There are buildings that appear, fulfill their role as hosts and disappear into oblivion. But there are also buildings that terrify, then fascinate and, in the end, if they are lucky, survive the test of time; if not, the same fate of oblivion awaits them. Unfortunately, this is also the case with Assan's Mill (Moara lui Assan) which, after having launched Bucharest to the heights of industrialization, has not only been forgotten, but has also been the prey of lawless people who have torn off parts of it as if it were a soul. 

Assan's Mill, built in 1853, is the first steam-powered mill in Romania and is located in the Obor-Lizeanu area of Bucharest. Nowadays, although it is classified in the records of the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs as a historical monument of national value and is part of the industrial heritage, it is in an advanced state of decay

Assan's Mill - the invention that frightened everyone and then fascinated them

The story of Assan's mill began under the names of two of the greatest and most skillful businessmen of 19th century Bucharest: George Assan and Ioan Martinovici. And because the two were famous in the capital's gentry for a prosperous business in trade, at some point they decided it was time to try their luck in other fields.

Assan had a piece of land on the road to Târgul Moși (today's Obor Square), on which he ran two small businesses - a horse-powered mill and a hand-operated oil pressing and oil-producing factory. In Bucharest at that time there were no mills powered by heat engines, but all were powered either by horses or by the waters of the Dâmbovi river. Assan quickly realized that as Bucharest's population grew, so would the need for more flour, and the old milling technology would become insufficient. So the search was on for an engine large enough and powerful enough to produce large quantities of flour, and he finally found it in the heart of the Habsburg Empire, in Vienna. There, the House of Siegel was producing an impressively powerful engine for its time, which used steam to run.

But buying the engine was just the beginning! It weighed about 7000 kilograms, and the journey from Vienna to Bucharest proved to be a real adventure: it was big and heavy, so it took six weeks to reach its destination. What's even more curious is that all the bridges and footbridges that were to be crossed by the engine had to be rebuilt, as they would not have withstood such a heavy load.

And if you think that now everything was ready for grinding, far from it! All would have been well, if people had not been frightened by the grandeur of this engine. Or, rather, the huge smoke it belched out! Although the mill was built in 1853, it started to work properly in 1857, when the winter was so severe that the Dâmbovița River froze completely and the water-powered mills stopped working. It was only then that bakers came to grind their grain there. Why not before then? According to George Assan's son Bazil, Bucharest's bakers feared the engine fire, saying they would run out of grain. It was only then, 4 years after they had been lifted, that the butchers realized that no one was burning or stealing their cereals, so they became Assan's loyal customers.

Interestingly, it was not just the common people who were apprehensive, but also those at the helm of the city. The capital's City Hall did not approve of the height of the mill chimneys, at 24 meters, an impressive height for those times, considering it a danger in case of an earthquake or other misfortunes. He therefore stopped construction at just ten meters, on the grounds that he could not let the tower “reach the sky”. However, after paying compensation to the city, the construction was raised to its original height.

In 1865, George Assan separated from his associate Ioan Martinovici, due to disagreements, and became the sole owner of the mill. Over the years, the mill became the most popular place in Bucharest for milling cereals, with bakers from outside the city coming here, and Assan's mill became famous for the quality of the grain, which was milled quickly, efficiently and very finely, as the people of Bucharest would come to realize.

A year later, in 1866, George Assan, the mill's owner, died while on a trip to Munich. His wife Alexandrina, who was assisted by his brother, took over the business. In 1884, the mill passed into the care of the founder's two sons, Bazil and George, who had studied abroad. Ten years later, next to the mill, they set up a varnish and paint factory. The mill prospered, grinding 7 wagons of wheat a day. The period when the two brothers ran the mill was the most prosperous in the mill's history.

Over the years, the steam mill at Obor was baptized by the inhabitants of Bucharest under various names: Assan's Mill, Assan's Mill with Valțuri, Assan's Fire Mill or Assan's Steam Mill.

In 1903, half a century after its foundation was celebrated, and on this occasion several new buildings were added, and a large clock was placed on the main building at the top of the tower, with the years 1853 - 1903 underneath it, in large bronze figures, visible from afar. Assan's clock, which worked accurately, was for decades the time-keeper for all the people in the Obor-Colentina neighborhood.

After 1903, the Assan mill was equipped with electricity, with its own factory, and in June 1930 it was transformed into a joint-stock joint-stock company under the name “Fabricele Assan”, which comprised four different industries: grain milling, vegetable oils, varnishes and colors, soaps and putty. Before the mill was transformed into a joint-stock company, the Assan brothers had 33 workers, and in January 1946, after the war, the factory had 400 employees. The factory was constantly being brought up to date with the latest machinery and technology, the Assan brothers being interested in all that was new and the best in the industrial field, making numerous trips all over the world for this purpose.

Assan's Mill - The decline 

The Obor mill, constantly modernized by its former owners, was nationalized by the communists in June 1948. In the same year, along with the illegal confiscations ordered by the communists, Basil (Vasile) Assan, who at the time was the sole shareholder of Assan Factories, was also arrested. During the investigation, after being tortured, Assan was allegedly thrown from the 5th floor of the Prefecture of the Capital Police, and his family was told that he had committed suicide.

The first damage to Assan's Mill was reported to the authorities in 1995. The splendid wrought-iron window sashes and other decorative zinc and lead elements from the roofs and towers were removed. The tools made in Vienna before the 1900s were dismantled and sold for scrap, even though they were of great value to the history of the technique. In the first half of 2005, demolition work was carried out in great haste and without the necessary authorizations on some of the buildings of the ensemble, as well as deliberate destruction of the pillars and walls of the mill itself, turning this historic monument into a ruin.

On the first day of 2012, the roof of the building collapsed and, with it, one of the walls (over 200 m²). The building was also affected by a fire on June 7, 2012, which broke out on the roof of a tower of the former oil factory in the complex. The building, about 30 meters high, has been abandoned for several years.

Assan's Mill - Rehabilliation and immortality

Now, a rescue of Assan's Mill is being attempted. Eco-Mill of Assan is a project that proposes a revitalization of the Lizeanu-Obor-Colentina area and is a plan to save the former mill. The developed project is based on urban agriculture and the concept is centered on creating a self-sufficient agrarian community.

Whether it will be saved or not remains to be seen. Assan's mill, however, is immortal, thanks to literature. It's the setting for some of Mircea Cărtărescu's stories in his first prose book, Nostalgia.