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 Alfler Bande were caught. These people were suspected of having murdered the Kaifenheim parish priest on 21 November; 5 further members were caught in Alflen.