It's been 20 years since Arthur and Heidi discovered the dilapidated beer mill in the Eifel, fell in love with the property and purchased it. With an incredible amount of personal effort and the support of their children and friends, they have renovated the dilapidated house and transformed it into an idyllic and enchanted country estate, through which a breath of the Middle Ages still wafts.
The beer mill in the Eifel is one of the oldest houses in the Bitburg-Prüm district. When Heidi and Arthur discovered the property and bought it in 2003, it had stood empty for almost 60 years. The roof and ceilings had collapsed. Nevertheless, they dared the adventure of rebuilding, the property had simply cast its spell on them. In addition, the mill includes a 15,000-square-meter stream property and water rights. That finally convinced Arthur - because at that time he already had the plan to generate heat with geothermal energy and a groundwater heat pump and thus save energy.
Starting in 2004, the two spent every spare minute rebuilding and renovating the mill. A feat of strength, because Arthur was still working as an engineer for a large corporation at the beginning. Arthur is particularly proud of the energy efficiency and economy of the beer mill - it is rated A+ thanks to the heat pump, insulation and underfloor heating. In addition, he has installed a photovoltaic system on an outbuilding - this would not have been possible on the roof of the listed mill. Renovations were done exclusively with environmentally friendly building materials such as reed mats and clay plaster. The purchase and renovation also pushed the couple to their limits financially. They do not want to comment on the exact costs.
Arthur and Heidi rebuilt the half-timbering and the roof trusses exclusively with old original beams from the Eifel. Arthur and Heidi did almost all the work with their now grown-up children and a troop of friends - camping in a teepee in the garden and grilling whole wild boars on a campfire.
She had to carry out all the work in consultation with the Office for the Protection of Historical Monuments. This meant that the old building fabric had to be clearly distinguished from new elements without destroying the overall impression. Their renovation work even won an award. In 2010, Arthur and Heidi Weyns received the first monument preservation award from the Trier Chamber of Crafts and the first federal award for craftsmanship in monument preservation. Later, there was also a climate protection prize and the first prize for building culture in the Eifel.
Anyone who enters the beer mill feels as if they have been transported through a time lock into the Middle Ages: Arthur built almost all the furniture himself from ancient boards. He did not use any screws. He bought an old carpenter's workshop in the neighboring village especially for the work. Original medieval figures of saints welcome the visitors. His favorite is St. Ambrose with a beehive, because Arthur is also a beekeeper. Nothing is too expensive for his bees - in the garden he has specially built a 17th century half-timbered house for them, which he bought in the Palatinate. There, the bees have extra entrance holes and can swarm out into the garden with the natural meadow.
Although Heidi and Arthur feel the mill is their life's work and their hearts are attached to the property, they are planning to sell the mill in the foreseeable future. The huge property simply means a lot of work, which they can no longer afford in their old age. In addition, they want to devote more time in the future to their grandchildren and children, who live in Belgium. However, saving and restoring the beer mill was not only a life's work, it was also a life's dream come true for them.
A film by Jutta Kastenholz (editor), Frederik Dietz and Bettina Lichtenauer (camera), Paul Heydecke (sound) and Christian Schreiber (editor).
00:00 Old beer mill renovated
00:32 Hallway kitchen
01:58 Cooking kitchen
03:20 Mill room
05:02 Tipi
06:12 Children's corner
07:39 Mother-child room/baby room
08:37 Bedroom
10:14 Children's room
11:06 Living room
11:24 New residents for the mill
3 июл 2024
