Project documentation

More about what preceded the start of work on the project documentation in the "History of the project" section, which actually ends on 2 December 2024. On that day, the DS received preliminary information No. 2 from the Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection of the Regional Workplace Administration of the Czech Central Highlands Protected Landscape Area, in which the mast height of 21 m is already accepted. The way was opened...

Even before that, just as one of the arguments for obtaining the consent of the Czech Central Highlands Protected Landscape Area, on 28 October 2024 Atlas Group Ltd., a provider of geodetic services, prepared a free survey of the wind pump for the association based on the dimensions of the preserved waterworks and suitable historical photographs taken by an employee of the Museum of the City of Ústí nad Labem at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s.

The survey of the waterworks and the pump mast were handed over to Petr Monček from Malenovice (near Zlín), who will provide the construction part of the project including the static calculation of the mast structure. The mechanical part of the project will be prepared by Michal Hofman from Čeřeniště.

On 12 January 2025, the chairman of the association and Michal Hofman had the opportunity to see the drawings that were prepared in 1989 for the production of a wind pump in the railway museum in Týniště u Zubrnice, which was never realized.

On 1 April 2025, a trip was made to Višňové (near Znojmo), where the wind pump is supplied by the same company as the one in Němčí. The tour, conducted by Michal Hofman in the presence of the chairman of the association, was also attended by the vice-mayor of Višňové, Pavel Havelka. In the next phase, a drone will arrive to take pictures of the pump's top and create a 3D model of it. This will be helpful for the preparation of the drawings. The representative of the township has shown considerable interest in the event as inspiration for their next course of action and has asked for pictures and video from the drone to be sent. And also for the processed drawings. 

The following block of photographs "from the field" documents Michal Hofman's ascent to the handling platform under the paddle wheel. The ladder was lent by a helpful neighbour. The last 3 pictures document the building with the well, whose water was transported by the pump to the water tank. The block of photographs "from the platform" contains images taken by Michal Hofman. The original idea was that the photo gallery of the Višňové wind pump would be supplemented with a block of photos taken from a drone (see above), but in the end, the drone photos of the pump were not taken.

On 19 May 2025, the chairman of the association went to Germany, about 50 km northeast of Dresden. Specifically, to the Krabatmühle site (after the Lusatian-Serbian legend of Krabat, which was elaborated by the writer Otfried Preußler) about 6 km west of Hoyerswerda, from where a wind pump, probably made by the same company as the wind pump in Němčí, was transported in 2007. Pictures (and videos) were taken from ground level and from the handling platform. It was evident that the gearbox contains a composition that converts the rotational motion of the impeller into an alternating rectilinear motion of the vertical rod leading to the pump in the well. The photo documentation helped to understand the operation and function of the two directional controllers.
Subsequently, the site manager, Tobias Zschieschick, sent photographs from the time the pump was transported from Hoyerswerda to the Krabatmühle site.

On the basis of his own measurements of the foundations of the machinery in the waterworks and an inspection of the paddlewheel stored in the depository of the Museum of the City of Ústí nad Labem, Michal Hofman created a 3D model of the waterworks equipment, which converted the rotary motion of the rod from the paddlewheel into an alternating reciprocating motion to the pump located in the well.

On August 6, 2025, structural engineer Petr Monček, who had traveled from Zlín-Malenovice, mechanical engineer Michal Hofman, and the association's chairman met at the waterworks. The next steps in the collaboration were outlined, including with the structural engineer (Petr Monček's colleague), who was not present today, to whom the association chairman will send a sketch of the waterworks with the necessary dimensions. Design work will begin in September or October. It was agreed that the existing concrete bases for metal construction will be demolished and new ones built. A memorial site will be built in the space of the demolished chapel in the form of a sandstone stone in a shape that will evoke the no longer existing chapel. A stainless steel cross will be placed on the stone, which will be laid on a foundation of coarse basalt aggregate in the area of the demolished chapel. The cross will be in a horizontal position, and at the intersection of the beams, there will be a pipe from which a spring of pumped water will flow when the wind pump is started.

On August 27, 2025, the association's chairman returned to Krabatmühle (see above), this time with designers Michal Hofman and David Güttner, who was equipped with a head-mounted camera, a long-focus camera, and, most notably, a drone with a camera. After examining the wind pump in Krabatmühle, at David Güttner's suggestion, the group moved on to the wind pump in Grumbach, west of Dresden. This was an excellent idea, as this pump has a mechanism installed that converts the rotary motion of the paddle wheel into the rotary motion of a rod leading to the waterworks, just like in Němčí. Finally, the drawings in Zubrnice also show this transmission with a similar principle: a larger bevel gear is on the impeller shaft and is adjacent to a smaller bevel gear connected to a rod leading to the waterworks.
Not far from the wind pump in Grumbach was a wooden "GEOPARK" stand with three information boards about limestone mining in the area. One of them contained information about the wind pump supplied by Vereinigten Windturbinen-Werke Dresden-Reick. This company was founded in 1911 from Carl Reinsch, which took over Rudolph Braunse's company in the same year.

In addition to taking photographs for design work, David Güttner also shot videos from a drone. 

Krabatmühle: https://youtu.be/YPFnPvheQuw

Grumbach: https://youtu.be/F4VxmDmc5_w