Tag Archives: mill

Skaertoft Molle Bread and Food Festival

Skaertoft Molle is a small-scale organic mill located to the East of Sonderborg owned by Jørgen Bonde and Hanne Risgaard and their daughter Marie-Louise. The special thing about this mill is that it specifically focuses on organic freshly-ground flour with bran and germ that is especially suited for bread-making.

The mill started to mill its own flour in 2004. This required a lot of effort and knowledge on their side in order to produce the best flour they could. Part of this research led the owners to Richard Bertinet in Bath (UK), a well-known name in the bread-making world. It was Bertinet himself who suggested the idea of a Bread and Food festival at Skaertoft, which led to the first festival in 2008, and Bertinet being a guest at this years festival!

IMG_3525

The Bread and Food festival is held on a weekend towards the end of August/beginning of September every year. Each year a specific theme is chosen, with the theme this year being two: Smorrebrod (Scandinavian open sandwiches) and Food waste. During the festival there is a programme of events going on, with presentations, demonstrations, guided tours as well as competitions. On top of that there is a ‘mill market’ with around 25 producers from the German/Danish border region. Oh, and, of course, you can buy the mill’s own flour and other products.

We visited the mill for the festival on Saturday afternoon. There was a real vibe around the place, with many chefs in chef whites and chef blacks happily buzzing around, talking together and appearing to have a good time. We had a look around the stalls, sat in on a demonstration by Bertinet on making dough, and watched a sheep farmer and her dog round up sheep.

IMG_3537

If you’re still looking for something to do tomorrow (1st of September 2013), at 30 DKK a visit to the festival is a good option. Whether you like baking, are interested in local produce, or are a student looking for plenty of free tasters, it should be easy to find something that catches your eye. If you are reading at a time outside the festival, you can always visit the mill on During the rest of the year you can visit the mill on a Mondays at 14-18 to buy the mills own produce. Courses on bread making and baking are also held at the mill on a regular basis.

Skærtoft Mølle
Skærtoft 4
6440 Augustenborg

Celebrating the Mills: Wind & Water power

Nowadays, Denmark is well known for its wind turbines, with around 50% of the world’s turbines being produced here. It is planned that 50% of electricity in Denmark will be produced by wind power by 2020. However, wind power, combined with water power, has a long history of use in these lands, as evidenced by the numerous wind and water mills around the country.

Sonderborg has 4 mills open to the public: Havnbjerg, Elstrup. Vibaek & Dybbol. They are all regularly open all year round. However, once a year, on the 3rd Sunday in June, they are open, together with many others around Denmark to celebrate their history and their function, on what is ‘Danish Mill Day‘.

This year we took the opportunity to visit 2 of these mills: Elstrup windmill and Vibaek watermill.

Elstrup Windmill

This windmill was built out of wood in 1859. It was last used to mill flour in 1970. Over time it has developed into a ‘Mill museum’, having collected and displayed artefacts connected to windmills over the years.

The mill is in serious need of a good clean and much more attention. However, this needs volunteers, which is where this mill is probably lacking. For a suggested donation of 10 DKK you can have a look around every day of the week from 9:00 to 20:00.

Here is a map of the island Als and it’s mills and churches made in 1895 by the miller at Elstrup Mill.

Elstrup molle

Vibaek Watermill

A watermill was first built in Vibaek in 1756 as a grain mill, with a number of restoration efforts along the way. It stayed in operation until 1939. In 1999 the Vibaek turbine stotteforening was set up to provide financial and practical support to the mill. It is now the only water turbine left in the area, having been beautifully restored.

Vibaek Vindmølle

One of the main functions of this association is the organisation of ‘activity days‘ throughout the summer and a Christmas market. The first activity weekend fell during the ‘Mill day’ and this is what we got to see. There was a baker baking fresh bread, which you could then buy right out of the oven, another volunteer making pastries, another making butter. There were also volunteers showing how clothes used to be washed, musicians playing, a number of local crafts people with their products and – of course – a pølse stand.

Vibaek Vindmølle

It was great to see the way that the volunteers bring this mill to life on such days. We grabbed a quick lunch of ‘boller’ and hand-churned butter made on site, and took away a loaf of bread for our dinner. The next activity days will be on the 17 and 18 of July. If you are in the area do go check it out. At only 20 DKK it is definitely worth a visit, besides helping the association maintain the mill.

Enjoy the Atmosphere at Krusmoelle

Once upon a time, farmers in the area were forced to make use of the services offered at Krusmoelle by the law of the land. Nowadays there is no such law, but judging by the amount of people there on a Sunday morning in mid-November, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference!

Krusmoelle, now owned by Nina and Henrik Loff, was once in the ownership of dukes in the region, and also the King! The mill, unfortunately, lost its function between the two world wars as farmers started to mill their own products. This lead to the situation we have today where the buildings are used by the owners for a variety of purposes.

Camera Roll-917

Every year over 30,000 guests visit the mill, either to browse through the lifestyle shop, eat in the cafe, or try their hands in the creative and craft workshops based in the buildings. A highlight in the event calendar since the very beginning 26 years ago has been the Christmas market in November and December. Loving Christmas and all that goes with it as I do, this was a perfect introduction to the mill!

Camera Roll-914

The Christmas market offers visitors an opportunity to buy a very wide selection of Christmas decorations and winter/related items. As expected, there are numerous angels, stars, nisser (elves) and (this being Denmark) candle-related items, as well as items such as house shoes and soft furnishings. A new highlight from this year is the ‘Culinary Christmas’ section of the exhibit where you can feast your eyes on as much Christmas related food as possible (as well as get a taste of a few selections).

Camera Roll-918

This was the perfect introduction to Christmas for me. I can see myself returning year after year even if only to take in the atmosphere and gaze on all the items I wish I could buy but know I could not feasibly fit into our apartment! You can visit every day from 10am to 6pm during the Christmas season.

Read more on their website.