Nederland - Wijlre, Molen van Otten

The Molen van Otten (Mill of Otten) is located on a branch of the river Geul in the village of Wijlre. It is one of the few water mills in the Netherlands with a double water wheel.

The history of the mill dates back to 1275, when it was built as a banmolen (mill soke) of the heerlijkheid (a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and judicial unit in rural areas in the Dutch-speaking Low Countries before 1800) Wijlre. The first written mention, however, is from a clergy in the year 1420. A bill for the restoration of the mill by the then Lord of Wijlre, “Gerard Scheiffart van Merode”, indicates the year 1485.

Traditionally this watermill was a flour and oil mill. The current mill building and the accompanying house date from 1776, as the wall anchors indicate. In that year, the existing buildings were completely rebuilt and a farm and a brewery were added. At that time, the owners of the complex were the Lords of Wijlre. They leased the house with mill, farm and brewery. When the Ancien Regime was abolished at the end of the 18th century, Kasteel Wijlre , the mill, the farm and the brewery came into the hands of “Guillaume Eugene de Massen”. In 1871, the brewery was sold separately to the brewer “Frederik Edmond Brand”; this was the beginning of Brand's brewery, which grew into one of the best-known breweries in Limburg.

In the thirties of the 20th century the miller’s house was badly damaged by extremely high water of the river Geul. The mill fell into disrepair and restoration started after the mill was bought by the Otten family. Since then the mill has been called Molen van Otten. Since 1981 the mill is also used for small scale electricity production.

Nowadays some holiday apartments have been created in the buildings. The Molen van Otten is a National Heritage Site.