6

Wind craft

After 1700 the population of Berlin increased again. The supply of flour and bread therefore becomes more difficult. The few windmills in the city prove to be insufficient and thus Frederick II in 1748 gives order to built additional windmills outside the city limits. A suitable building ground is found at the fringes of the Barnim where grapes had been cultivated before.
In 1748-49 the miller Christoph Müncheberg built the first two windmills in the area of modern Metzer Strasse 15/16. Soon, more windmills followed and this resulted in the densely clustered mills mutually blocking the wind. War damages and fires are further obstacles for the millers, as is the ongoing expansion of Berlin towards the North. New housing areas emerged and one after the other the mills cease to work. The last windmill in Prenzlauer Berg is closed down in 1900.
Despite this fact, the crest of the former district Prenzlauer Berg until today consists of four black windmill vanes on yellow ground.