Learning Through Experience: The Swiss Mills Day

I was already so excited in the morning and really looking forward to the big Mill Day that was happening today.

We arrived at the old mill, which looked like a large, old-fashioned farmhouse. We went in through the wide wooden door, and inside the air smelled of wood. Life as it was back then had been recreated inside the mill. There were even special activities for us children, where we could bake bread, set type, or etch designs onto copper plates that could then be printed. It was great.

First, I got to etch a picture into a copper disc with a metal stylus. I made a flower and a sheep on the copper plate. The man who was helping the children brushed the plate with black ink and helped me place it in the press. After a short time, I was able to take my picture out of the press, printed on paper.

Next, I had the chance to set type. Of course, I tried that too and arranged individual metal letter blocks in a frame to spell my name and tightened the form with two screws. The frame was then placed in the printing press. Inside, a round plate coated with black ink rotated while a roller transferred the ink onto the letters, which were pressed onto a beer coaster. In no time, my very own name coaster was finished. I thought that was really exciting.

After that, we went up to the library on the third floor, where there was a large built-in pendulum clock and a desk with a quill pen and diary, just as people had back then. A big tiled stove kept the room cozy and warm during the winter.

Then we stepped back outside into the fresh air and were greeted by the aroma of fresh bread baking in the stone oven. We decided to grind some flour and bake our own bread. Using hand-crank mills, we ground our flour, kneaded the dough ourselves, and slid it into the stone oven. Delicious!

Then we walked down the hill together and came to another, smaller farmhouse. Inside was an old saw powered by a water-wheel. It was very loud in there when we arrived. We could watch belts and gears turn the water’s force into rotary motion and then into an up-and-down stroke that moved the saw blade. Only from the second floor could we see what the saw was actually doing: it was cutting a massive tree trunk in two. It was a huge, thick log. The wheels, belts and blade made quite a racket. I’d never have imagined that a saw driven solely by water could slice through something so huge!

The best thing for me that day was … setting the letters, because that amazing printing press was there, and all those letters were just so cool. I thought to myself that I could actually keep going all day and print an entire book.