Elstermühle Plessa, watermill and museum in Plessa, Germany

Elstermühle Plessa is a watermill on the right bank of the Schwarze Elster in Plessa, Brandenburg. It originally consisted of two mills: a cutting mill, documented since 1580 as a timber-framed structure on stilts, and a grain mill rebuilt in 1711 after a fire. The grain mill houses two roller mills, a crusher, a sifter, a grist mill, a horizontal mixer, and a Zuppinger water wheel with a 6-metre diameter. A small sawmill stands in the adjacent building.

The grain mill burned down in 1710 and was rebuilt in 1711 as a timber-framed building with squared logs and clay, chaff and chopped straw infill. Around 1900 the southern wall's piles sank after the surrounding marsh was drained, requiring massive underpinning and renewal of the machinery, which remains operational. In 1925, when the local briquette factory began supplying electricity, a sawmill was built in the mill yard and the old cutting mill was demolished.

The mill museum displays traditional craftsmanship through tools and machines from different periods that visitors can explore across multiple levels. The spaces show how millers worked and what techniques they relied on.

The mill stands on the right bank of the Schwarze Elster in Plessa. Since 2017 the site has been privately owned, so access to the buildings and the display mill is not guaranteed; ask the current owner or the municipality before travelling. The weir was removed in the 1970s, so the wheel no longer carries river water.

Next to the main building stands a small sawmill that shows how water power was also used for other crafts. This additional workshop demonstrates the varied uses of water energy in earlier times.