Marble Mill near Rübeland

The Marble Mill is only a few metres away from the Harzer-Hexen-Stieg; just cross the Bode towards the B 245. You could climb the Krockstein or go on a circular hike to Rübeland via the Blue Lake and enjoy the view from the Schornsteinfegerberg. (8 kilometres)

From a travel guide of 1855

The 1855 travel guide also says: “The path from Rübeland to Blankenburg at first follows the course of the Bode and is one of the most delightful that can be found. (…) Thus we reach the bridge that leads across the Bode at the Marble Mill to Kreuzthal and to the small Brunswick smelting village of Neuwerk. One should not fail to pause for a moment before this bridge to take in the picturesque view offered by the magnificent marble wall behind it, further enhanced by the Düval Cottage — a pavilion built by a court agent named Düval on one of the rocky peaks — by the Marble Mill at the foot of the cliffs, and by the charming little houses of Kreuzthal peeping out from the trees on the opposite bank.”

The deserted landscape is a more recent romantic invention, and even there, painters arrange it for us. In the works of painters from earlier centuries, even supposed wilderness is characterised by human activity as an inhabited place; mills are popular motifs. The landscape painter from Brunswick, Pascha Johann Friedrich Weitsch (1723–1803), also followed this tradition. His uncommon first name is a short form of ‘Paschalis’, still known today as Pascal, meaning ‘born at Easter.’

Since 1756, Weitsch had been employed in Fürstenberg as a porcelain painter and worked there for twelve years as both a trainer and quality inspector. From 1763 onwards, he repeatedly travelled through the Harz mountains, drawing with great enthusiasm — more than 50 of his drawings have survived. His modest porcelain painting from 1765 was a sensation. Usually, the highly specialised porcelain painters created flowers, animals, decorations, or even composed landscapes only based on templates. For the first time in Germany, a prince had his own local landscapes depicted on his dinner service. What was unusual: the initiative had come from the painter himself. The service was produced at the Fürstenberg porcelain manufactory in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg — naturally also because the Harz belonged to the duchy and thus displayed its territory on the porcelain. Finally, in 1768, Weitsch was able to make a living from his painting and leave his position at the porcelain manufactory. He was 45 years old at the time.

Niemann’s travel guide from 1824 reports more about the marble processed here:
“Marble mill, over half an hour from Rübeland, in a romantic area where the iron ore fades into the marble of the Krockstein and also appears in nests within the marble itself. In the marble, especially the brown‑coloured kind, you can find many fossils of shells and sea creatures, as well as curious natural formations. On a red marble slab you can see the figure of a woman holding a mirror in her hand; on a black‑grey slab, a running dog and a sitting bird; and on a multicoloured one, the figure of a spinner. A water wheel sets the saws in motion, which cut the marble into slabs of various sizes, and on the upper floor the hollowing and carving with chisels take place.”