1. Die Steinmühle
Die Steinmühle wurde 1303 als Getreidemühle von den Zisterziensermönchen aus dem Kloster Zinn erbaut und von diesen betrieben. Bis 1766 wurde die Mühle als Getreidemühle genutzt, bis der damalige Mühlenmeister eine Genehmigung zur Anlegung einer Schneidemühle (Sägewerk) erhielt.
1845 wurde sie wieder abgerissen und danach als Ölmühle wiederaufgebaut. Ende 19. Jahrhunderts wurde auf Dampfkraft erweitert und die Mühle zur Strohpapierstoff-Fabrik umgebaut. Sie wurde auch weiter als Dampfmühle genutzt. 1918 firmiert die Mühle als „G. Thiele Steinmühle“. Inhaber war Emil Gericke, der Schwiegersohn von G.Thiele. 1934 wurde die Dampfmaschine durch einen Motor ersetzt und die Mühle vergrößert.
Former Wrede malt house
This listed factory stands like a castle near the city center. The Otto & Wrede malt factory started operations in 1866. From 1879 to 1884 Albert Wrede had the facilities rebuilt and expanded several times. By 1887 it had developed into Germany's largest floor malt house, a top position that it was able to maintain until the 1920s. In 1888 it was already producing 89,000 quintals of malt. In 1889 it was converted into a stock corporation under the name Mälzerei AG, vorm. Albert Wrede. The share capital was 1.5 million marks. In addition to Albert Wrede and his son Viktor Carl Friedrich Wrede, the founders included the banker Ernst Vogler from Halberstadt and the Köthener banker Felix Friedheim. Albert Wrede remained director of the company until 1890 and then moved to the supervisory board, on which the family remained represented until 1934.
After the production facilities were expanded again in 1892 and 1897/98, the output of the malthouse increased to around 180,000 quintals a year by 1914. Exports went to Japan and South America. During the First World War, the supply of barley was restricted. The factory therefore temporarily started producing dehydrated vegetables.
At the beginning of the 1920s, the company had to record a noticeable decline in sales. In order to get additional orders, the Mälzerei AG leased the Giersleben malt factory during the crisis in 1932 and shut down the facilities there. In 1936/37 the Giersleben plant was bought in full. In 1938 the Malzfabrik Wegeleben GmbH was purchased, which was converted into Plant III of the Mälzerei AG. In contrast to other parts of the city center, the malt factory remained almost undamaged during World War II and was able to continue operations without hindrance. However, the stock corporation was expropriated in 1948 and henceforth traded as VEB Malzfabrik In 1954 the operation became the responsibility of the district and was then merged with the local brewery. With 70 to 80 employees, it produced approx. 13,000 tons of malt, which, in addition to its own brewery, was also delivered to Dessau, Magdeburg, Wernesgrün and other brewery locations. The malt house covered around a quarter of the GDR's malt needs. In 1972 the malt house was attached to the Dessau beverage combine.
After the fall of the Wall, the company was shut down on December 31, 1990. Efforts to use the location close to the city center with its listed industrial buildings have so far failed. A four-story warehouse building of the factory burned down in a major fire in September 2011.
