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Dutch windmill - Zabytek.pl

Dutch windmill


windmill Pyzdry

Address
Pyzdry, Wrocławska 30

Location
woj. wielkopolskie, pow. wrzesiński, gm. Pyzdry - miasto

The windmill in Pyzdry is an example of a Dutch-type windmill, one of the few preserved windmills in the Wielkopolska region.

The windmill with its complete, original and functional technological line is a unique technical monument, not only in the region, showing the development of milling in the period from the 19th to the middle of the 20th century. The windmill is also a witness to a vanishing element of the agricultural landscape of Wielkopolska.

History of the structure

The Dutch-type windmill, commonly called a Dutch windmill or a tower windmill, appeared in Poland at the latest. The oldest windmills were post mills (from the 13th century) and the paltrok mills. As opposed to post mills and paltrok windmills, which could be turned as a whole, Dutch windmills had a stationary body, usually made of brick, and a rotating top, the so-called cap with sails. The first windmills of this type appeared in northern Holland in the 17th century. In Poland they were introduced from the 18th century. Windmills of the Dutch type were not accepted in Wielkopolska as culturally alien because they were popularized during the period of partitions. An additional factor that prevented Dutch windmills from becoming popular was the much higher cost of putting them up as compared to the extremely popular wooden windmill, the post mill. Because of their construction, post mills were also easier to move to another location, which was quite often done. The windmill in Pyzdry was built in 1903 by the Bartczak family. This is evidenced by a metal flag at the top of the roof dome with an openwork inscription 1903 BB - Boleslaw Bartczak. Originally the windmill in Pyzdry was powered by wind. In the interwar period the drive was changed to electric, but the devices related to the wind drive were preserved. In 1974, the roof covering was replaced and the equipment was partially renovated. The windmill was in use until the 1980s. After that, the building was unused and underwent progressive devastation. The disused windmill was purchased by the Pyzdry Commune and revitalized in 2018-2019. The facility has working equipment and can be run by both wind and electric drive.

Description of the structure

The building is located in the southeastern part of the town, on an elevation, on the left bank of the Warta river (similarly to the royal town founded before 1257). An unplastered brick building with a visible cross bond, on a circular floor plan with a diameter of ca. 10.5 meters, on a brick foundation, three storeys high. The brick, immovable body of the windmill in the form of a truncated cone covered with a dome-shaped roof of a wooden structure, planked and covered with a seam sheet metal. Division into storeys: ground floor and two storeys accented with architectural detail - intermediate cornices. Window and door lintels were accented with a brick roll laid in segmental arches. Wooden windows, glazed, with metal bars. At the level of the ground floor - three door openings. Main entrance on the north, on the east with a pick-up driveway and a third entrance on the west. Wooden, beamed ceilings supported on exterior walls. Despite the change to electric drive, the equipment associated with the wind drive (sails, sail shaft, brake wheel, vertical drive shaft transmitting the drive to the millstones unit, and sifters) was retained in the facility. The windmill could therefore have been alternatively driven either by wind or by electricity (at least as far as the production of grain in the millstone units was concerned). For flour production, two roller millers were installed on the ground floor. On one of them the name plate of Diener & Boldt Maschinen Fabrik und Mühlenbau - Anstalt Breslau factory (from Wroclaw) has survived. This proves the miller’s great devotion to tradition and old windmill technology. After a complete renovation of both the building and its equipment, it was given a new educational and museum function. The renovation restored the building to its 1980s form and appearance, when the windmill was still in use, and allowed for the preservation of the full furnishings from the beginning of its existence along with the changes. The fact of preserving the complete equipment should be considered a rarity and unique not only in the region. The windmill can be demonstratively operated both by wind power (the destroyed sails have been restored) and by electric motor. A monitoring device has been installed and the surrounding area was cleaned up, infrastructure in the field of the Internet of Things (the monitor in the windmill and the website www.pyzdry.pl show measurements of atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, precipitation and wind force). The works carried out allowed to preserve the climate of the interior, which appeals to the visitor with its almost 120 years of history.

Visitor access. The windmill can be visited from the outside. Interior tours available upon prior appointment.

Author of the note. Teresa Palacz, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Poznań, 26.04.2021

Category: windmill

Architecture: nieznana

Building material:  brick

Protection: Register of monuments, Monuments records

Inspire id: PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_N_30_BL.43774, PL.1.9.ZIPOZ.NID_E_30_BL.18862