Elstermühle Plessa

The Elstermühle Plessa stands beside the Schwarze Elster in the Brandenburg village of Plessa. It began in 1420 as two mills, one for timber and one for grain, and still shows the original timber-frame buildings with clay and straw infill. A Zuppinger water wheel, 6 m across, once drove the machinery, and the empty shafts of rollers, screens and grinders remain in place. The miller’s house held the Naturpark office and the rustic Mühlenschänke restaurant until 2017. A small sawmill in the yard and a brick-lined well from 1903 add to the site.

The mill is worth visiting for its complete, working technical ensemble. The Zuppinger wheel and every gear—two roller mills, a crusher, sifter, grist mill and mixer—are preserved exactly as they were in 1900. Clemens Kühne, the last miller, ran the site for 78 years until his death in 1986, and the fish rights once paid 1000 talers. After the LPG took over in 1961 the buildings became offices and a road was built across the weir, cutting off the water that once turned the wheel.

Visitors find the empty mill hall with its exposed timber roof, the museum corner, and the restored grain mill that still turns on open days. Outside, the riverbank path follows the old mill race and the weir remains beside the road bridge. The Nebengebäude houses a small sawmill and the former bakery, its walls showing the change from timber to brick. The whole yard is quiet now, but the machinery hums when water is let back into the wheel.