Pearls from the Berlin area – Maître Philippe & Filles recommends a trip to Obermühle Gottsdorf.

Recently, on a trip to Teltow-Flemish, I came across an old grain mill that I was so enthusiastic about that I would definitely recommend everyone to visit it!

A pearl in the Berlin area, less than an hour's drive from Berlin: The Obermühle Gottsdorf . By the way, next Whit Monday, 05.06.2017, is Mill Day , so you can visit the mill right away. It starts at 10:00 a.m.

Obermühle Gottsdorf, first mentioned in writing in 1285, has been owned by the Röthel family since 1904. It is a technical monument and unique in Brandenburg: the grain mill is still driven today by a large water wheel!

During our visit we met senior Martin Röthel, who was over 80 years old and kindly spontaneously showed us the mill and sold some of the fantastic flour.

When we visited, almost all the grinding machines were in operation, the V-belts rattled and everything was covered with a fine layer of flour.

The grain that is ground in the mill comes from organic farms in the area. Wheat, spelt, rye and – I think it’s particularly great – so-called yellow or saffron wheat , which is grown by a farmer near Beelitz, are ground.

Yellow wheat is an old grain variety that, as the name suggests, has a distinct yellow colour. This also makes yellow wheat attractive for baking without eggs, as it gives the baked goods a nice yellowish colour. Apart from that, yellow wheat is also very healthy as it contains plenty of carotenoids and xanthophylls which act as natural antioxidants and provitamin A in the human body, thus boosting the body's immune system. The taste of yellow wheat is harmonious, strong and slightly nutty.

Incidentally, one of the mill's largest flour buyers is the Potsdam bakery Fahland , whose breads are mainly available in the southwest of Berlin and Potsdam, but also in the only Berlin branch on Theodor-Heuss-Platz on the RBB site. An overview of the branches can be found on the Fahland homepage (scroll to the bottom of the homepage). The hearty wholemeal spelled bread "Kleiner Martin" is named after Martin Röthel.

In addition to the mill, junior Markus Röthel also runs organic farming and has been breeding Black Welsh cattle for some time. This robust breed lives all year round as a herd of suckler cows on the pastures - from autumn the meat is only sold from the farm.