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Windmills and Watermills
Mills
Kinderdijk
Kinderdijk is one of the best-known sights of Holland. Images
of this unique windmill is featured in every photo book on
Holland. In 1997 the Kinderdijk windmill was placed on Unesco’s
World Heritage List
Name: Bezoekmolen Kinderdijk, Molen 2 van de Nederwaard
Address: Nederwaard 5
City: 2961 AS Kinderdijk
Phone: (+31) (0)78 691 51 79
Fax: (+31) (0)183 63 38 82
E-mail: info@stichting-kinderdijk.nl
Propulsion: windmill
Running: yes
Visits: fixed times
The Zaanse
Schans
The Zaanse Schans is an open-air museum. It shows visitors
what life was like in ‘de Zaan’ some 150 years ago.
Holland just wouldn’t be Holland without the mills at
Zaanse Schans. The authentic houses, the historical shipyard,
the clog-making demonstrations and, above all, the windmills,
attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
De Zaan region is probably the world’s first industrial
estate ever. Some 250 years ago, well over 800 windmills were
cramped into this relatively small area. They performed a
wide range of industrial duties.
At Zaanse Schans you can see two types of mills: Watermills
which are driven by waterpower and windmills which, as the
name suggests, are driven by the wind.
WATERMILLS
These mills are only found in the southern and eastern provinces
of Holland: Twente, Oost-Veluwe, the Achterhoek, Oost-Brabant,
and Limburg. In these places there was a sufficient flow of
water to drive the wheel of the mill. The watermills were
usually used as corn mills, but they also produced paper,
oil and sawed timber. There are approximately 70 of this type
left in Holland.
WINDMILLS
The windmill is divided into two categories, the industrial
mill and the drainage mill. The industrial mills were named
according to their use, like sawmill, but have succumbed to
modern technology (although there are still a few left). The
drainage mills keep the land behind the dikes free of surplus
water, thereby creating 'polders' (reclaimed land). These
mills are still functioning in some of the older polders.
There are approximately 1,000 windmills left and they can
be found dispersed throughout 12 provinces, but mostly in
Zuid Holland.
Just south of Amsterdam lies the city of Aalsmeer. Every year,
thousands of visitors come here to see the world’s largest
flower auction. The old village, with its octagonal platform
windmill
'De Leeuw' (The Lion), is also worth a visit. This mill, which
dates from 1863, underwent a complete restoration in 1994-1995.
'De Leeuw' is a flourmill with two sets of millstones
Korenmolen De Leeuw
Address: Zijdstraat 28
City: 1431 ED Aalsmeer
Phone: (+31) (0)297 34 50 42
Fax: (+31) (0)297 34 50 42
E-mail: b.nymeyer@kabeltelefoon.nl
Propulsion: windmill
Running: yes
Visits: fixed times
Products: flour |
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