kind of judicial representative), and furthermore that he had held this post already for six years. In 1788, there were 60 family heads living in Müllenbach, and in 1789 there were 62. This year also saw a new curate arrive on the scene, Johann Thelen, born in Monreal. He served until 1802. In 1790, there were 63 family heads living in Müllenbach. In 1791, records at Springiersbach Monastery showed that a parcel of cropland of 1.29 ha was auctioned to a farmer from Müllenbach named M. Steffen. Napoleonic times and 19th century After the annexation of the Rhine’s left bank by Napoleon’s troops in 1794, Müllenbach was assigned to the Mairie (“Mayoralty”) of Kaisersesch. The first few years of the 19th century brought the village two new curates, Peter Joseph Pauli in 1802, born in Maring and serving until 1805, and replacing him, Philipp Reichards. He served until 1818, and he has the distinction of being Müllenbach's last curate and first parish priest, for in 1806, a longstanding goal was reached: Müllenbach was finally raised to parish. Father Reichards was born in Demerath on 6 May 1754 and was ordained in Trier on 27 March 1784. He died in Düngenheim on 11 December 1830. In 1808, after the chapel at Martental had been deconsecrated, the chapel bell was brought to Müllenbach, where it long served as the school bell and the fire bell. In 1810, Laubach was parochially annexed to Müllenbach. After the French had been driven out by Blücher, Müllenbach was still in the old Mairie of Kaisersesch, only now it was the Bürgermeisterei (also “Mayoralty”) of Kaisersesch under the new Prussian administration. On 10 April 1815, a huge eruption of Mount Tambora on the now Indonesian island of Sumbawa formed an ash cloud that darkened the atmosphere, which in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere brought about the following year what has come to be known as the Year Without a Summer. The winter leading up to this was especially harsh in the Eifel. Snow lay on the ground until June. Harvesting could only be done in October, and then only in part, as new frost came, destroying the greater part of the crops. Famine followed. In 1817, 392 inhabitants were counted in Müllenbach, all of whom were Catholic. On 5 December of this year in the Hochpochten wooded area, 3 of the 9 members of the so-called