Lindelse Mill - A Future Meeting Place
Lindelse Mill is privately owned by a family but is organized in Lindelse Mill Guild, and they have a great idea. They want to create a new volunteer-run meeting place at Lindelse Mill – also known as Phoenix Mill due to its rapid reconstruction after the fire in 1826. The focal point of the project is the old stable ruin next to the mill. The ruin will be transformed into an open meeting place with a focus on culture, heritage, and the unique location of Phoenix Mill. It will be a place that locals can be proud of and gather around, and it will also attract visitors to the island. The meeting place will emerge from the ruins, the heritage, and the stories of the site and will bring together both locals and guests. The project is supported by Realdania and the New Carlsberg Foundation with DKK 4.8 million.
Visit Lindelse Mill
Visitors are welcome to use the picnic benches and enjoy the sunrise, lunch, or sunset with the fantastic view of the Langeland landscape and Lindelse Nor.
In the lower part of the mill, you will find the mill floor, and in the upper mill, you will find the grinding floor, star wheel floor, lorris floor, and hat floor. Much of the original equipment, including grinders, sieves, rollers, and gears, has been preserved. From the deck of the mill, there is a view of both the east and west coasts of Langeland.
Visitors are welcome to enter the mill by making an appointment via SMS at +45 30510137.
The History of Lindelse Mill
Source: "Møller og møllefolk på Langeland" by Ole Mortensøn and Hans Larsen. Langelands Museum.
Mill Operations since the 17th Century
It is uncertain exactly when the first post mill was built in Lindelse, but since the 17th century, there has been a mill at the site. In 1809, the post mill was replaced by a Dutch windmill, as stated in the deed.
Phoenix Mill Rose from the Ashes
In 1827, the mill burned down but was quickly rebuilt in a new and more splendid form. Perhaps because the new mill was completed already the following year, it was popularly named Phoenix Mill – risen from the ashes.
The newly built mill was shingle-roofed and painted with oil paint, the window sills covered with lead plates, and the end of the lying axle in the hat was clad with copper and genuinely gilded. The 36 ell (25.5 meters) long wind blades had sails of Russian canvas, and the five grinders were clad with oak planks. In 1830, the mill was valued at 2000 rix-dollars higher than the corresponding Snøde Mill.
Scene of Dramatic Events
In Langelands Avis from January 2, 1863, one can read: "On New Year's Eve, a very unpleasant event occurred at Lindelse Mill. A conditional German baker's apprentice had, with a knife, stabbed a young man from Lindelse village in the left side, not far from the heart, so he is currently very ill, though there is no fear for his life."
The baker's apprentice had allegedly lost a card game for some shillings and subsequently got into a fight with the young man when the apprentice refused to pay his debt.
Was Miller Hansen a Murderer?
In 1842, there was also great drama at the mill when, on October 1, the body of the pauper woman Gjertrud Pedersdatter was found lying dead in a peat pit near Lindelse Mill. She had been killed by a shot through the head. Much pointed to miller H. J. H. Hansen as the culprit. Rumor had it that the miller had been involved with the woman, and when she told him she was pregnant, he wanted to assign another to take responsibility for the child. The miller denied everything but was sentenced by the Langeland district court to life at hard labor. He could not be sentenced to death as long as he did not confess. The county governor, chamberlain Sporon in Svendborg, believed, however, that a man with such an honorable character as the miller, who was married to an honorable wife with whom he had five living children, should be spared such a harsh punishment. The miller owned a fortune of 5-6000 rix-dollars and was described by the parishioners as an upright man. With these "important" new arguments, the county governor appealed to the higher court in Copenhagen, which appreciated the miller's significance, and the miller was acquitted due to "lack of conclusive evidence."
An autopsy of the murdered woman confirmed that she was not pregnant.
UNESCO Global Geopark The South Funen Archipelago
Lindelse Mill Guild is a Geopark partner. The Geopark's partners are special businesses that focus on sustainability in relation to their food, nature experiences, accommodations, and more.
You can read more about UNESCO Global Geopark at geoparkoehavet.com
