The Bienertmühle (also known as the former Hofmühle) is a historic mill site located in the Dresden district of Plauen, Germany, along the Weißeritz River. Originally built in 1568 to replace an earlier mill, the Hofmühle is commonly associated with the Bienert family, particularly Gottlieb Traugott Bienert, who leased the site in 1852 and later purchased it in 1872.Hofmühle am Weißeritzmühlgraben on the website at weisseritzmuehlgraben.de Under the Bienert family's ownership, the mill was modernized and became the most advanced milling operation in Saxony.
The mill remained in the family for three generations until its expropriation and nationalization in 1972. Operations continued until a fire in 1990 led to its closure, along with the adjacent bread factory, which shut down in 1991.
In 2006, part of the complex was repurposed to house the Hofmühle Dresden Museum, along with a small mill store and café. Several other buildings on the site are now occupied by various businesses. Since 2014, large sections of the former Bienertmühle have been converted into loft apartments, with completion scheduled for 2021. Additionally, the Bienert family's villa, which had fallen into disrepair, underwent a comprehensive restoration between 2015 and 2018 and was transformed into a residential condominium complex.
Previous history The existence of a gristmill in the village of Plauen near Dresden has been documented since 1366. On May 17th of this year, a mill at its current location was recorded for the first time in the interest register of the Dresden Kreuzkirche, Dresden.T. Bienert Dampfmühle u. Oelfabrik, Hofmühle Dresden-Plauen, p. 3. It seems that until approximately 1480, this mill was connected to a sawmill with one, later two, and four grinding gears.T. Bienert Dampfmühle u. Oelfabrik, Hofmühle Dresden-Plauen, p. 4. It was purchased by the Dresden cloth makers at this time and converted into a fulling mill. Persistent border disputes between the Dresden clothmakers' guild and the municipality of Plauen occupied the ducal governments on several occasions between 1487 and 1528, so that the mill can be documented throughout history. In 1541, it is referenced in a source as "Raths-Walkmühle, situated on the Mühlgraben above Plauen."Paul Dittrich: Zwischen Hofmühle und Heidenschanze, p. 41 f. On the border disputes with reference to further literature there, especially fn. 65.
Electoral Court mill
1568–1643
In 1568, the Saxon Elector August purchased the fulling mill with the intention of converting it into a flour mill.T. Bienert Dampfmühle u. Oelfabrik, Hofmühle Dresden-Plauen, p. 4: Purchase contract dated December 25, 1568, start of construction of the Electoral Court Mill March 15, 1569, completion September 8, 1571. Exact costs: 8336 guilders, 6 groschen, 11 pfennigs. A new fulling mill of the guild was constructed with the fulling mill weir on the current site of Hofmühlenstraße, located to the south of the junction with Biedermannstraße.See also: Wolfgang Müller, Frank Laborge: Geschichten aus dem alten Dresden: Mit dem Weißeritzmühlgraben durch unsere Stadt. Hille, Dresden 2011, , p. 33. This structure has been documented since this period and was finally removed in the 1970s. In the following year, the Elector had the purchased mill demolished, purchased various additional plots of land, and, at a cost of 8,336 guilders, had a court mill built "in princely splendor," i.e., with 16 grinding gears, by 1571. This was not the only court mill in the country. In 1521, Duke Georg the Bearded constructed a court mill on the Weißeritzmühlgraben, in proximity to the Anne's Church. This mill was known as such until its closure in 1927.Wolfgang Müller, Frank Laborge: Geschichten aus dem alten Dresden: Mit dem Weißeritzmühlgraben durch unsere Stadt. Hille, Dresden 2011, , p. 215–217.
The first miller, Zacharias Zimmermann, is documented for 1570.Paul Dittrich: Zwischen Hofmühle und Heidenschanze, p. 44. In order to ensure the profitability of the mill, a rescript of April 6, 1569 introduced compulsory grinding in this mill for 33 Dresden villages (and 210 mill guests), which was extended to 66 villages in 1661.T. Bienert Dampfmühle u. Oelfabrik, Hofmühle Dresden-Plauen, p. 5. The two mills of the brothers Matthes and Andreas Moyses, which were located near the present Hofmühle, today roughly along Agnes-Smedley-Straße, were demolished and the brothers were compensated with the two official mills in Tharandt in 1573.Paul Dittrich: Zwischen Hofmühle und Heidenschanze, p. 57. The mill race, which still partially existed, provided the mill with a usable gradient of 7.6 metersAnnette Dubbers: Plauen – Aus der Geschichte eines Dresdner Stadtteils, p. 19. with an average water flow of 2.5 cubic meters of water per second.
The electoral coat of arms in the courtyard is a reminder of this old court mill. The relief stone, one of the oldest individual monuments in Dresden, shows the electoral swords with the Saxon rhombus on the left and three lions under a crown on the right. The latter are taken from the Danish imperial coat of arms and refer to Electress Anne, Augustus' wife, who was instrumental in the economic development of Saxony as a promoter of agriculture. Between the coats of arms are two intertwined monograms with the letter A, both of which commemorate the mill's patron.Paul Dittrich: Zwischen Hofmühle und Heidenschanze, p. 42–43, in particular footnote 67. However, since the Bienertmühle was renovated after 2011, they are almost unrecognizable.
