Brüggahuus (Untere Mühle)

As in so many villages at this altitude, the

livestock farming – an ingenious method to remove nasty weed in

delicate meat. Corn from the local field, on the other hand, was

here a rarity. The soils are too barren, the summer too short. It amazes us

i.e. not that grain imports in the Rhine Forest have been in place since the 14th century

is documented. But imported grain also had to be ground. And so

mills were part of the basic equipment of a village.

The 'Brüggahuus' at the northern head of the Rhine bridge is one of two

mills that are documented in Splügen. Like its counterpart further up on the

Bach, it follows the usual building scheme for local farmhouses – with

the difference that the mezzanine of the masonry base here

not as a horse stable or warehouse, but as a grinding room.

The house is dated to 1695. The 'Brüggahuus' is thus one of the few

buildings of Splügen that survived the devastating village fire of 1716

. Untypical for a mill is the prominent location directly on the

Rhine crossing, because the miller's trade was lucrative but not very

.