Amrumer Museum und Windmühle

About the museum

The windmill in Nebel on Amrum was built in 1770/71. The seafarer Erk Knudten bought an octagonal Dutch-style post mill in the Netherlands, had it dismantled and labeled, and brought it to the island by ship, where it was rebuilt on the highest point of the village. Because there were hardly any trees back then, the mill could be seen from all sides of the island, and it also served as a sea mark for passing ships; the lighthouse only followed in 1875. It initially ground mainly groats and porridge meal, later also grain; it was converted in 1922 into a Kellerholländer (a Dutch mill on a cellar-type base), and milling ended in 1963.

In 1964 the association for the preservation of the Amrum windmill was founded. It took over the building and, together with the attached buildings, turned it into a local history museum. The exhibition shows island history spanning several centuries: seafaring and whaling, agriculture, Frisian domestic culture and the early settlement of the island, along with plants and animals of the island and the sea, and the preserved milling technology with its millstones.

In summer the mill becomes a gallery, where artists show paintings mostly with Amrum motifs. Weddings also take place here. A special Amrum custom: when the sails are set in a cross on the day of a funeral, it visibly signals a death on the island.

Highlights

• Oldest octagonal windmill in Schleswig-Holstein (1771), with its original milling technology
• Island history: seafaring, whaling, agriculture and Frisian domestic culture
• Pre- and early historic finds, as well as nature of the island and the sea
• Summer painting exhibitions with Amrum motifs
• Weddings in the historic mill

Permanent exhibition

• Heimatmuseum in der Mühle – Milling technology, island history including seafaring and whaling, Frisian domestic culture, and finds from the early settlement of Amrum.

Founded

1964

Operated by

Verein zur Erhaltung der Amrumer Windmühle e. V.

Admission & discounts

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

Best reached on foot or by bike from the Wadden Sea side, to avoid the main road.

Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Weddings / ceremonies

Weddings in the mill are possible; registration is through the Standesamt (registry office) Föhr-Amrum.

Plan your visit