The Underground Mills of Le Locle

Hey dear Hive friends, first of all I hope that you are all well and that you had a day that was full of positive experiences! In my new post, I would like to discuss an interesting historical topic and hope you can expand your knowledge.

In my last article I already discussed the general history of the mills in Switzerland and if you want to learn more about it, you will find my contribution

and in this post I would like to discuss a unique topic which is probably rather unknown, underground mills. I created these works of art with the help of artificial intelligence and are supposed to bring the underground mill of Col-des-Roches a little closer, which is located near the French border as well as in the Canton of Neuchâtel and the hydropower of the rivers in this area was not strong enough at the time, which is why the inhabitants decided to go into underground to build underground water supplies with which mills and an underground factory as well as a sawmill was operated. The traces of the construction can already be traced back until the 16th century and at that time the ground was hollowed out and it was allowed for the water to flow down and the workers created enough space to place some mill wheels which were able to be operated with the help of the water and they quickly recognized the potential at that time and they began to expand it further and used it for various purposes and at first it was about crushing grain. The owners changed more often and in the 19th century, it was decided to use new technologies that were created by industrialization and the complex was often rebuilt over the years and until the middle of the 20th century, the underground facility was still in operation. To this day, some parts have been renovated and it has been converted into a museum and it is possible to visit the underground mill to take a closer look at how it works and I find the topic extremely interesting and it is probably the only underground mill in Europe.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to read through my post and I hope you like it and can learn something new about this topic!