Historic Windmill, Potsdam, Germany
Thanks to the legend of The Miller of Sanssouci, the Historic Mill became a famous well beyond the boundary of Potsdam in Germany and associated especially with Frederick the Great and his summer palace of Sanssouci. In 1736 the soldier king, Frederick William I of Prussia, gave permission for the construction of a windmill, which was started in 1737. A half-century later the, by now dilapidated, post mill had to be demolished. The construction of a new mill, between 1787 and 1791, was financed by Frederick William II, because the mill had become famous far beyond the city of Potsdam as the result of a legend. In 1858 the last miller finished his tenancy. Because the king refused to allow other applicants to run the mill, the building became open to visitors in 1861. At the end of the Second World War, on 27 April 1945 the mill was destroyed by fire. Since 1984 a replica of the Historic Mill of Sanssouci in Potsdam has stood in the open land of the Gifhorn Mill Museum.
Visit Germany. Epic German Adventure route © Monika Newbound
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