Residential sawmill

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In 1682, the farmer from Unterheubachhof Georg Löffler left a farm near the sawmill to his brother-in-law Georg Furtwängler.

He built the current building in the style of a one-roof courtyard as a commercial unit and residential building.  This included a large two-speed mill powered by a 6-speed overshot water wheel  meters in diameter. The water for this was taken from the Wolflochbach, where a weir was built and the water was led to the house above today's street by means of an exposed ditch, then via a wooden channel to the water wheel which was on the west side, today's terrace. The identical water wheel is still part of the Hexenlochmühle and one can imagine the amount of water that was necessary to drive both grinding processes.

For this purpose, a bakery was set up in the house and a bakery operated.

As usual at that time, a small farm was part of it. This consisted of a cowshed, pigsty and chicken coop and thus secured enough food for the residents

The commercially used units were all on the ground floor, the living quarters were unusual for a Black Forest courtyard on the upper floor. Above the threshing floor where the fodder for the cattle was stored.

The house remained in the family until 1895, when it was sold and later auctioned in 1906. This to Max Fehrenbach, Kohlplatzbauer and in 1930 handed over to his son Karl, who died in Russian captivity. In 1958 the widow passed the house on to her only daughter. In 1962, they sold the building and land to Consul General Paul Nellen from Düsseldorf. The house was remodeled by him for residential purposes. Later in 1987, after his death, his son Peter Nellen became the owner and rebuilt the house again. In 2001  Purchased by Gerold Schwär

The house is a listed building, was renovated by us in the last 20 years on the inside and fitted with casement windows in the living areas in accordance with the requirements of monument protection. In this way we were able to retain the beautiful appearance of the facade with small lattice windows, but also take into account the requirements for energy-related renovation.

As when it was built in 1682, the house is still used in a variety of ways today. There is a residential unit, a holiday apartment and office space.

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mill operation

In the early years of the 20th century, the mill was still very busy. Two milling processes with the associated cleaning and screening machines were driven by a six meter high water wheel. There was a large shed above the stream, which served as a horse stable. In 1924 it was demolished and used to build the power station. The water from the sawmill was also needed for this power plant. In the sawmill there was only one electrically operated grinder left.

At the sawmill, the brook flowing down from Neukirch and Schweizersgrund flows into the Hexenloch  flowing Heubach. The Heubach, on the other hand, has absorbed the Wolflochbach a few hundred meters further up. Where the path to the two Heubachhofs and the Wolfloch forks, there was also a saw that belonged to the Heubachhof. At that time, one of the two reservoirs for the power station in the Hexenloch was built on the Heubach.

A dam was built opposite the mill in the direction of Neukirch, but today only parts of the foundation are preserved. The dam wall at that time was 6 meters high and an elongated reservoir formed in the direction of Neukirch

Last fragments of the pipe are still visible, parts of the former pipe path are still accessible      

The E-Werk was built between 1924 and 1926 in the upper witch hole by Messrs. Burgbacher and Lütten from Triberg. It supplied the communities of Neukirch, Waldau and Hinterstraß(Glashütte) with electricity. From the sawmill, the water was led out about a kilometer and a half in tin pipes on the right side of the witch hole. These pipes were pulled up the slope by Max Braun and his father with a hand winch and then transported along the trench to the construction site with a wooden one-wheel cart. It was tedious and difficult work. They also set up the light poles in Neukirch and Waldau up to Glashütte with two more men.

On Christmas 1925 there was no snow, so the line to the Fernhof could be completed and on Christmas Eve electric lights were on at the Fernhof for the first time.

In 1933, the second grinding course was switched to electricity and the large water wheel was dismantled

The  The turbine house at that time is about 1.5 km below the sawmill at the junction up to the Wagnerstal. Today it serves as a residence