1959, nature put an end to all slate mining in Müllenbach, Laubach and Leienkaul. Meltwater from snow breached the three pits of the one mining operation that had remained open, “Maria Schacht”, and within one night flooded the whole operation, destroying tools, machines and explosives. The flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
was too much even for the pumps that had been installed to keep the pits free of water. This catastrophe threw all the pitmen out of work, and they had to seek jobs elsewhere.
On 4 December 1960, a hurricane raged over the area knocking down telegraph poles, blowing windows in, lifting roofs off and littering roads and railways with fallen trees. In 1961, the population had sunk to 652. In 1966, Erhardt Franzen became Müllenbach’s mayor; his deputy was Josef Berenz. In 1967, after a ministerial edict on 12 June and an order from the district chairman’s office on 16 August to the effect that the municipality of Müllenbach should voluntarily merge with that of Laubach-Leienkaul, Müllenbach municipal council unanimously voted to refuse to do so.
In 1969, Josef Gilles was the mayor and his deputy was Heinz Peters. There was also a new parish priest, Dr. Bernd Bothe, born in Schelmkappe, an outlying centre of Löningen
Löningen
Löningen is a town in the district of Cloppenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Hase, approx. 25 km southwest of Cloppenburg.-History:Löningen originally appeared in 822 as Loingo...
; he served only until the next year, when he was replaced by Peter van Iersel, born in Best in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, but he did not last long, either. He died unexpectedly of heart failure in 1972. In 1970, there were 713 people in Müllenbach (679 Catholics, 28 Evangelicals and 6 others).
A crime spree came to an end in Müllenbach in 1970. Police from Cochem were pursuing a car thief who had been stealing cars all over West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. Police fired warning shots and the car that the thief was driving ended up in a roadside ditch. He fled on foot but was arrested the next morning in Müllenbach. The 17-year-old and his accomplice, also 17, were charged with stealing about 30 cars throughout the country.
The new parish priest in Müllenbach in 1972, succeeding to the post after Father Peter van Iersel’s death, was Konrad Flatau, born in Heilsberg, East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
(now Lidzbark Warmiński
Lidzbark Warminski
Lidzbark Warmiński is a town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the capital of Lidzbark County.- History :The town was originally an Old Prussian settlement known as Lecbarg until being conquered in 1240 by the Teutonic Knights, who called it Heilsberg...
, Poland); he served until the next year when he was succeeded by Wilhelm Freytag, born in Ankum
Ankum
Ankum is a municipality in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany.From the Parish Ankum many people had emigrated to the Netherlands until 1800 and later to the USA....
. Father Freytag served until 1979. In 1974, Heinz Peters was the mayor and his deputy was Paul Klotz and then, after Peters’s reelection in 1979, Walter Tholl, and after his reelection in 1984, Rudi Gilles. Also in 1979, Johannes Walhorn, born in Osnabrück
Osnabrück
Osnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest...
, became the new parish priest; he served until 1993. In 1989, Rudi Gilles was the mayor and his deputy was Josef Lanser.
In the early morning of 13 April 1991, towards 3:20, a strong earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
shook the region. Its epicentre lay near Roermond
Roermond
Roermond is a city, a municipality, and a diocese in the southeastern part of the Netherlands.The city of Roermond is a historically important town, on the lower Roer at the east bank of the Meuse river. It received city rights in 1231...
in the Netherlands. It registered 5.9 on the Richter scale. In 1993, there was a new parish priest, Ferdinand Koch, born in Henri-Chapelle, an outlying centre of Welkenraedt
Welkenraedt
Welkenraedt is a Walloon municipality located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Welkenraedt had a total population of 9,163. The total area is 24.47 km² which gives a population density of 374 inhabitants per km²....
in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
; he served until the next year when he was succeeded by Hubert Goebel (or Göbel), born in Mundersbach, who served until 2008.
In October 1994, there was an uproar when, in a marquee full of people, a 30-year-old man from neighbouring Kaisersesch chose the occasion of the playing of the National Anthem to give the Nazi salute
Nazi salute
The Nazi salute, or Hitler salute , was a gesture of greeting in Nazi Germany usually accompanied by saying, Heil Hitler! ["Hail Hitler!"], Heil, mein Führer ["Hail, my leader!"], or Sieg Heil! ["Hail victory!"]...
. In June of the following year, a court in Cochem fined him 1,800 marks for this indiscretion.
