The 200-year-old "Osterlinder Bockwindmühle" windmill has been inextricably linked to the Salder Castle Municipal Museum for almost 40 years now. Arne Homann, Director of the Salder Castle Municipal Museum, emphasizes: "This unique testimony to local craftsmanship and building tradition adorns our mill garden and also forms the picturesque backdrop for the well-known and popular baking days. At times, it was not even certain whether it would live to see today."

In 1813/1814, shortly after the end of the French occupation of our region during the Napoleonic Wars, Johann Friedrich Berking had our windmill in Lesse rebuilt. Parts of a much older predecessor building were used. In 1878, this new mill was then moved to Osterlinde, where it found its place next to the local watermill. Here it stood with changing owners over the course of time, tirelessly doing its job when the wind blew. After an initial shutdown around 1950, it was repaired once again in 1964 with the support of the city of Salzgitter and received new blades, among other things. However, after storm damage in 1972, it was finally shut down for good, like so many of its fellow windmills.

Arne Homann explains: "It could have ended badly for her. But things turned out differently. The farmer Ernst Froböse acquired the mill and donated it to the town of Salzgitter in 1978. In 1984, the "old lady", which weighed in at around 50 tons, was dismantled in Osterlinde and briefly erected at the industrial trade fair in Hanover from 4 to 11 April of that year. Visitors to the trade fair were able to admire her there, which was certainly her first contribution to raising awareness of the need to preserve old buildings. After the end of the fair, it was dismantled, transported to the Salder Castle Municipal Museum and rebuilt there. This restoration was carried out with the generous support of the state of Lower Saxony. On September 22, 1984, contrary to original plans to place it back in Osterlinde, it was finally inaugurated at its now permanent location - where it occasionally even serves as a stopover for passing storks feeding in the nearby Fuhse meadows. Only its 9.75-metre-long wings now turn with electric motor power. Otherwise, everything is as it was."