20% of the Netherlands' territory is below sea level, and 50% of the territory is only one meter or less above sea level.
The entire history of the Netherlands is a history of the struggle between man and the sea.
And despite the dedication and amazing tenacity of the people, man was not always the winner in this endless struggle. Therefore, the drainage system is particularly important in Holland.
Residents have long needed a developed water level management system in order to protect large areas from flooding.
For the Alblasserwaard polder, this problem became relevant back in the 13th century. In order to get rid of excess water, a large number of artificial canals were dug. However, while the drained soil was just beginning to harden, river levels rose due to river sand. After a few centuries, a new way of keeping the polders dry was needed. Therefore, it was decided to build a series of windmills capable of pumping water and holding it in an internal basin at an intermediate level between the level of the polders and the water level in the river. These mills are well preserved to this day and are located in the town of Kinderdijk near Rotterdam.
Parking at the entrance is paid - 5 euros regardless of the duration. Entrance to the wind park is free. But since there seems to be no other convenient way to get here other than by car, the parking fee is a disguised entrance fee. Although it’s probably quite possible to come from Rotterdam by bicycle, the distance there is about 20-25 km. At the entrance there is a beautiful and detailed plan of the facility, the same plan is handed over by the parking attendant after accepting money for parking.
And although the place is touristic, it is very beautiful and unusual. It's a pleasure to walk here. The real Holland - flat terrain to the horizon, a lot of water, many mills, one of which even spins! The place where the existing stereotype coincides with the surrounding reality :)
All these windmills were not used to produce flour, but to pump water. Wind energy is transmitted through a system of shafts and gears to a water wheel, which, due to rotation, pumps water from one channel to another, then the water flows into the river, the level of which is higher than the surface of the earth. There are physical limitations on the height to which one mill can raise water, so mills were often installed in cascades - each subsequent mill raising water higher than the previous one. In the 16th century, such technology was a real breakthrough and made it possible to solve the eternal problem of drainage. Of course, there is plenty of wind from the North Sea in Holland.
The mills are perfectly preserved, or perhaps simply restored.
This photo clearly shows the water supply to the mill.
This mill is operational, the blades rotate and you can go there to see how it all works.
You have to pay a few euros to enter.
1738! The blades rotate with a whistle, and the power of the wind energy is felt. If something like this hurts a person, it won’t seem too bad!
To set the optimal position of the wind wheel depending on the wind direction, the upper part of the mill can be rotated using a special mechanism. It’s also interesting inside, everything rotates and works, the sound of water can be heard below - the mill pumps water. The furnishings of the 18th century have been recreated in the premises.
Input channel
Most of the territory of the Netherlands is flat.
Nowadays, instead of windmills, electric or diesel pumping stations are used, which pump out water around the clock. I was surprised that at this pumping station the pumps are driven not by electric motors, but by diesel engines like those in ships or diesel engines. This is probably an expensive pleasure, pumping water with diesel engines, which have a limited service life, and fuel is not cheap these days. Although it is quite possible that this is just a backup station, which is put into operation when the main ones cannot cope, or if suddenly there are power outages.
10.05.2012 - 19:00
Every year on May 10, the Dutch celebrate windmill day, which, along with tulips, canals and cheese, are the hallmark of the country. On this day, about 600 of the 1,000 windmills remaining in the country are opened to tourists and local residents.
From simple to complex
We associate the word “mill” with the smell of fresh bread, and this is fair - the traditional function of mills was precisely the processing of grain. But mills as such did not appear immediately. The first devices for grinding grain were hand millstones in the form of two round stones with a hole in the middle. The upper circle moved relative to the lower one, and by adjusting the gap between them, it was possible to achieve different grinding fineness. Needless to say, this method was unproductive and extremely labor-intensive.
The next stage was the creation of hand mills. It still required the use of physical force, but the upper millstone was driven by a whole system of wheels or gears, which significantly increased the speed of rotation and productivity.
Less compact, but more powerful were horse mills, where horsepower was used instead of human power. And only after these steps did man learn to use the energy of water and wind - water and windmills appeared.
Windmills are much older than one might think at first glance. According to some sources, the first windmills appeared in Persia during the time of Caliph Omar, that is, six hundred years before the birth of Christ. In Europe, these designs, having undergone minimal changes, appeared much later - not earlier than the 10th-11th centuries, but in some countries they have survived to this day. One of the countries where these buildings are still remembered and honored is Holland.
Kozlovkas and Dutch women
It is no coincidence that one of the windmill designs received the name Dutch. But before the advent of Dutch or tent mills, trestle or pillar mills were widespread.
Pillar mills are square structures, 8-12 m high, on which wings driven by the wind were attached. In order to adapt to the direction of the wind and ensure the most efficient operation of the system, it was necessary to rotate the entire structure using a special device - a goat. Hence the name. Not only did such manipulations require a lot of effort, but also after each turn the millstones had to be re-adjusted.
The Dutch or hip mill became a more profitable design. Such wind turbines were built in at least 3 tiers, that is, up to 18 m in height. This made it possible to strengthen longer wings on them, and therefore increase the power of the mill. But the main advantage of tent mills was the absence of the need to rotate the entire structure - on the fixed body there was a so-called cap - a movable turret that easily turned and adjusted to the direction of the wind. True, these mills required a larger investment of funds, therefore, despite the obviously more advanced design, they did not supplant their less “advanced” competitors.
Not by bread alone
After a brief acquaintance with the various designs of mills, one would have to wonder why in Holland they became so widespread and played such a significant role. Did this small country, located below sea level, produce so much grain that it was necessary to build so many mills?
No, you just have to remember that a windmill is not just a small flour mill. Wind energy can be used for a variety of purposes, and the Dutch were well aware of this. In addition to flour mills, there were dyeing, oil, mustard and saw mills. It was for the sawmill that a windmill was built in St. Petersburg, the design of which Peter I personally studied from Dutch masters.
