Friday 13 July 2012

The Kulla Gunnarstorp windmill - the oldest "Dutch" type mill in Scania


One of my most pleasant "neighbours" is this beautiful old windmill - the Kulla Gunnarstorp mill. The mill, which was built during the years 1792 - 1798, is said to be the oldest existing "Dutch" mill in Southern Sweden. However, for some reason, it was not before 1809 that the Kulla mill was officially inspected and taxed. 

It was the countess Amalie Sparre, owner of the nearby Kulla Gunnarstorp castle, who decided to build the mill, which replaced the old water powered mill nearby. The planning and construction work was done by the German master builder Georg Soffel



The boat shaped cap is a special characteristic of the Kulla mill. Most remaining windmills in Scania have an onion shaped cap. 

The last millner, Nils Persson, operated the mill until 1950. In 1962 the mill was donated to the Kullens hembygdsförening, a local preservation society, which has later completely renovated it. It is now a beautiful historical monument of times gone by. 

The Kulla mill - like all the other museum mills in Scania - is each year open to the public on the Day of the Mills


PS

I added pictures of two other nearby wind mills, also maintained by Kullens hembygdsförening.


The Bräcke windmill
The Farhult windmill

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