The old German Watermill
Who has not heard of the mill, enshrouded by myths and tales of romance, telling of long forgotten times, mixing reality with legend.....
Here in Saxony water and wind mills have always been of great importance.
The region changed rapidly in the 12th and 13th centuries. With the discovery of silver in 1168 near the cistercian monastery "Altzella" by Nossen the settling of the land picked up sharply. Where once stood impenetrable forest, there were now open fields. The immigrating settlers created new living spaces, villages at the beginning and later cities were the results of this development. It is therefore no suprise that Saxony was 'revolutionised', achieving the highest density of mills in all the lands.
The mills quickly specialised according to the diverse local requirements. The astounding variety of water mills ranges from Sawmills, Hammermills, Powdermills, Flourmills to Oilmills, fulling mills and bone mills.
The "Zschoner Mühle" is an old german watermill and completely functional. The water is diverted from the Zschone and eventually arrives at the mill, via the mill race and reservoir, where it drives a waterwheel with a diameter of 6.2 meters. The water falls into the water wheel from above, making it an overshot waterwheel. What ever happens after that... can be experienced when visiting us, because as we said, the mill was authentically restored and is fully functional. Being unique in the region of Saxony, a technological site of interest and being second to none, the Zschoner Mühle is listed, following strict guidelines and never fails to fascinate young and old.