===
Sanssouci, a German
smock mill === A
smock mill has stood on the
Dorfplatz since 1984 which is based on the historic mill near the castle of
Sanssouci in
Potsdam. The 40 metre high original was built in 1788, burnt down in 1945 during the final clashes of the
Second World War and was rebuilt in Potsdam in 1993. The mill near the royal residence became famous through a legend that its clattering disturbed
Frederick the Great. When the king threatened it with compulsory purchase, the miller was referred to the
Kammergericht, or Supreme Court, in Berlin. The German name for this type of mill,
Galerieholländer ("Dutch gallery mill"), refers to the circular gallery on the fourth story of the mill. The mill thus has enormous dimensions. Inside the
Sansoucci mill at Gifhorn, the story of the mill museum is presented. ===
Viktoria, a German
post mill === The
Viktoria post mill comes from the nearby village of
Osloß and may therefore be considered typical of the local area. In 1882 it was erected there by a miller who had bought the mill in
Neuhaldensleben district. Its original year of construction is given on the mill as 1816. It closed in 1940 and fell into disrepair. The district of Gifhorn bought the dilapidated mill in 1977 and gave it into the charge of the museum owner, Horst Wrobel. It was restored with the help of donations and, in 1980, was rebuilt at the mill museum in working order. The German term for this type of mill,
Bockwindmühle, refers to a mill in which the entire millhouse, stands on, or, more precisely, hangs from, a trestle or
Bock. The millhouse along with its equipment was turned into the wind before work was begun. According to the
Prussian Civil Code of 1794, a
Bockwindmühle was not counted as a building in its narrowest sense, but as a machine. That meant that the owner did not have to pay house interest tax (
Hauszinssteuer) for his workplace. ===
Immanuel, a German
tower mill === This
tower mill comes from Westdorf in the district of
Dithmarschen, where it was built in 1848 under the name
Immanuel. It is one of the original three mills that was established at the museum. It is described in German as a
Bergholländer ("Dutch hill mill") or
Kellerholländer ("Dutch cellar mill"). These terms indicated that, in the former case that the mill was built on a small hill, and in the latter, that it had a cellar into which the horses and carts could be driven. During the course of its history the mill was modified many times and evolved into a highly technical mill including,
inter alia an automatic
wind rose. The sails could be adjusted to the wind speed. In 1969 the last miller offered to donate the mill in a newspaper advert on the condition that it was rebuilt. The newspaper publisher,
Axel Springer, acquired the mill and had it restored. Later he donated it to the mill museum, where it was rebuilt in 1979.
Tyrolian watermill The roughly 300-year-old watermill from
Iselsberg-Stronach near
Lienz in the
Tyrol is also one of the first three mills of the museum and was built here in 1979. It used to stand by a mountain stream in the
Lesachtal valley in East Tyrol and is driven on the museum site by a pond. The mill, made of solid larch logs, has two
overshot water wheels, that drive two milling gears. ===
Rossmühle, a German
horse mill === The
Rossmühle is probably the largest
horse mill (
Pferdemühle) in Germany and comes from Hüllhorst-Oberbauerschaft in the district of
Minden-Lübbecke. The original was built in 1797 and this replica erected in 1982. It is an octagonal timber-framed building. In the interior, horses walked around in a circle turning a wooden
cogwheel with a power of one
horsepower (PS) each. The cogwheel, with its 320 teeth and diameter of 32 metres, is the largest known of its type. It drove a
stamping mill, used in the production of
flax, and a
corn mill.
Mykonos, a Greek mill When the museum was expanded in 1987 a replica of a Greek windmill on the Cycladic island of
Mykonos was constructed on an artificial island on the site. It is a white
tower mill with a pointed roof and twelve sails.
