Viller Mühle

The Viller Mühle is a former oil and grain mill in Goch, built around 1870 and now used as a museum and event venue. It stands in the district of Kessel, close to the River Niers, near the Dutch border and the Reichswald forest. The site has been protected as a monument since 1994. The mill’s history goes back to at least the 14th century, with written records from 1600 naming both a corn and an oil mill on the spot. In 1877 the owners added a narrow-gauge horse-drawn railway to the nearby Boxteler line, carrying grain, oilseeds and coal. After a fire in 1913 the buildings were rebuilt and the workforce grew to forty-five. Steam and electricity replaced water power in 1930, and the mill closed in 1972. Today the site houses a large collection of old shops and curiosities, along with a café and meeting rooms. The former sack store hosts regular events and recordings of the WDR’s cabaret series Hart an der Grenze. Original features such as cast-iron windows and staircases survive, showing the transition from 19th-century industrial architecture to modern design.