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.
The SS bread factory
Hidden behind tall, dense trees, on the edge of a shipping canal, stands a dark building in the forest. Signs warn against entering the property. Of course we went to the site anyway. Somewhere we also found an open entrance to the building. There was something sinister about the empty tiled rooms. We felt really uncomfortable. Except for the bread baking line, there was no inventory, so we quickly left the farm. In addition to the bakery, there was also a museum trail that reminded of the neighboring brickworks, a satellite camp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. That was very informative and clearly showed the atrocities committed by the SS against the prisoners.
About the history of the factory: In 1939 inmates of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp built a modern large-scale bakery for the “German equipment factories” of the SS. However, due to the war-related bottlenecks in the procurement of materials, production did not begin until March 1941. The Sachsenhausen concentration camp and other units and offices of the SS in Oranienburg, Berlin and the surrounding area were supplied. About 80 prisoners worked in the bakery and bread dispatch, among them Poles, Latvians, Germans, Dutch and others. They had to march from the main camp to the factory every day. In 1943 they were moved to the neighboring Klinkerwerk external warehouse. With the introduction of shift work, the extension of working hours and the installation of two field ovens, the daily production increased from 30,000 (initially 10,000) to around 40,000 loaves in 1944. After the liberation of the camp in 1945, the Red Army temporarily put the bakery into operation in order to be able to take care of the sick and weak survivors in the Sachsenhausen camp. From 1948 to 1991, the consumer cooperative continued to run the bakery as a large-scale bakery. In 1994 a fire destroyed parts of the interior of the listed building.
