The mill with five blades was built between 1775 and 1780 by the miller Johann Gottfried Eichhorn. Around 1863, to increase the output, the mill received a new corrugated head with initially eight blades, with two blades soon being removed again. However, the six-blade mill proved to be too maintenance-intensive and, due to the high level of air turbulence, did not produce the desired output. The best utilization of the wind conditions was achieved with five wings, so that the mill was restored to its original drive in the autumn of 1869. The Hetzemüllers also ran farms on the mill property and, since 1877, also ran a bakery in order to be able to feed their families even in bad times. From the mid-1920s until 1939, bonfires were held at the Hetzemühle.
The windmill ceased operations in 1929 and was declared a technical monument in the same year. After the cessation of operations, the mill wings broke during storms, in November 1940 three wings were damaged. In the summer of 1944 four wings were severely damaged by a bomb. Due to the high cost of maintaining the mill, the owners were given permission to demolish it, but did not do so. In 1955 the Hetzemühle was placed under monument protection again.
After the Second World War, the Hetzwalde volunteer fire department and the mill owner Maruselke saved the mill from decay until the 1980s. The last surviving mill wing had already fallen into disrepair in the 1960s.
In May 2002, the Hetzemühle e.V. association was founded, which also revived the tradition of the St. John's fire. The declared goal of the association is to provide the mill with five wings again.