St. Nicolas Mill - Denekamp

In 1859, a hotel owner and some farmers from Denekamp took the initiative to build a third windmill. The reason was probably that in the surroundings of Denekamp there was enough grain to run a third windmill. Just outside Denekamp on the road to Ootmarsum this bell mill was built. Until 1902 the mill had no permanent miller, but trained servants, who were employed by the owners, did the work on the mill.

In 1902 J.H. Derkman became the first permanent miller. He had received his training in Germany. To be able to work as an independent miller, he first had to buy out the other owners or their heirs. It was not until 1908 that the last co-owner was bought out for the sum of 1,300 guilders. In October 1917, an agricultural cooperative was founded in Denekamp. In 1922 it had a threshing-mill, a grinding-mill and a grain warehouse in use. These facts meant the end of the mill as a source of income for the miller. The decay of the mill thereafter was due to this. In addition, a newly built dairy factory, the Volharding, on the west side of the mill literally took the wind out of the mill's sails.

Fortunately, a number of people took the fate of the mill to heart. In 1952, the mayor came up with a proposal for restoration. In 1968, the architect Knippers bought the mill from the Derkman family in order to establish an office in the mill. Unfortunately, the application for a restoration subsidy was rejected at the time because of the poor condition of the mill. With the purchase of the mill in 1974 from the Knippers family by the municipality of Denekamp, the future of the mill was truly secured. A major restoration followed soon after, which allowed the mill to be put back into use as a full-fledged corn mill in 1976. In that year, a grandson of J.H. Derkman, J.A.J. Derkman, was appointed as a voluntary miller.

The mill has been transferred to the Molenstichting Lattrop-Tilligte. The foundation now takes care of maintenance, recruitment of voluntary millers and the sale of flour products. The mill is currently in use as a teaching and instruction mill.