House and mill à Bellemagny dans le Haut-Rhin

Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Bellemagny Mill, located in the Haut-Rhin in Alsace, is a historical monument representative of the traditional 18th century Alsatian architecture. Built in wooden strips and torchi, it consists of a house and a flour mill, fed by a diversion of the Traubach. The vertical hydraulic wheel, with a diameter of 4.80 meters, is remarkable for its augets (small buckets), a rare feature in the area where the blades dominate. The mechanism, partially preserved, includes a hedgehog (large toothed wheel) and original wood elements, although the millstones, too old, were removed.

The house, dated about 1700, houses a system where the mill tree crossed the north wall to operate the mechanisms in the large hall. A wood panel dependence, built in front of the house around the same time, completes the whole. In 1740, the mill was mentioned in the archives as already operational, with its augets wheel installed against the north gable wall. A barn was added shortly before the Revolution, adjoining the house. The inscription "18 SITRE 73" engraved on the front door remains mysterious, but could evoke a date or name related to its history.

The mill operated until after the First World War, before being restored in 1980. It enjoyed dual heritage protection: the inscription of facades and roofs in 1934, and the classification of the augets wheel and mechanism in 1984. Although not operational today, the site retains technical elements from the mid-twentieth century and has undergone recent changes, such as the replacement of hurdles with windows. An 18th-century well, added as a decoration in the courtyard, bears witness to later developments.

The set illustrates Alsatian craftsmanship, where mills played a central role in the local economy, transforming cereals for rural communities. Its architecture, with a roof with croupes and a drop waterfront, reflects the region's constructive traditions, adapted to local resources (wood, stone) and agricultural needs. Heritage protection underlines its importance as a witness to pre-industrial techniques and rural life in Alsace before mechanization.

Today, the Bellemagny mill, although closed to visit, remains an emblematic example of the Alsatian hydraulic and architectural heritage, marked by its unique augets system and its history linked to the Intendant d'Alsace at the beginning of the eighteenth century, which authorized the installation of mills in the region.

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