The obligation to grind also had advantages for the farmers, because on the one hand the millrace of the court mill almost always had enough water, and on the other hand the miller was obliged to grind the grain brought in and received a fixed price for it (wage milling): Initially, this was one mead for each bushel of flour (16 meads equaled one bushel), and in 1640 it was increased to a quarter for the court mill.See, for example, Old weights and measures in Saxony . Retrieved 8 February 2018: One Metze = 6.488 liters, one Scheffel = 103.821 liters. He was unable to make any additional profit from the continuing hardship in the villages.Jürgen Riess: Der Bienertweg im Plauenschen Grund – Ein Wander- und Naturführer durch eine einmalige Natur- und Industrielandschaft, p. 19.
Since the farmers had to travel long distances, the tenant of the mill was also granted the privilege of serving beer, in return for which he had to deliver a number of pigs to the farm each year. In 1578 a forge was built next to the mill (demolished in 1878). The poor condition of the access roads, especially for the "bourgeois farmers", led to regular complaints and lawsuits. Frequent changes of ownership and flood damage since 1593 are also recorded. For example, in 1617 the " Hofmüller" Peter Junghans donated the baptismal font that still stands in the Church of the Resurrection, and around 1700 the Hofmüller leaseholder Gottlob Gäbler donated the altar (with the exception of the altarpiece, which dates from 1859). The tenant Johann Friedrich Wahl (died 1769) is also known as a patron of the parish.Paul Dittrich: Zwischen Hofmühle und Heidenschanze, p. 44/46.
1643–1852
The Hofmühle was not spared the effects of war. During the Thirty Years' War in 1643, General Piccolomini had disposed of the town of Freiberg, gathered his 16,000 troops around Dresden, and chose the village of Plauen and its surroundings as his headquarters. He lived in the Hofmühle from the end of February to March 10, 1643.Paul Dittrich: Zwischen Hofmühle und Heidenschanze, p. 45. During the Great Northern War, the Swedes approached Dresden in mid-September 1706 and established themselves in Plauen, where the Hofmühle became their headquarters. They confiscated the flour stored there and intended for the citizens of Dresden, requisitioned the grain stored there and had it ground for themselves. The wheels of the mill that were not needed for this purpose were destroyed. Only the armistice, which came into force at the end of September and led to the Treaty of Altranstädt, prevented even greater damage.Paul Dittrich: Zwischen Hofmühle und Heidenschanze, p. 74. In 1809 and 1813 (Battle of Dresden) the then leaseholder suffered from the Napoleonic battles for Dresden.
In spite of the compulsory grinding, the Hofmühle was exposed to increased competition, especially from the Königsmühle, built in 1747, and the Neumühle, built between 1726 and 1728 above the Hofmühle (both also electoral mills, the Neumühle and the Hofmühle with 16 grinding wheels).Paul Dittrich: Zwischen Hofmühle und Heidenschanze, p. 47, 49–50. It was rebuilt in 1776 and received a front length of 92 Ell (about 50 meters)The ell was introduced by law on March 12, 1858. No. 18.: Gesetz, die Einführung eines allgemeinen Landesgewichts und einige Bestimmungen über das Maaß- und Gewichtswesen im Allgemeinen betreffend was set at two feet equal to 0.56638 meters. The royal cubit measured approximately 0.52 meters. See § 5 of the law of March 12, 1858, Law and Ordinance Gazette, 7th edition 1858, p. 49 f.(Digital version (Memento from February 12, 2018 in the Internet Archive)). towards the Weißeritz and two "Gestocke" (floors) throughout. The buildings to the left and right of the millrace were made fireproof with fire gables. In 1818 the Brettschneide was replaced by an oil mill with 16 pairs of rams as an extension of the Bienertmühle to ensure profitability. The drive for the oil mill was branched off inside the courtyard mill, reducing the number of available water wheels from 16 to 14.Jürgen Riess: Der Bienertweg im Plauenschen Grund – Ein Wander- und Naturführer durch eine einmalige Natur- und Industrielandschaft, p. 20.
The abolition or replacement of the compulsory milling between 1840 and 1850 (in this year for the last landowners in Plauen itself) was a profound turning point.Paul Dittrich: Zwischen Hofmühle und Heidenschanze, p. 44, footnote 68. The leaseholder Raetzsch had become so inefficient as a result of this and the finer flours with which the Austrian mills tried to conquer the Saxon market, that he had difficulties to raise at least 3000 thalers per year instead of the required 7000 thalers. For this reason, a new lease was granted in 1851, which Gottlieb Traugott Bienert obtained after separating from other businesses, some of which he had established himself (including the Brettmühle in Radeberg, the lease of the Obermühle (Grundmühle Jessen) in Liebethaler Grund, and a bakery in the Radeberg suburb). On May 1, 1852, he took over the now neglected, partly dilapidated mill, which employed only eight people and only four of the original 16 mill wheels were still in operation.Paul Dittrich: Zwischen Hofmühle und Heidenschanze, p. 150.
Bienertmühle
1852–1900
Bienert's zeal transformed the Hofmühle from the ground up. This was further expanded in 1872 when, after 20 years of "dogged work" (quote from Bienert), he bought the Hofmühle from the Saxon State TreasuryPaul Dittrich: Zwischen Hofmühle und Heidenschanze, p. 151. and finally transformed it from an outdated craft business into a modern (for its time exemplary) industrial enterprise. Bienert undertook several educational trips to France, Belgium, Austria, Hungary and Switzerland to learn about the most advanced technologies of the time and to gain experience with them. In addition to Bienert's courage to take healthy risks, the key to his success was his business principle: "The level of production is determined only by demand, not by the performance of the machinery; the aim is to produce impeccable quality, not cheap mass production.T. Bienert Dampfmühle u. Oelfabrik, Hofmühle Dresden-Plauen, p. 13.