Windmill at Ruprechtov

Ruprechtov, South Moravian Region in the Czech Republic

Windmill at Ruprechtov

Windmill at Ruprechtov

Coordinates| 49°19′58″N 16°50′53″E﻿ / ﻿49.33278°N 16.84806°E﻿ / 49.33278; 16.84806
Type| Windmill
Site history
Built| 1873

The windmill at Ruprechtov is a technical monument in Ruprechtov in the Czech Republic. It is one of the most important and unique technical monuments in the country from the historical and technical point of view.[1] It is equipped with the Halladay patent turbine, the only machine of this type in the Czech Republic and in Europe.

## History

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The mill was built in 1873 as a classic Dutch-type mill, with a four-blade wind wheel and a revolving roof. After a windstorm damage, the original owner and builder Cyril Wagner decided to modernize the mill. He installed the so-called Halladay turbine instead of the classic wind wheel. The turbine was named after its inventor and designer, the American farmer Daniel Halladay. The runner consists of a chain of operable vanes controlled by rods, enabling them to be tilted as required automatically according to the wind. Double tail vane maintained the wheel at the right course.[2]

The turbine is now rotating at a height of 16 m above the ground, its diameter is 10 m and it weighs about 2 tons. The mill still has the original mill machines. Even though grinding stopped in the 1960s the roof turbine is still in operation.[3]

The mill was completely restored in 1998 and is open to the public.

## Recognition

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It was declared a Czech cultural monument in 1958.[1]

In autumn 2009, a postage stamp depicting the mill was issued. The stamp with a face value of CZK 10 was designed by Petr Melan, engraved by Václav Fajt.[4][5]

In 2009 the Czech National Bank issued a 2,500 CZK commemorative gold coin as part of the Industrial Heritage Sites series. The coin was designed by Jiří Harcuba.[6]

## References

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1. ^ a b "Větrný mlýn". pamatkovykatalog.cz. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
2. ^ "Windmill history". mlynruprechtov.cz. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
3. ^ "Jediný na světě. Mlýn v Ruprechtově pohání Halladayova turbína". iDNES.cz. 2017-04-19. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
4. ^ "Emisní plány | Česká pošta". 2009-11-24. Archived from the original on 2009-11-24. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
5. ^ Jindra, Zdenek. "Technické památky - Infofila.cz - Formát pro tisk - Filatelie, poštovní známky, známka, magazín o filatelii - Infofila.cz". www.infofila.cz. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
6. ^ "Commemorative coins of the Czech Republic", Wikipedia, 2019-09-30, retrieved 2019-09-30