Müllenbach () is an – a municipality belonging to a , 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.
Geography
The municipality lies in the Eifel near Mayen.
History
Prehistory and antiquity A razor blade dating from between 700 and 500 BC – Hallstatt times – 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”.
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 Münstermaifeld. 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-hunts 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 Virneburg 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”).
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's 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.
Napoleonic times and 19th century After the annexation of the Rhine’s left bank by Napoleon’s 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 Prussian administration.
On 10 April 1815, a huge eruption of Mount Tambora on the now Indonesian 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 murdered 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.