Paula Windmill

Paula is a Dutch mill, which was built in 1863 in Broitzem (now Braunschweig) and since 1912 in Steinhude. It replaced an old 1670 wind turbine at this location, which was destroyed by a lightning strike in 1911.
The windmill "Paula" is an eight-sided wooden Erdhollander on a low stone base.The mill housing consists of wood panels mounted on a solid wooden beam frame.The typical characteristic of the conical outer walls (about 25 ° to the vertical), as in Mecklenburg (Mill Alt Schwerin In contrast to the concave wooden mill towers on a high stone base common in the Netherlands and northern Germany, the mill has four floors (floors: sack floor, grinding ground, elevator floor and cap floor) with two grinders, one roller mill, one The wheels are regulated by internal shutters (through the wing shaft).

The "Paula" windmill on the rabbit mountain is the last functioning windmill from 17 mills around the Steinhuder Meer.
This traditional windmill is now considered an architectural monument and is owned by the "Association for the Conservation of the Steinhuder Windmill e.V." serviced.

In 1935 the windmill received a new wing cross. In 1945 it was plundered after being decommissioned during the Second World War. In 1948, after reconstruction and repairs by the Huischen company, operations resumed using parts from other mills that had been destroyed, as well as the installation of a grain silo and a seed cleaner.
After a hurricane in February 1962, a large part of the mill was badly damaged: the propeller shaft jumped out of the front bearing, the cog wheel broke, three of the four blades fell onto the mill roof and destroyed it. However, the use of the mill was of no further interest to the shareholders at the time because of the newly built steam mills in the region and thus also the repair of the mill. In 1963 the “Association for the Preservation of the Steinhuder Windmill e.V.” founded. In the same year he commissioned the repair of the mill. The new construction of the cap and the blind wings was carried out by the company Huischen, the machine factory Weymann from Osnabrück cast a new cog wheel, a further preparation of the mill "Paula" took place from individual parts from other mills.
Cracks in the foundation and in some beams, as well as damage to the crown gear and brewing mechanism, led to the mill being shut down in 2001. From 2004 to May 2005 the mill building was renovated. Further restoration work on the interior is necessary in order to make the mill "grinding capable" again.
Of the former eight windmills around the Steinhuder Meer, which were still in operation at the beginning of the 20th century in Steinhude, Grossenheidorn, Altenhagen, Winzlar, Mardorf, Schneeren and two in Bergkirchen, the Steinhude mill "Paula" is the only one still complete Mill preserved with its technical equipment. The windmills used to be used by fishermen and sailors with their wings as wind direction indicators.
Source: Wikipedia