Gable Windmill in Luppa

Insiders will get a real kick out of this technical monument. The gable mill, which as been a technical monument since 1991, is located in Radegaster Weg 7, a few hundred metres from the town exit sign. The German classification of "Bockwindmühle" (open trestle gable mill) is due to the fact that the foundation consists of a trestle. From this, the stable pivot element leads out to the crown tree, which is the weight-bearing element of the upper part of the mill. The mill revolved around its crown tree until its restoration, which took place prior to and following the reunification of Germany.

Herbert Weber was the owner of the mill from 1973 to 1987. Nowadays, he gives tours through the technical monument. According to him, the mill was built between 1838 and 1841 Construction took place predominately in the warmer months of the year, as winter used to be much harsher. The mill and its lot are situated on a small hill and span 600 m². The builder, a miller and farmer named Ebert, sold the mill in 1895 to Robert Willig. He was the grandfather of Ms Weber nee Willig. Alfred Willig, his son and the father of Ms Elfriede, took over the mill in 1925. In 1927, the mill was converted to an electronic drive. In the same year, the electricity overhead power line from Luppa to Radegast was laid. This allowed the mill to be powered by electricity. Up until then, wind was the only power source.

When there wasn't a lot of wind, the miller had to work into the night. Wind was used in conjunction with electricity to power the windmill blades so that the electricity could be used sparingly. The electronic motor had 10 horsepower. Along with the electrification, a roller and a generator were acquired. Now rye flour could be produced - before that, the wind generator could only produce wholemeal. In a ten-hour working day, the miller could produce 10 x 50 kg of flour per day. These 10 x 50 kg are the reason that the post mill was classified as a 1/2 tonne mill. The 10 x 50 kg of flour was milled into 15 x 50 kg bags of grain. This was a milling rate of 70% and is still the average. The technological specifications meant that the grains had to run over the roller and generator six times. In this process, flour was constantly left over. The gross quantity of grains grew less and less and the quantity of flour increased After all the grains were fed through, the rollers were narrowed. The flour started off white and became darker towards the end. After the milling process, the flours were mixed in a machine to achieve a uniform colour. In 1951, Herbert Weber entered the scene. He took care of the agriculture and helped in the mill when needed. This was easy for him because he was a trained miller. When the Agricultural Production Co-operative (LPG) emerged, flour was no longer milled, but ground coarsely. All types of grains were processed. Flour production was undertaken in larger milling facilities. After 1973, the LPG Type I (communal cultivation of fields, but private livestock farming) was transformed to LPG Type III (collective field and livestock farming). Therefore, grains could no longer be ground and the story of the production of the mill ended. The Webers sold their mill in 1987 to the municipality of Luppa after 92 years of family ownership.

The town had the mill restored using subsidies and made it into a technical monument, a museum. This took place between July 1989 and May 1991. Now it can no longer rotate and its blades have been secured for safety reasons.

The heritage society of Luppa still takes care of the maintenance of the mill and also offers tours.