Wer zuerst kommt, mahlt zuerst. Whoever comes first grinds first. The saying goes back to the mill. In the Sachsenspiegel, the law book written by Eike von Repgow around 1230, the rule reads, as cited by the scholar of idioms Lutz Röhrich: die ok irst to der molen kumt, die sal erst malen, whoever comes to the mill first shall grind first. Peasants were obliged to use a particular mill, and the order of grinding followed the order of arrival. The rule served above all to keep the peace. By the 17th century, millers were sworn not to favor anyone. The saying is probably older than the law book.