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The Bardowick Mill
'Back to the origin', was the title in the newspaper for the Lüneburger Heide, in a report about the launch of grinding stones at the Bardowick windmill from 1813. It may seem antiquated, to set up a tool in the mill for commercial use in the high-tech-age, whose origin go back to antique times and its importance has been impressively phrased in the Old Testament (5th book of Moses, chap 24, verse 6). Ever since the Roman engineer Vitruvius Pollio, for the first time, described and portrayed, around 20 BC, the operating principal of grinding stones, powered by a water-wheel, this device underwent probably detail improvements, but no important technical changes of the functional elements and its mode of action.
Until 1875 the grinding stone was the main implement of a flour mill and was then replaced by a roller mill. - Mind you the Bardowicker windmill is a commercially operated mill. It's milling products secured an important part of the income. It can't be money that motivates a young miller master to establish such an archaic working implement in his mill today. On Saturday the 1.11.03 the reasons became clear. In front of a small circle of known mill enthusiasts the new grinding stone was started. - Mill owner Eckhard Meyer emphasised in his welcome address that flour production can be done differently these days but for him it's important to use traditional grinding stone technique by using wind power to keep his mill alive. Since 1998 a wind powered grinding stone has been producing animal groats and now a new grinding stone is to be set up for rye and wheat and later also for spelt and buckwheat to produce coarse wholemeal. He is certain to be able to marked food products, which have been produced with natural power. - For the chairman of the Mühlenförderverein Lüneburg e.V., mill master Andreas Engel it is especially important that with this implement the historical milling technique in commercial milling will be conserved and coming generations will still be able to see a mill in action. The Windmühlenverein Bardowick e.V. supported this measure financially according to its association articles and also ideally. The chairman Dr. Michael Epkenhans emphasised that an important step has been done to bring the Bardowicker windmill back to its roots. - After an one-hour successful trial run the grinding stone was cut off from the wind power to finish the last bits of work. A welcome chance for the guests to leaf through the new book of the present author Uwe Karstens for the first time and have good talks among mill aficionados.