The mill farm

In September 1867, Jørgen Jacobsen's son, also Jørgen Jacobsen, put the mill farm up for sale with an advertisement in Dybbøl Posten.

At that time, the property consisted of 2 mills: a thatched Dutch windmill with five runs of stones, i.e. 5, different types of millstones for five different types of flour, including French stones, and an associated sifting plant; an old but strong and spacious watermill, which however only had enough water during the winter half-year; approximately 8 Danish tønder of land (5.6 hectares) with grazing rights for a cow on a common pasture in Lysabild. The buildings included: a well-maintained, solid brick residential house of 13 bays and a barn with stables of 19 bays. Furthermore, the mill was located close to a loading area and steamship dockingstation, today called Taskland. The advertisement also stated that takeover could only take place just before the milling season was due to start for the winter or when it was to be shut down for the summer, with takeover dates of either 1st of October 1867 or 1st of April 1868.

This is the first time we've had an overview of Vibæk Mill.

This also gives us insight that it wasn’t enough to be a miller on your own. A miller's journeyman was needed to help with operations and live close to the mill. Likewise, a housekeeper or, as was more often the case at Vibæk, a wife was a necessity for running the miller's farm with all that it entailed in terms of planning larders, orchards, cooking, and preparations for the different seasons when the mill's income fluctuated. A maid or a young girl in the house was also necessary to assist the miller's wife with her running of the farm.

The mill worker shared the barn building with the stable animals. From his chamber, he could see directly up to the mill, so even when it was mealtime, he could react to changing wind directions. The window from his chamber towards the mill has been recreated in the reconstruction. In the stable next to his chamber, there were typically one or two cows and some horses. It was not a life of luxury; the work was physically demanding with heavy sacks of flour, manually turning the mill in the right wind direction, and loading and unloading the farmers' grain and flour after it had been ground in the mill. The flour dust was harmful to health, but despite that, milling continued at Vibæk until 1938.