The Ottersbach Mill in Wittmannsdorf is approximately 400 years old. Visitors can learn about the mill’s history and try their hand at milling. Nearby are another watermill where milling is still carried on, a route through meadows and fields, and traditional craft techniques. This offers a range of ways to explore the area: mill history, work carried on today, countryside and crafts.
Mills Between Past and Present
Sepp’s Berglermühle is a 100-year-old watermill where miller Luis still grinds flour. About 100 years ago, the museum operator and a few neighbours built the mill so they could grind their own flour. Its original purpose—grinding flour for their own use—sits alongside the work still carried on by miller Luis. The miller’s room houses a small farming museum, where you can see tools used by earlier generations.
The two mills offer quite different perspectives for anyone interested in mills: at approximately 400 years old, the Ottersbach Mill is the older of the two, and offers the chance to learn about its history and try your hand at milling. At Sepp’s Berglermühle, the focus is on its origins as a mill for personal use, the milling that still takes place, and the tools in the farming museum. The mills therefore offer different historical and practical perspectives.
The Wine & Mill Trail Through the Countryside
The Wine & Mill Trail follows the Ottersbach through meadows and fields before reaching the Ottersbach Mill in Wittmannsdorf. This offers a different focus from a visit to a single mill: the trail follows a route through the countryside and ends at a clearly identified mill. If you would like to combine countryside with mill history, you can use this connection as a guide.
Traditional Techniques and Rural Life
The museum in the old Rossstall demonstrates three traditional activities: stripping husks from corn, tying brooms from birch twigs, and weaving baskets from willow or straw. Corn husking is presented alongside work with birch twigs, willow or straw, highlighting the difference between agricultural activities and crafts. If you plan to include these particular demonstrations in your trip, check the dates in advance.
The museum in the old Rossstall also displays more than 1,000 restored exhibits from rural and craft life, including tools for working the fields and harvesting equipment. The three demonstrations are part of a wide-ranging collection: while the demonstrations showcase specific traditional techniques, the exhibits offer a broader view of rural and craft work.
Chapel and Mill Gifts
The Chapel of the Assumption of Mary in Wittmannsdorf is a mass chapel, offering a different point of interest from mills and crafts. At the Ottersbach Mill, EigenArt offers a wide variety of gifts. This adds a religious point of interest and an additional visitor offering to the historical and practical mill-related attractions.
Discover more destinations: Oberrakitsch, Municipality of Murfeld, MĂĽhldorf bei Feldbach, Wetzelsdorf, Deutsch Haseldorf, Gruisla, Tieschen, Burgfeld.
For the overview of the wider region: Southeast Styria.
