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History of the Kernmühle

 The Origin of the Kern Family

By Wallace A. Kern

Introduction

 

The Kern Family that settled in the Frankenmuth, Michigan area in the middle 1800s traces their ancestry back to the Kernmühle, Germany.  In between those two locations the Kern family lived in Roßtal, Germany for about 110 years.  The original article was compiled by Jim Kern with much of the material supplied by Heinz Horneber in the middle 1990s.  The Horneber family is the current owner of the Kernmühle.  An article was then published in the Frankenmuth News on August 14, 1996 describing the history of the Kernmühle.

 

Since 1996 additional research has been done on the Kernmühle and other materials have been published.  In addition, I made a personal visit to the Kernmühle in the fall of 2008 that allowed me to take pictures of the Kernmühle.  This article contains the original history with the results of additional research and corrections.  It is expected that this article will be modified as more information is found about the Kernmühle.

The Beginning of the Kernmühle

The first evidence of the Kernmühle is seen in 1413 as belonging to the count (burgarve) of Roßtal and is called the “Kernmīl”.  The Salbuch in 1414 of the administration of Cadolzburg shows a Gyzszubelmule … at the Bybert. (The Salbuch is a book which lists the ownership rights of the lord of the manor and duties of his subjects.)  Around 1430 records show that the Gizubelmul belonged to the Roßtal Parish (Church). In the Year 1464 the Salbuch of the administration of Cadolzburg shows an entry as “Fricz (Fritz) Mulnerm (Also Mulnerin) owns the Gißübelsmul, which is now called the Kernmül.”  Also, the Salbuch shows that he had fishing rights on the Bibert River and had to pay taxes for the right.

It appears that for about the first 100 years the Kernmühle went by two informal descriptive names with variations of Kernmühle and Gießübelmühle. Translated they mean respectively, “Grain mill” and “Mill by the bad (evil) torrents of water”. The mill is located on the Bibert River which has a rapid drop in elevation which allowed the building of a dam to power the mill. It is speculated that there may have been rapids or a series of water falls where the dam now is. For more information on the Kernmühle and the origin of the Kern family name click here.

The Kerns at the Kernmühle, 1532 - 1748

The Salbuch in 1532 shows that a George Weyler was the miller at the Kernmühle and a Georg Kern was the owner.  The Kernmühle (Kern mill) was a grain mill located about two and a half kilometers north from Roßtal, Germany.

The Kernmühle is a small settlement which houses several families and sits next to the Bibert River.  The feature of the site is a dam that was used to power a mill for grinding grain.   I have been there to see the river and dam.  The dam appears to have a large drop of perhaps twenty feet or more.  A canal channels the water south of the Bibert River and along (east) the river to where a water wheel or turbine could be run.  The construction of the dam and canal do not appear to be of a trivial nature.  It would appear that professional help (whatever that was those days) would be required for the construction.  The canal is at least 500 feet long and deep (can’t see the bottom).

 

Click for Larger View

The picture at the right shows the dam at the Kernmühle and the pond created by the dam.  The Bibert River comes from the left rear of the photo.  The canal channels the water toward the bottom of the picture which goes on to the electric generator.

 

An excerpt from the Roßtal Heimatbuch3 discussing the history of the Kernmühle is provided.

 

Alfred Steinheimer did a very good job of writing about the mills and life on a mill in the Roßtal area and more particular about the mill at Buchschwabach3.  I invite you to read a translation of select sections from the Roßtaler Heimatblat4 that Steinheimer wrote.  He mentions the Kernmühle as being one of the early mills in the area.

  

Hans Kern and the 30 Year War - 1594 Roßtal baptismal records note “Hans Kern miller in the Kernmühle” indicating that the mill was still in the hands of a Kern.  His name appears again in 1616 as the owner of the Kernmühle.

 

In the year 1632 battles of the Thirty Year War were fought in the Kernmühle/Roßtal area.  According to the Roßtal church register more than 600 inhabitants lost their lives in that year.  During the Thirty Year War (a religious war between Catholics and Protestants) soldiers from as far away as Croatia in Yugoslavia (who were Catholics) were pillaging this area. The Kerns did not escape the carnage.  Records indicate that on May 11, 1635 Hans Kern was shot to death by one of the cavalry raiders3.  Hans was the owner of the Kernmühle at the time.  He died the next day and was buried the following day. According to the records in Cadolzburg, Hans Kern had sworn allegiance to the military governor of the area and this may have caused his ultimately death. The rest of his family survived the 30 Year War.

 

Entrance to former mill building remains after fire in 1916.

