The water mill in the Furlbach valley was built in 1849 by August Bödeker as a grain mill and was popularly known as the Tütgemühle. The mill was in operation until around 1925. Then a new motor-driven mill was built by the miller at the time on the Holzkämperschen Kolonat* (today REWE)). Since then, the Tütgemühle has been called “Alte Mühle”. In 1951, the parents of the Sudbrackschule in Bielefeld converted it into a country school dormitory. Since about 1939, the land has belonged to the waterworks of the city of Bielefeld as a water protection area" **
In May 1945, the Old Mill served as a hiding place for women and children from the invading Russians.
In 1978 the old mill was demolished.
On the other side are the former mill ponds, which collected the water for the operation of the mill wheel. Behind these ponds lies the actual headwaters of the Furlbach in a large arch of dunes. The spring water comes to light in many places on the valley floor and at the edges of the valley. Hidden under a thick layer of vegetation, countless rivulets flow together and form the Furlbach. The Furlbach flows into the Ems south of Kaunitz.
At the end of the 1940s, the Sudbrackschule from Bielefeld, under the direction of Rector Mr. Strübe, converted the mill into a school camp. The mill was built on its own and with the help of the chemical-pharmaceutical factory - Dr. August Wolf expanded. They had used the building as a laboratory during the war years.
For ten years, the Sudbrackschule was allowed to "live off" the work it had done itself rent-free.
From the early 1960s, the Sudbrackschule had to pay the owner of the building, Stadtwerke Bielefeld, a monthly rent of DM 130. This rent and other costs were to be covered by the association “Schullandheim der Sudbrackschule Bielefeld e. V.” are financed. Rector Schlewing campaigned for the home at a parents' meeting.
In the mid-1960s, the military training area moved closer to the Augustdorf municipal area by means of fences. Stadtwerke Bielefeld fenced in the water protection area. The nature reserve at the Furlbach was also fenced in for fallow deer and mouflon.
"We are considering whether we should give up the home," said Vice President Arnulf Koch.
Source: Heimatverein Augustdorf