Bone mill Mühlhofe

The Mühlhofe bone mill is idyllically situated in the Ihne valley in the farming community of Mühlhofe, east of the Valbert district. The quarry stone mill was built around 1849 on the site of a Kornmühle that already existed in 1548. Together with the mills in Fretter and Eslohe, it is one of the last remaining bone mills in Westfalen.

The purpose of the mill was to crush animal bones to produce bone meal as a fertilizer for agriculture. The Ihne stream provided the driving force: water was diverted around 250 meters above the mill, dammed in a pond and fed to an overshot water wheel via a mill ditch. This drives a thumb shaft inside, which in turn moves several rammers suspended in a wooden frame. These crushed the bones in a trough-shaped depression.

The bones came from local butchers and abattoirs and were sometimes delivered by horse-drawn cart via Kraghammer station. The first owner was Wilhelm Stamm, who did a brisk trade in bone meal. Until the beginning of the Second World War, the product was used exclusively as fertilizer. From 1939, this use was prohibited by decree; for a short time, the bones were used to make soap and glue.

The mill was shut down in 1944/45 and increasingly fell into disrepair. Extensive restoration work in the 1980s - with the support of the town of Meinerzhagen, the Märkischer Kreis and the monument preservation authorities - restored the facility to working order. The bone mill has been a listed building since 1986 and has been operational again since 1989. The neighboring residential building dates back to 1892.

Visits & information

• Exterior tour: possible at any time

• Interior tour:

  • Every 1st Wednesday of the month (May until the beginning of winter) from 15:00-17:00,

  • on Open Monument Day and German Mill Day,

  • or by individual arrangement with the Meinerzhagen local history association

• Contact: Mr. Pätzold, Tel. 02358 / 1624

• Tourist information: Tel. 02354 / 77-132

Please note: Temporary closures are possible; check current information before visiting.

All information without guarantee.