Our present mill was built in 1812. The engraved date MDCCCXII in the frame of the mill provides proof of this. Johann Gottlob Lugenheim bought the new mill from Johann Gottlob Heyde in the following year, for the price of 442 taler, 23 groschen and 8 pfennings. It could thus be the case that he was the miller of the post mill after Michael Lugenheim, Heyde was at least the owner. It’s reported that the mill has two grinding passes. To the mill belongs: a residential building, a retirement house and barn, furthermore four fields, 20 Rods field in the Trebelshain area.
On 5th December 1823 the miller's wife Johanna Sophie Lugenheim (née Sliex) dies. Since the death of the miller Johann Gottlob Lugenheim on 20th June 1845, the mill is being auctioned off on 8th April 1845. The results are 366,25 taler for the land and 952,75 taler for mill and buildings.

THE HIRSCH FAMILY

Johann Gottlieb Hirsch bought the mill on 25th October 1868 for 790 taler. This first miller to the Hirsch family came from Belgern in the area of Torgau. After his death his widow married the miller Karl Löwe from Bockwitz, area of Torgau. It is significant that the mill stood in the family in all these years and it never came into foreign possession. On 19th June 1878 the mill was struck by a cold lightning.

Grinding prices 1891

160 pound rye are 115 pound of flour + 47 pound bran.
The grinding money is 25 pfennig.
Let grind coarsely 100 pound costs 55 pfennig.

The miller Karl Löwe died in 1893. So Franz-Richard Hirsch (born 14th June 1868) became the next, who took possession of the mill for 8400 marks as well as the five hectares of field. He is the son of the widow Hirsch from her first marriage. He managed the mill like his forebears until his dead in the year 1904.
In that year Bernhard Hugo Hirsch (born 1875) took over the reins from his father. In the next generation from 1936 the mill and its field finally was managed by master miller Alfred Hirsch. The field always provides nutrition of the milling families, cause solely from milling they were unable to maintain them. The millers got their work orders from farmers of Kühnitzsch. But also from other villages people came to benefit from the millers services.

In operation, 1935

THE PROGRESS FINDS ITS WAY

Alfred Hirsch immediately invested in a two-stroke diesel engine to power one grinding pass. In a manner of speaking it is a valve-less 5000 ccm water-cooled, 12 horsepower strong hot-bulb engine of the R12 range from HATZ company with 450 RPM, construction year 1926. From that point onwards, to grind coarsely was now independent of wind conditions. Before that the engine was used as a brick machine in the pottery factory of Karl Günder in Lohr am Main (Weisenau).
A sketch for tax office state that in 1948 a roller mill was added through the machinery to produce flour. Unfortunately, this one was sold to an unknown owner and never been found either.
The HATZ engine finally was replaced by an electric motor due to the need to remain competitive.

SECOND WORLD WAR & CAPTIVITY

During Alfred Hirsch did his military service, the Sudeten German resettler Schönberner leased the mill until his dead in the following year 1945 when he was fatally wounded by gunshots.
1948 Erner Zahn from Dornreichenbach leased the mill. After Alfred Hirsch was released from being a prisoner of war, he operated a roller mill on the first floor oft he mill to grind grain.

Alfred Hirsch (1907 - 1981) as soldier in August 1940, photo: Gerhard Weber

Original HATZ Engine. This hot-bulb engine uses fuel- and crude oil for engine fuel purposes. It‘s pumped-in through a nozzle directly into the cylinder during the movement against the head. The ignition is activated which causes the formation of combustion gases and let it perform work through its extension.
The advantages of this system are its simple design, long life, low fuel consumption at that time, ultra-simple operation without requiring any maintenance and right or left rotation without reversing. One disadvantage of this model is the preheating by hand for engine starting. It’s done with lowlamp or primer and, furthermore, for its usage there are some provisions. When starting the engine it could be that the direction of rotation is incorrect. An additional focus is directed at temperature control. At high speeds you must have a look at overheating, and vice versa, that the engine getting not too cold during low speed.

(Source: HATZ data sheet Type R; Brix Adolf "Bootsbau: Praktischer Schiffbau" 1929)

These two pictures were painted by A. Brush in the post-war period 1946.
As reward he has earned a bread.

Post mill and homestead in May 1975, photo: SLUB Dresden, Deutsche Fotothek, Günter Rapp

In August 1963, the windmill was struck by a lighting once more. Fortunately it was a cold strike this time and did not ignite anything.
The mill operated until 1974, and finally was only able to grind coarsely. In this year a powerful storm had been raging Kühnitzsch and released the brake of the post mill. All 80 hornbeam teeth of the big cogwheel broke off one by one. The drive gear of the big grinding pass were also badly damaged.

Alfred Hirsch, 1978

Miller's wife Selma Hirsch (née Gründel, 2nd wife of Hugo Hirsch), around 1958

Fortschritt ZT 300 with four share turning plough, around 1970

After four years of standstill the mill was given to the council of Kühnitzsch municipal as a technical monument for preservation. You could literally see the moribund condition. By investing many hours after work in 1979, Kühnitzsch citizens carried out extensive repairs incuding a new corrugated aluminium roof within the National Integration (NAW). That’s how they actively saved our mill from falling to ruin.

Some active employees of culture bundle section numismatics led by Fritz Winkler, succeeded to win the interest of culture bundle of the DDR to accomplish the restoration together. After hundrets of voluntary working hours, they accomplished what many outsiders believed to be impossible: They brought the mill back into a presentable condition. They replaced the grinding pass drive gear and repaired the four rods.

Repairs: Stephan Fischer and Karl Helbig in 1979

In June 1992 new sail rods were added. Different from that of its predecessors with shutters the sails are now covered with sailcloth to give it more wind-loading. In a job creation program (ABM) within the home and school association which started in 2001 Günter Hübner overhauled a large part of the mill. Through his knowledge after almost 40 years he brought rods together with main shaft and cog wheel in rotation again. It was a unique experience on Day of the Open Monument 2001!

CANADIAN SHINGLES

1994 the new founded home and school association assumed responsibility and maintining for the mills care. The first major measure started in 1998 with thatching the roof with Canadian red cedar shingles for an amount of 27.650,86 Deutsche Mark.

Since 2007 also our mill house rotates once again as in passed times. Due to the long standstill of the old HATZ engine since 1956, it was put out of action by left cooling water in the inside. With painstaking work it was necessary to reconstruct the engine. After a long time of silence around the mill house the single cylinders strong sound could be heard once again and was inaugurated in November.

Also on stair landing and external stairs the ravages of time took their toll. To ensure all visitors a safe ascent to the mill house, a new external staircase was mounted. The exchange of the old external elevator continued soon. The rotten and long-term weathered rods has been swapped to new ones out of larch wood in October 2011.

What began with a technical sketch by brooding over their desks, was realized in collaboration with Schauer sawmill, Steuber carpentry, the metal-working company MAK Kühren and Kaltofen roof and building services. The cost of the larch wood rods is estimated at 25.994,60 euros. Thanks for accomplishing the project goes to the support of numerous sponsors. Additionally, Lehmann interior decorator from Meltewitz designed the sailcloth covering.

In 2012 Günter Hübner replaced nine windows of the mill with new ones built and sponsered by Karl and Peter Helbig from Kühnitzsch.

Photo: Manuela Sopart

For its 200th anniversary of Kühnitzsch post mill the German Mill Society (DGM) chose our village for opening ceremony of German Mill Day.

At this time the whole technical internal life including the transmission had already been brought back to life. Only the grain crusher on the 2nd grinding floor wasn‘t involved in the transmission for safety reasons.