Neumühle

The area around Georgstraße, stretching as far as what is now Brühl, has been part of Chemnitz since the early 15th century. Although for centuries it was used primarily as pasture land for cows and pigs, parts of it are nevertheless closely linked to Chemnitz’s development as an industrial city. In 1357, Margrave Frederick III of Meissen granted a charter authorising the establishment of the state bleaching grounds on the banks of the River Chemnitz; in 1451, Elector Frederick II expanded this into the Chemnitz Bleaching Ordinance, which prohibited the export of unbleached textiles. Chemnitz thus assumed a central role in the system of textile production and trade. Bleaching works and dye works were established along the city’s watercourses (see the Haase Dye Works). Numerous fulling mills also sprang up outside the city walls during this period – here, textile fibres were felted into fabrics under running water by means of hammer blows, producing what were known as fulled fabrics. Between 1546 and 1552, the ‘Neumühle’ was built. It channelled the driving water from the River Chemnitz via a weir into the ‘Neumühlgraben’. The old weir was replaced in 1928 by a roller weir, which can still be seen today, although it is largely out of operation.

Very few details are known about the history of the Neumühle: for example, in the 1640s and 50s, the famous composer and Dresden Kapellmeister Heinrich Schütz and his son-in-law Christoph Pincker (later mayor of Leipzig) negotiated with the city of Chemnitz over ownership of the Neumühle. As the city was in economic ruin following the Thirty Years’ War, it was unable to raise the purchase price and interest on the mill, so Pincker eventually sold it to a Chemnitz lawyer in 1670. The lawyer was obliged to offer the mill to the city council for repurchase every year – an offer the city was finally able to afford in 1675.

In the 19th century, the Wilhelm Michaelis weaving mill was established on the mill site – another link to the textile industry. Following the Franco-Prussian War, not only were numerous companies in Chemnitz expanded or converted into public limited companies, but many new ones were also founded, including 34 engineering firms, three iron foundries and two metal foundries, 18 hosiery and glove manufacturers, and 13 weaving mills. As part of this ‘start-up boom’, the building now standing on the former Neumühlen site was erected in 1873–74. Its structure is well-proportioned and subtly articulated by pilaster strips and cornices; the building is crowned by a striking roof cornice and an attic section. In addition to the building itself, the posts of the former entrance gate are also listed as historic monuments, as it is a rare example of this phase of industrialisation in Chemnitz.

After standing empty for a long time in the 1990s, the building had already been earmarked for demolition. It was thanks to a private initiative that an investor was found, thereby ensuring its preservation. Between 2012 and 2014, the former weaving mill was converted into a residential building.