Post 30 Year War – The Kern widow managed the mill until 1674 when she married Wofgang Scherzer.  After the death of Wolfgang in 1678 the mill was held by the government until 1681 when it was returned to George Kern, son of Hans.  It was unclear why it took so long to have the Kernmühle returned to the Kern family.  Even today the lintel above the doorway to the mill reads “16 W S 76”.  It is assumed that Scherzer (married to Hans Kern's widow) rebuilt the mill at that time.

 

In 1695 an entry in the Cadolzburg records show that George Kern owned a newly-built mill with barn and house and 17 1/2 acres of land, two acres of woods, and a fish pond formed by a dam on the Bibert.  This dam and water wheel also provided the power for the grinding of grain.  In early 1700 Johann Wilhelm Kern was the owner and in 1741 his son, Johann Kern, owned the Kernmühle as recorded on a tax record.  The lintel above a doorway to a house different from the above paragraph reads “17 H K 05” that stands for Hans (Johann Wilhelm) Kern.

 

Other Kernmühle Owners, 1748 - 1906

 

In 1748 Conrad Ebner purchased the Kernmühle from the Kern family.  In 1753 Christoph Eckert purchased the Kernmühle as recorded in the Ansbach Partikular.  In 1789 Johann Adam Eckert took ownership and during that year an addition was added to the house.  The numbers 1789 still are engraved on the lintel above the kitchen door.

 

Around the year 1800 the three mills of Neuses, Kernmühle and Weinzierlein was owned by families named Eckert, and it is believed they were brothers.  According to the registry of 1850, Johann Adam Eckert died in 1831.  His son, George F. Eckert, took over the Kernmühle.  As described in the Heimatsbuch4 the Kernmühle in 1846 also served as a distillery for whiskey.  In 1853 Adam Redenbacher purchased the mill. 

 

The two above paragraphs have a discrepancy.  In September 2008 I was at the Kernmühle and took photographs of three door lintels.  Two of them matched exactly according to the report of Jim Kern.  However, the third one was not an exact match.  I do not know the reason for the mismatch.

 

The Hornebers at the Kernmühle, 1906 to Present

 

Click for Larger View

The Early Years - In 1906 the son of Adam Redenbacher sold the mill to Leonhardt Horneber from Dietenhofen.  At this time the Hornebers purchased additional acreage to expand the original acreage of the Kernmühle. After World War I (in 1919) Johann Horneber, son of Leonhardt, took over the mill.  Johann was the Burgemeister (mayor) of the local community which included Roßtal. Johann was the father of Heinz Horneber.  The picture at the right shows the Kernmühle in the early years of the Horneber ownership.

 

The wife of Heinz Horneber, Johanna, was a maid at the Kernmühle for three years before they were married in 1948.  A book has  been written about her life at the Kernmühle.  It’s called “Kummer und Glück: Johannas Leben auf der Kernmühle5“.  Translated it means „Sorrow and Joy:  Johanna’s Life at the Kernmühle“.  It has a World War II background of dealing with the times, war, religion, and family

 

Heinz and his wife, Johanna, converted the original mill into apartments and installed a hydroelectric-generating plant on the Bibert that supplies electricity to the Kernmühle complex and feeds excess power into a public electric grid.  It is not known when the flour mill ceased operation.  They converted the land surrounding the mill into a "Bioland Hof."  No chemicals are used in growing the grain that feeds their chicken and hog growing business.  The location is still called the Kernmühle.

 

Martin Horneber and wife, Jutta, now run the Kernmühle.  Martin is the youngest son of Heinz and Johanna.  As a “biohof” they operate in three general areas.  The first is that they are organic famers and produce organic food for the market.  The second is that they have educational programs in healthy cooking/eating.  They also have seminars on fitness and heath choices.  Third, they practice environmentally friendly living.

  

References

 

  1. The Salbuch is a book with lists of ownership rights of the lord of the manor and duties of his subjects.  It also includes a record of taxes owed and paid by the subjects.

 

  1. Wolfgang Wiessner. Historisches Ortsnamenbuch von Bayern, Stadt- und Landkreis Fürth, München 1963.

 

  1. Robn, Adolf. Heimatbuch von Rostal und Umgebung, Nürnberg:  F. Bollmann, 1928.

 

 

  1. Steinheimer, Alfred. Roßtaler Heimatblätter, Heft #37,  Die Buchschwabacher Mühle– Geschichte und Geschichten. <http://www.rosstal.de/vereine/heimatverein/heimatblaetter/heft37.htm>, 2000.

 

  1. von Seltmann, Lothar. Kummer und Glück – Johannas Leben auf der Kernmuhle. Basel: Brunnen, 2007.

 

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 Last Updated: March 1, 2010