Natalka, a Ukrainian windmill The replica of a Ukrainian windmill, the
Natalka, was opened in 1988 in the presence of the consul general of the
Soviet Union, an occasion intended to foster positive contacts with the former Communist state. The mill's prototype stands in
Gifhorn's partner town of
Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi in
Ukraine near
Kyiv, where it acts as a restaurant today under the name of
Vitrjak ("windmill"). The mill has a base made of solid pine and spruce logs built in log cabin style. The long, narrow tower only houses a driveshaft. Like many Ukrainian structures, the windows, doors and exposed brickwork are richly decorated. === Hungarian Danube
ship mill === In 1989, after taking just one year to build, the
Danube ship mill,
Julischka, went into operation on the
Ise. It consists of two wooden boats between which a paddle wheel turns. In the larger hull is the mill gear and the miller's room. The smaller hull supports the axle of the paddle wheel which rotates in the river. The mill was built by: • Shipyard workers from the shipyard in the Hungarian town of
Mohács • Museum experts from the open-air museum at Szentendre near
Budapest • Carpenters from Lower Saxony • A mill construction firm from Belgium With this type of mill the owner is both
miller and ship's
captain. He can search for the best water flow in the river. The ship mill has the disadvantage of being an obstacle to shipping so that, in the 19th century, regulations had to be introduced. In 1861 the construction of ship mills was banned on the
Rhine River, consequently the last mill of this type disappeared in 1926. Such river mills have completely disappeared from today's rural scene, because they only have a life of about 50 years. They had been invented by as early as 536 during the siege of
Rome by the
Ostrogoths. Their heyday was during the 16th and 17th centuries. File:Gifhorn Mühlenmuseum Schiffsmühle 1.JPG|Danube ship mill File:Gifhorn Mühlenmuseum Schiffsmühle 2.JPG|Danube ship mill File:Gifhorn Mühlenmuseum Ungarische Schiffsmühle.jpg|Danube ship mill
Algarve, a Portuguese windmill This replica mill was erected in 1993 next to the Greek mill and comes from
Torres Vedras in central Portugal. It also represents the type of mill found on the
Algarve coast. The mill, with its four triangular sails, is typical of
Portugal and the
Mediterranean area.
Balearic windmill from Mallorca The corn mill,
Moli de Tramuntana was built in 2000 based on the mills near
Palma de Mallorca on the Balearic island of
Mallorca. Many such mills would be built in a row on elevated land. The round tower stands on a rectangular base, which was also the residence for the miller's family. The mill has six fabric covered sails with a diameter of about 20 metres. In the museum mill there is an exhibition in the basement of the
Mills of Mallorca, Yesterday and Today. Representatives of the society, "Friends of the Mills of Mallorca" came to the foundation stone ceremony.
Russian post mill This Russian farmer's windmill was built in Russia in 2001 and transported to Gifhorn by lorry. It is a replica of a typical Russian agricultural mill from the north Russian region around
Arkhangelsk. The mill is a present from the
Andrej Rublijow Foundation from
Moscow, which is dedicated to the conservation of Russian architectural heritage.
Provençal windmill from France The
Alphonse Daudet windmill was built in 2002 (photo: see above) as a replica. The prototype was built in 1813 in Fontvieille near
Arles in French
Provence. The poet,
Alphonse Daudet (1840–1897), immortalised it in the 19th century in his book,
Letters From my Mill. In 1935 the "Society of the Friends of Alphonse Daudet" dedicated the mill as a museum and, in 1936, it appeared on a French postage stamp. This type of mill first appeared in the 12th century and is one of the oldest in
France. File:Anabela Windmuehle Gifhorn.jpg|Portuguese windmill:
Algarve File:Muehle_Mallorca.jpg|Left: Corn mill from
Mallorca, right: mill from
Provence File:Mühle Provence.jpg|Provençal windmill
Korean watermill This Korean
stamp mill appeared in 2003, the first Asian mill on the museum site. It is an
overshot mill from a hill region in the
Gangwon Province in
South Korea. Hill farmers used this type of farm in the 19th century to grind corn. The Gifhorn mill was built in Korea using old traditional methods and Korean firs and birches and transported by ship to Germany, where three specialists from Korea erected it. It is a present from the Korean governor in whose district this type of mill was used. === Taiwanese water
treadmill === From the island of
Taiwan comes this water
treadmill, which was used to scoop water up and raise it to a higher level. This is the only mill of this type that exists in that country. This replica of a historic water treadmill is a loan from the vocational schools in the district of
Gifhorn that have a school partnership arrangement with Taiwan.
Serbian watermill The old Serbian mill,
mudra Milica, is the latest and 15th mill in the mill museum. It was added in May 2005 and is around 100 years old. It is a vortex or horizontal water wheel (
Löffelradmühle) from western
Serbia. This type of mill was the forerunner of the
Pelton turbine. Its bucket water wheels were especially useful where there were small amounts of water and steep gradients. This type was used especially in mountain regions, like the
Alps, the
Pyrenees and the
Carpathians. The mill was a present from the
Serbian-Orthodox bishop Lavrentije of the
diocese of
Šabac-
Valjevo to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the mill museum.
Lady Devorgilla, a Scottish windmill The
Lady Devorgilla mill is not located on the museum site itself, but within eyeshot of the museum on a lake on the edge of the town centre. It acts as a romantic backdrop for marriages and belongs to the town of Gifhorn. It is a replica of a
Scottish windmill on Corbey Hill and dates to 1790. The original stands in Gifhorn's Scottish partner town of
Dumfries. == The Russian
stave church ==