Ausstellung in der Historischen Werkstatt Müller

The building was constructed in Neuchâtel in 1904 and is now a designated historic landmark.  The company’s founder, Diedrich Müller, was born on January 26, 1864, in Zetel and began a four-year apprenticeship as a carpenter in 1878. In 1882, he went on a journeyman’s tour. In 1889, he started his own business in Neuenburg. In 1901, he began repairing antique furniture from the Oldenburg/East Frisia region. In the early years, Müller lived and worked in rented accommodations. At the end of the 19th century, he purchased a property in Neuenburg in the immediate vicinity of the train station. When this became too small, he built his own workshop building, partly so he could employ journeymen there. The furniture was crafted according to designs and sold nationwide.

After World War I, his son Wilhelm Müller took over the carpentry workshop. An apartment was set up in the workshop building. Since then, the business has continued as an artisan carpentry shop, producing exclusively high-quality, custom-made furniture.

After World War II, furniture production was no longer economically viable, and the business shifted—from a manufacturing operation to a retail business. This led to the dismantling and eventual closure of the workshop in the 1960s. In 1958, Werner Müller went into business for himself and managed the Diedrich Müller furniture store in Neuenburg. He opened two branches in Delmenhorst and Berlin. Eventually, Wilhelm Müller worked alone and retired at the age of 67. After Wilhelm Müller’s death in 1986, the building in Neuenburg passed into the hands of his son, Werner Müller. Since then, there has been no business operation there; however, the interior of the workshop has remained unchanged. In 2001, the building was finally sold to the municipality of Zetel and became a tourist attraction unique to the region.