Oppelhain Paltrock-style Windmill

The wood of the outer skin is still bright, and the round clinker base looks freshly finished. This round wall takes over the function of the post in post mills and is the only rigid part of the mill.

The metal ring gear, on which the wooden mill construction turns, is very old. So is the chain up to the wind wheel as well as the engineering inside: the grinding gear, two grist mill stones, the roller mill, crusher and a hexagonal sieve. The production of animal feed was discontinued in 1958.

Inside the mill is a display with containers, products and tools from the everyday life of the mill. A pitch furnace was constructed in the mill courtyard. These pitch furnaces were used to produce the pitch, which was needed to lubricate the wooden axles of the carriages.

There was a celebration lasting a whole weekend in Oppelhain in 2001: so much eating, drinking and dancing! It was said that 5000 people gathered on the hill south of the village and viewed the new mill: impressive in a village of only 480 inhabitants! Nowadays, visitors from outside the area visit the mill, as well as the adjacent animal enclosure on the meadow orchard and the herb garden with its 1:10-scale mill models – an immersive experience around the Oppelhain Mill.

The mill has been without its impressive blades since the spring of 2011. The wings buckled during a storm and have not yet been reassembled.

The mill is open to the public at weekends during the summer half of the year. During the remainder of the year, it can be visited by pre-booking. Twice a year, the Oppelhain Mill market is held on a Saturday.

Please book your visit or guided tour of the mill in advance.

Oppelhain Paltrock-style windmill is a stop on the Kohle-Wind & Wasser-Tour (Coal, Wind & Water Tour).