05/25/2026
Some years ago I was in Germany when these mills were open and was able to climb up in one. Where we just were in NW Germany is on the "Mill Road" and my friend Nancy was also allowed to climb up in a windmill.
P.s. it was also the first time I had butter kuchen. 😊
It's Pfingstmontag, although not all events are religion related, today is also Deutscher Mühlentag, German Mill Day... sails and water wheels are turning, grinding flour, mustard seeds and corn.
And reviving the old cultural technique of milling.
"Die Freundin des Windes" lying directly alongside the Elbe river in Hollern-Twielenfleth, is still used commercially and a windmill unique in Altes Land.
In 1818 the windmill that stood here from 1331 blew over in a storm, its newly built replacement burned down to the foundation walls in 1847, and one year later this Galerie-Holländer was built.
With Venti Amica written on its roof. Friend of the Wind.
And it is still there in Altes Land, just outside Hamburg in northern Germany, surrounded by fruit trees and producing freshly ground flour.
Pentecost Monday, Whit Monday, is a public holiday in Germany, and also a day when windmills of all sizes, together with their ancient traditional agricultural tools and machinery, open their doors to the public.
Photo credit: © Sven Mirow Photography Venti Amica Hollern via www.tourismus-altesland.de
