A remarkable building of technological history of south-western Slovakia - the Jókai watermill - stands in a bend on the banks of the Little Danube. The river flows for 23 km around this medium-sized village forming a bed rich in meanders. The mill can be approached after leaving the village, deviating from the road leading to Dunaszerdahely, on a dusty (circa 1 km) fieldroad.
The spread of watermills in our countryside in the past is due to the appropriate natural, hydrographic and economic conditions. The rich water network of the Little Plain enabled the rapid development of this special industrial equipment. Ship mills were grouped in large numbers in short sections of the lower reaches of the rivers. In 1866 we find 37 mills on the Little Danube, of which Jóka itself had 4. On the topographic map of 1872, we can count 25 ship mills in this section. In 1902 there were 7 ship mills operating in Jóka. The owners of the mills were the following from top to bottom: József Németh, János Csatajszky, Sándor Nagy, János Török Jr. (2 mills), Lajos Görföl, Imre Hakszer.
The mill, which was renovated and opened to the public in 1994, was owned by József Németh, then by his son Vince, and until 1973 by Ernő Németh. The earliest written record of the mill dates from 1894, and contains the water use plan of the József Németh mill, prepared by Sándor Visnovszky, a certified surveyor and architect in Budapest. Part of this documentation is the situation plan of the Little Danube section at the border of Jóka, as well as a detailed drawing of the ship mill structure. The former ship mill consisted of two hulls connected in the middle by a huge mill wheel. The larger ship, the so-called houseboat, was actually a beam-construction plank-side boat with a snail-shaped bow and located on the shore side of the mill. The millhouse stood on it. The boat facing the watercourse, the so-called small boat was smaller in size. The technical design of the ship mills has, on the one hand, helped to preserve their archaic shape for a long time and, on the other hand, prevented the development and changes of the milling process. The other circumstance that sealed the fate of ship mills was the navigability of rivers. Ship mills in rivers or on riverbanks, especially, if a dam system was built to them in the riverbed, were a major obstacle to water traffic. From 1738, several decrees were issued in Hungary to remove ship mills that obstructed the passage of ships. The so-called Water Act in 1885 ordered that all ship mills which did not comply with marine safety regulations were to be closed down. József Németh received the permit for the conversion of the ship mill into a pillar mill on August 30, 1899. Work began in 1900 on the left bank of the Little Danube, in Közrét. The rebuilt mill began operations in August 1906.
The dominant building of the mill stands on 54 acacia piles strewn into the riverbed. The saddle-roofed, supported rafter structure of the mill house is covered with shingles. Reconstruction of the single-storey building into a multi-storey building happened likely by 1916 when the original stone bench was replaced by a roller chair, lifts and other newer machines. On the north façade of the building, until its dismantling, the outlines of the original single-storey building and then the parts built on it could be observed. The technical equipment of the mill consists of a drive device and a grinding device. The drive is made up of the bottom flap impeller. A dam sloping from the opposite river bank directed the water to the shovel. The shorter part of the mill dam also led to the water wheel from the coastal side. On four chain under the wheel hung the mill ditch, which directed the water flow to the wheel as well.
According to the former owner's recollections, mostly rye was ground in this mill, excellently. Many farmers from the area came here to exchange their grain for flour, groats, bran. The mill operated as intended until April 1951. In 1983 it was enlisted in the state list of monuments in Slovakia. After completing a technical survey and design of the listed building, the Galanta Museum of Homeland Studies carried out the dismantling of the mill due to its poor condition. The renovation of the watermill and its surroundings is the merit of the Municipality of Jóka. The restoration work took place over 18 months starting with November 1992. An open-air museum has been established near the mill, which collects artefacts presenting the agricultural past of the village.
