in Watern

 

If Otto the Great's 966 charter has been interpreted correctly, this mill was included in a property exchange between Count Immo and Aachen's Marienstift collegiate. Much of its pre-1769 history remains unclear. A beam inside the mill building bears the inscription

G.F.B + M.C.D.
Godefried Bocken + Maria Catharina Donne

The mill has been called the Bocken Mill ever since. The mill was operated by this family for only a short while.

However, the son, Christian Heinrich Bocken, took over the running of the mill again in 1811. But, along with 1,200,000 other men, he was forced to join Napoleon's 1813 campaign against Russia. On his return, he married Anna Franziska Wirtz.

The wayside cross on Klompenberg street is a reminder of this period. It was erected by the Bocken-Wirtz couple to commemorate the husband’s safe return from the war and bears the inscription

C.H.B. + A.F.W.
1829
Christian Heinrich Bocken + Anna Franziska Wirtz

The Bocken Mill, which had two sets of millstones and an oil press, stopped operating in the early 1960s.

Opening times: The mill can be visited from outside. Visits by appointment only.

Adress: Zur Bockmühle 3, 41844 Wegberg-Watern