Riesenmühle Apelern A watermill from 1569 in the woods
The Riesenmühle: rubble-stone wall of the mill house beside the weir where the water falls, steps and ferns in front

The Riesenmühle in Apelern

We are Theresia and Bernard, and since 2018 we have lived at the Riesenmühle, a watermill in Apelern, Lower Saxony. The present building dates from 1569, and the mill is on record since at least 1374. Here we share a little of its history, its surroundings and the projects we work on.

On the Riesbach, in the middle of the woods

The mill stands on its own in the woods between the Deister, Süntel and Bückeberg hills. The Riesbach stream drains about 23 square kilometres; some 500 metres above the mill, part of its water is diverted into a mill race. At the mill it drops five metres, over the weir as a waterfall and through the turbine.

The mill yard when Veit Richter bought it: mill house and dilapidated timber-framed barn

History

From the first record in 1374 and the building of the present house in 1569 to the present day: a timeline with old photos and documents.

Theresia and Bernard with their child at the mossy foot of the Mühlenbuche

The beech tree

Near the weir stands a beech with a girth of about 7 metres, one of the thickest beech trees in Germany.

Concrete block housing the turbine at the mill wall, the waterfall beside it

Water power

The stream, the mill race and a Francis turbine from 1947 that still makes electricity for the house.

Living room of the holiday flat with library, wicker chairs and a large window onto the trees

Stay at the Riesenmühle

In the mill yard we let a holiday home for up to six guests, with a library, a garden and the sound of the waterfall outside. Description, photos, availability and booking are on its own website.

Visit the holiday home

News

Our station in the mill race will be back online soon. The measurements page already shows archived water and weather data from the mill and a map of the Riesbach catchment with all river gauges in Germany.