The mill Otten

Mill Otten is located on the Geul in the town of Wijlre, municipality Gulpen. It is one of the few mills in the Netherlands with a double waterwheel.



The history of the mill dates back to 1275, when built as a village mill of the glory Wijlre. The first written mention, however, of a clergy in 1420. A bill to restore the mill by the then Lord of Wijlre, Scheiffart Gerard van Merode, mentions the year 1485. Traditionally, this water mill and a corn mill. The current mill building and of the house date back to 1776 as shown by the wall anchors. In that year, the existing buildings were completely rebuilt and there was also a farm and a brewery or "Panhuis" added. Owners of the property at that time were the lords of the free imperial glory Wijlre. The house with mill, farm and brewery were leased by them. At the abolition of the Ancien Régime late eighteenth century, came Wijlre castle, the mill, the farm and the brewery owned by Guillaume Eugene Massen. In 1871 the brewery was sold separately to the brewer Frederick Edmond Fire; this was the beginning of the Brand's brewery became one of the most famous breweries in Limburg.