Windmill in Vrátno, Windmill monument in Vrátno, Czech Republic.
The Windmill in Vrátno stands alone in fields on a low rise about 1.5 km northeast of the village, near the railway from Mladá Boleslav to Mšeno. The round, originally two-storey building is made of rough sandstone, with a ground-floor base of regular sandstone blocks and brick infill around some windows. Seven irregularly placed window axes pierce the outer shell, and a replica wind wheel completes the structure.
Farmer Václav Mareček had the Dutch-type mill built on his land in 1870 by master builder Medonos of Mšeno. In 1878 a neighbouring building housed stampers driven by a shaft from the mill, crushing animal bones bought from local butchers into bone meal for Mareček's fields. He first ran the mill himself with one local woman, later renting it out. Milling ended in 1923; by 1934 only bare walls stood, and in 1973 the masonry reached the first floor.
The mill's name is simply Větrný mlýn, after the village of Vrátno. From 1878 a neighbouring building housed stamping mills driven by a transmission shaft from the mill, where the farmer Václav Mareček crushed animal bones bought from local butchers into bone meal for his fields. The mill is now a private recreational object, not open to visitors.
The mill stands alone in fields on a low rise about 1.5 km northeast of Vrátno, near the railway line from Mladá Boleslav to Mšeno. A local road leads to it from the junction of road no. 259 between Vrátno and Kluky. It is a private recreational property, so it can be viewed from outside rather than entered.
The mill's equipment was destroyed or stolen after operations ceased in 1923, so nothing of the original grinding mechanism survives inside. What visitors see today is the result of a rebuild: owner Aleš Křemen, a propeller maker from Odolena Voda, had the mechanical parts made and installed large tilting louvred sails in 2017.
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