Dzirnavu (Mill) Pond and Watermill of the Manor

Dzirnavu (Mill) Pond and watermill of the Manor in early 20th cent.

Dzirnavu (Mill) Pond and watermill of the Manor in 2014

The mill was first mentioned in this place in 1569, when Magnus, Bishop of Saaremaa - Wiek and Courland, granted Gerhard Nolde the right to build a mill on the river Tebra near Aizpute. 10 years later, the same bishop Magnus granted the owner of the manor Nolde fishing rights in Aizpute Mill Lake. In the meantime - in 1574, the feudal law book of the Duke of Courland Gotthard was made about the transfer of rights of Aizpute Castle and Manor to G. Nolde.

On February 21, 1752, after a thorough consideration of the case of the mill to be built on the Tebra River, the owner of Aizpute Castle Manor and Remes Manor, the noble-born Johann Heinrich Keyserlingk, and the Aizpute Town Council of the honorable officials have agreed and irrevocably concluded such an agreement:

1. The town completely cedes the shore of the old mill dam to the noble von Keyserlingk, his heirs, all the owners of the Castle Manor and finally and unanimously allows the construction of the mill, but does not take any responsibility for any damage.
2. For this voluntary cession on the shores of the town, Mr. von Keyserlingk undertakes to pay 600 Guilders directly to the town by the day of John the Baptist (Midsummer) in 1752, and in addition to give 50 axes of fallen trees from the Remes forest without any compensation.
3. Every town citizen is allowed to fish freely in the mill pond for their own needs with simple nets.
4. The amount of damage that would be caused to the individuals whose gardens and meadows are on the banks of the Tebra is compensated by Keyserlingk.
5. Keyserlingk undertakes, on behalf of himself, his heirs and all the owners of the Castle Manor, to maintain the old road over the river, which is now a strategic road, thus relieving the town of the burden of maintaining this road in order. Keyserlingk must maintain this path forever alone and, when necessary, repair it.

      ......
      8. The town reserves a free and convenient waterway to the mill pond.

The 11-clause agreement has been signed by: Andreas Krehmer, Mayor of Aizpute, Christian Kirschnick, the Court Bailiff, Johann Hensel and Johann Christoph Baumgärtel, Councilor, and Daniel Kuthsz, a Town Alderman. It is also signed by Johann Heinrich Keyserlingk. Herrmann Ulrich Gess, Heinrich Christian von den Brincken, Karl Wilhelm Dorthesen and Christian von den Brincken have signed as witnesses.

On the same day, February 21, 1752, the document was secured and confirmed with the seal of the Piltene District Land Court.

Thus, we can conclude that the construction of the mill shown in the postcard began in 1752.

It should be noted that although the townspeople call Dzirnavu (Mill) Pond only the Tebra part from the Stone Bridge to the Mill Dam, in fact the Mill Pond was a section of the Tebra from the Kurshinsky Bridge to the mill dam after the 1920 Agrarian Reform and it had three parts with separate cadastral numbers. The first from the Kurshinsky Bridge to the Žīdu (Jewish) Bridge, the second from the Jewish Bridge to the Akmens (Stone) Bridge, and the third from the Stone Bridge to the Mill Dam.

After the Agrarian Reform, the mill was transferred to the ownership of the Aizpute District Cooperative founded in 1920. On June 28, 1924, the Aizpute District State Land Inspectorate informed the Town Council that “the district cooperative has leased fishing rights in the entire mill pond, which arises through the flooding of the Tebra River. The mill pond stretches to the Kurshinsky Bridge”.

At the end of the 1930s, the mill became the property of the Aizpute Consumer Association.

An idea of the operation of the mill as it was before the occupation of 1940 is given by a quote from the letter of the Chairman of the Board and Head of the Aizpute Consumer Association dated January 27, 1939 to Latvijas Kredītbanka (Credit Bank):

„Aizpute Consumer Association in Aizpute owns a water and motor mill with 3 coarse grinders, a stone and roller knife, preparation of cereals and pearl-barley, etc. The mill equipment is relatively new and modern, built in 1926. At the beginning of last year, we further modernized it by installing a new modern planer «Br. Bieler» from Switzerland with 4X12 silk separators, a new cleaning machine and various other additions and innovations, which cost a total of 12,000 Lats. In total, about 100,000 Lats has been invested in the mill equipment.”

4 millers worked in the mill.

After the Agrarian Reform there was a dairy and a cream dairy in Aizpute District to the right of the locks of the Dzirnavu Pond, in the two-storey stone building on № 10 Liepājas Street. The building was bought from the cooperative in 1934 by the union of Liepāja and surrounding dairy associations and set up its own cream making room there.

The small log house on the right side of the postcard was a sauna owned by millers of the Manor. The last were Christopher Neumann and his son Ernst Neumann, who inherited it from his father in 1904.

In the building to the right of the steam bath, after the Agrarian Reform, there was a cooperative of Aizpute District, in later years the grain dryer of Aizpute Consumer Association.

On December 9, 1931, the Town Council allowed the sports section of the Aizpute Latvian Society to install a skating rink on the pond, for which a 5% entertainment tax had to be paid to the Town Treasury.

Today, the former mill is privately owned. There is a small power plant in the building. № 10 Liepājas Street is a municipal residential house.

View of the beginning of the 20th century from
the New Castle over Dzirnavu Pond to the
adjacent manor buildings and the beginning of Liepājas Street

View from the New Castle over the Dzirnavu Pond
to the adjacent manor buildings and the
initial construction of Liepājas Street in 2016

Early 20th century view from the brewery to
the Mill pond with the surrounding manor houses

On the left side you can see a watermill, on the right side a small log house - a steam bath. The buildings of Liepājas Street are shown further down.

View from the Brewery to the Mill Pond with
the surrounding manor houses in 2016

View from the side of the manor house to
the building on the right side of the beginning
section of Church Hill and Liepājas Street around 1900

View from the manor house to Church Hill
and the building on the right side of
the initial section of Liepājas Street in 2016

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