Kinderdijk - All in a spin

Kinderdijk is located about 15kms from Rotterdam and would have to be the best place in the Netherlands to see working windmills in action. These windmills are also the largest concentration of old windmills in the country. The village is located in the Alblasserwald polders, an area approximately 16km by 32km (10x20 miles) at the confluence of the Lek and Noord Rivers. If you are lucky enough to visit in July or August you will see all the windmills operating.

Brief History

Over 50% of the Netherlands is reclaimed land which lies under sea level, making it vunerable to flooding. During the 13th century, excess water became a problem in the Alblasserwald polders so canals (weteringen) were built to help rid the excess water. The 19 windmills at Kinderdijk date back to the 1500's & 1700's and they were built as a solution for draining the excess water from the Alblasserwald polders (reclaimed land). The windmills would pump the excess water into a reservoir until the river level of the Lek lowered. Pumping Stations later replaced the windmills, though the windmills can still be used in emergencies.In 1997 the windmills of the Kinderdijk were listed as one of UNESCO's World Hertitage Sites, the same year the oldest windmill caught fire and was nearly burnt to the ground. For more info click History of Kinderdijk.

19 Windmills of Kinderdjik

Kinderdijk, Alblasserwald, windmills, Netherlands

The milling complex includes 1 windmill of the polder Blokker which was built in 1521. This mill is the oldest suviving mill of the Kinderdijk and is the only example of a hollow post mill in the area. The hollow post mill which was built in wood has a considerably larger upper section than that of the bonnet or rotating cap mills. It is believed that the mill was torched by Spanish soldiers in 1575 and in 1997 another fire caused considerable damage. In 2000 restoration of this unique mill was completed and re-opened to the public.

The 8 stone brick windmills of the De Nederwaard were built in 1738. These windmills are known as bonnet or rotating cap mills, as only the top section revolves in the wind. These windmills are quite a sight when in full spin as the massive sails come within 30cms of the ground. They are called ground sailers for obvious reasons.

There are 8 thatched windmills in the De Overwaard which date from 1740. These wind mills are also bonnet mills but are built from wood and are octagonal in shape.Finally there are 2 stone windmills in the polder Nieuw-Lekkerland which were built in 1760.

Facts about windmills

The blades of the Kinderdijk windmills average about 13m. The windmills pump about 40,000 litres a minute.

The cost to keep each windmill operating runs into the tens of thousands of dollars a year.

To run a windmill in the Netherlands you have to be a licenced windmill operator, which means three years of study! Why? Because windmills are complicated and more to the point if the sails turn too fast they can't be slowed down (known as a runaway). The worst case scenario of having a runaway is the windmill tears itself apart (charming).

There are only about 1000 operational windmills left in the Netherlands.

On every second Saturday in May the country celebrates National Mill Day. All operating windmills are open to the public and they all fly blue flags.

Some windmill's grindstones were used to crush the pigments for painters.

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