In 1997, a population of 730 was reported for Müllenbach, of whom 45 maintained a secondary residence in the municipality. By 1999, this had risen to 754 in 349 families living in 269 houses (381 male, 373 female; 652 Catholics, 48 Evangelicals, 54 others). In 1999, Josef Lanser was the mayor. In the same election, Nicole Laux became the first woman to serve on municipal council. In 2000, Müllenbach’s municipal forest became one of the first to receive Forest Stewardship Council
Forest Stewardship Council
The Forest Stewardship Council is an international not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder organization established in 1993 to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. Its main tools for achieving this are standard setting, independent certification and labeling of forest products...
certification.
21st century
At 31 December 2003, the State Statistical Office reported that Müllenbach had 284 residential buildings with 333 dwellings. The population figure was 703 (350 men and 353 women), who fell into the following age groups: 1.8% under 3 years, 2.6% 3-5 years, 3.8% 6-9 years, 11.4% 10-19 years, 7.1% 20-29 years, 34.4% 30-49 years, 9.7% 50-59 years, 20.9% 60-74 years and 8.3% 75 years and older. There were six agriculturalAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
businesses and agricultural land amounted to 94 ha. In 2004, Andreas Klotz was the mayor and his deputy was Dirk Barbye. By 2006, the population figure was 737 (370 men and 367 women). In mid November, the new development area “Am Heiligenhäuschen/Im Seufen” was opened up. By the end of the year, AJE Consulting, a company based in Roes
Roes
Roes is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, had brought wireless Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
service to the municipality. On 18 and 19 January, the windstorm Kyrill swept across Germany. Locally, there was not much damage – a few roof tiles were blown away and a few trees were brought down – and nobody was injured. On 4 August 2007 at about 4:50 AM, an earthquake measuring 4 on the Richter scale shook the area; the epicentre was in Plaidt
Plaidt
Plaidt is a municipality in the district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany....
.
On 1 December 2008, Father Ernst-Walter Fuß, who had taken over as parish priest from Father Hubert Göbel, was named by Bishop Robert Brahm as Dean of the deaconry of Karden-Martental for the coming seven years. In 2009, the population was 680 (328 men and 352 women). This same year, Andreas Klotz became mayor of Müllenbach, and for the first time, the local school had no beginners at all, a result of the shrinking birthrate. Volker Malburg became the new parish priest.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 12 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
| FWG Klotz Free Voters Free Voters is a German concept in which an association of persons participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it is a locally organized group of voters in the form of a registered association . In most cases, Free Voters are active only at the... |
FWG Lanser Free Voters Free Voters is a German concept in which an association of persons participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it is a locally organized group of voters in the form of a registered association . In most cases, Free Voters are active only at the... |
Total | |
| 2009 | 10 | 2 | 12 seats |
| 2004 | 7 | 5 | 12 seats |
Coat of arms
The municipality’s armsCoat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
might be described thus: Per saltire first vert a stag’s head caboshed attired and ensigned with a cross Latin Or, second Or a waterwheel spoked of four sable, third Or a bell of the third, and fourth vert two pickaxes in saltire argent.
The charge
Charge (heraldry)
In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon . This may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device...
in the first field, the stag’s head with the cross on top, is Saint Hubert’s
Hubertus
Saint Hubertus or Hubert , called the "Apostle of the Ardennes" was the first Bishop of Liège...
attribute, thus representing the church’s patron saint. The waterwheel in the second field refers to the origin of the name Müllenbach (“mill” is Mühle in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
). The bell in the third field refers to the former Matthias Schmitz bellfounding
Bellfounding
Bellfounding is the casting of bells in a foundry for use in churches, clocks, and public buildings. A practitioner of the craft is called a bellmaker or bellfounder. The process in Europe dates to the 4th or 5th century. In early times, when a town produced a bell it was a momentous occasion in...
business. The charge in base, the two pickaxes, refers to the former slate mining industry.
Buildings
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
- Saint Hubert’sHubertusSaint Hubertus or Hubert , called the "Apostle of the Ardennes" was the first Bishop of Liège...
Catholic Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Hubertus), Hauptstraße 37 – three-naved basilica, 1853-1855, architect Vincenz Statz, CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the... - Hauptstraße 13 – pietàPietàThe Pietà is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus, most often found in sculpture. As such, it is a particular form of the Lamentation of Christ, a scene from the Passion of Christ found in cycles of the Life of Christ...
, 18th century - Hauptstraße 24 – pastoral relief, 18th century