Dutch mill in Polkowice, Smock mill in Polkowice, Poland

The Dutch mill in Polkowice is a brick smock mill with a circular foundation and conical tower located on Głogowska Street. Three floors with rectangular windows arranged symmetrically show the practical structure designed for processing grain into flour.

The present brick mill was built in the 1880s on the site of a wooden windmill that burned down in 1846. Its new owner, Ernest Zimmerling, rebuilt it and installed a reserve steam engine. His son Paul enlarged the mill and in 1911 brought electric power from Leopold Wierzejewski's plant, making the mill independent of wind. It operated until the 1920s and was the first electric mill in the area.

The mill belonged to the Reichel family, one of several milling families in 19th-century Polkowice; six windmills once stood along the road to Lubin. Today the tower houses a multimedia exhibition on the town's history, and a glass connector links it to a pavilion with a café.

The mill opened to visitors on 24 July 2021 after a renovation begun in January 2019. Inside, a reinforced-concrete staircase leads up to a viewing terrace, and a glass connector links the tower to a pavilion housing a café. The multimedia education centre displays an exhibition on the history of Polkowice.

This mill preserves a rare Dutch windmill form with only a handful of similar examples remaining in Lower Silesia. Its fixed tower with a rotating cap on top was an efficient solution for capturing wind without moving the entire structure.