17

Hauptstraße 52, 146 und 168
The village stream and its mills

From medieval times the village stream was the lifeline of Denzlingen: Every house and farm was oriented towards it. As a supplier of energy it drove several mills: the Knochenmühle(1), the Ölmühle/Hanfreibe(2), the Burger-Säge(3), the Obere
Mühle(4), the Mühle at the upper church(5), the Säge/Trotte at the "Grüner Baum"(6), the trashing at the Zehntscheuer(7) and the lower mill(8). In addition the stream watered the meadows and women used it for washing.

You are located at the place where one of the eight mill wheels of Denzlingen once rotated. All mills were driven by the water of the village stream. This energy was used for sawing, trotting, threshing and forging and later also for power generation. Today all the old mill wheels have disappeared.

However, where the water wheels once turned, some of the weirs and also the stone blocks to which the wheels were fixed can still be seen in the stream bed. The water of the village stream was not only used for the mills, but also for agriculture and irrigation of the meadows. To avoid a standstill of the mill wheels due to a lack of water it was important and necessary to regulate the times and the right to take water precisely.