Today in Holland the last paper mill remains in Zaanse Schans. In the old days, the high quality of paper produced in this region ensured huge exports of this product. The famous American “Declaration of Independence” was printed on Dutch paper.
In addition to their direct purpose, mills were also a certain way of transmitting information: located on elevated places, clearly visible from all sides, they were like signal towers. During World War II, members of the Dutch resistance used windmills to inform the pilots of British aircraft about the location of German units. Also, by the position of the mill's wings, one could find out news in the miller's family. Usually the work was completed by stopping the wings in the cross position. If the wings were tilted to one side, then this could indicate the appearance of a child in the owner’s family, or, conversely, a sad event.
I fight and swim!
But the main feature of the use of mills in Holland was their use in drainage work. The motto on the Dutch coat of arms is “I fight and I swim!” expresses the essence of survival in Holland as accurately as possible. Every inch of land reclaimed from the sea is a treasure, and mills are precisely the weapons with which this was done. Hundreds of windmills were lined along the canals, combined into complex systems to drain the polders and control water levels. Polders are areas of lowlands that have been drained and protected from the sea by dams.
The first mill system for pumping water was designed in the 16th century by Jan Ligwater. He proposed connecting the shafts of windmills with Archimedes' pumps. The power of one such pump was not enough to raise the water to a sufficient height, so the mills were combined into a single complex and sequentially pumped water through a multi-level system of parallel channels. One of these operating systems can still be seen in the small village of Kinderdijk, about 15 km from Rotterdam. Since 1997, Kinderdijk has been placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The system of 19 mills operates during the tourist season and is one of the main attractions in the south of the country. The mills are located opposite each other: round brick mills drain the Niederwaard River, and on the other side, octagonal mills control the Oederwaard.
Windmills also helped protect the newly created polders from the destructive effects of the tides. An ingenious system of floats in the canals was connected to the windmill. As soon as the water level became higher than normal, the alarm system was activated and the mills began pumping out water. Now a computer warning system has taken over these functions, and powerful pumps have been built to pump out water.
With the help of two such modern pumping stations, after six months of continuous operation, the large Wieringermeer polder with an area of more than 20 thousand hectares was drained. In general, the achievements of the Dutch in this area are amazing: in place of the Zuiderzee Bay, by 1980, land with an area of more than 2,300 sq. km arose. About 70 thousand people settled in this territory. In total, over the past six hundred years, the country's area has increased by 10%. In the words of Voltaire, “God created the earth, and the Dutch added Holland to it.” And windmills helped them with this.
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20% of the Netherlands' territory is below sea level, and 50% of the territory is only one meter or less above sea level.
The entire history of the Netherlands is a history of the struggle between man and the sea.
And despite the dedication and amazing tenacity of the people, man was not always the winner in this endless struggle. Therefore, the drainage system is particularly important in Holland.
Residents have long needed a developed water level management system in order to protect large areas from flooding.
For the Alblasserwaard polder, this problem became relevant back in the 13th century. In order to get rid of excess water, a large number of artificial canals were dug. However, while the drained soil was just beginning to harden, river levels rose due to river sand. After a few centuries, a new way of keeping the polders dry was needed. Therefore, it was decided to build a series of windmills capable of pumping water and holding it in an internal basin at an intermediate level between the level of the polders and the water level in the river. These mills are well preserved to this day and are located in the town of Kinderdijk near Rotterdam.
Parking at the entrance is paid - 5 euros regardless of the duration. Entrance to the wind park is free. But since there seems to be no other convenient way to get here other than by car, the parking fee is a disguised entrance fee. Although it’s probably quite possible to come from Rotterdam by bicycle, the distance there is about 20-25 km. At the entrance there is a beautiful and detailed plan of the facility, the same plan is handed over by the parking attendant after accepting money for parking.
And although the place is touristic, it is very beautiful and unusual. It's a pleasure to walk here. The real Holland - flat terrain to the horizon, a lot of water, many mills, one of which even spins! The place where the existing stereotype coincides with the surrounding reality :)
All these windmills were not used to produce flour, but to pump water. Wind energy is transmitted through a system of shafts and gears to a water wheel, which, due to rotation, pumps water from one channel to another, then the water flows into the river, the level of which is higher than the surface of the earth. There are physical limitations on the height to which one mill can raise water, so mills were often installed in cascades - each subsequent mill raising water higher than the previous one. In the 16th century, such technology was a real breakthrough and made it possible to solve the eternal problem of drainage. Of course, there is plenty of wind from the North Sea in Holland.
The mills are perfectly preserved, or perhaps simply restored.
This photo clearly shows the water supply to the mill.
This mill is operational, the blades rotate and you can go there to see how it all works.
You have to pay a few euros to enter.
1738! The blades rotate with a whistle, and the power of the wind energy is felt. If something like this hurts a person, it won’t seem like much.
To set the optimal position of the wind wheel depending on the wind direction, the upper part of the mill can be rotated using a special mechanism. It’s also interesting inside, everything rotates and works, the sound of water can be heard below - the mill pumps water. The furnishings of the 18th century have been recreated in the premises.
Input channel.
Most of the territory of the Netherlands is flat.
Nowadays, instead of windmills, electric or diesel pumping stations are used, which pump out water around the clock. I was surprised that at this pumping station the pumps are driven not by electric motors, but by diesel engines like those in ships or diesel engines. This is probably an expensive pleasure, pumping water with diesel engines, which have a limited service life, and fuel is not cheap these days. Although it is quite possible that this is just a backup station, which is put into operation when the main ones cannot cope, or if suddenly there are power outages.
Why are there so many mills in Holland??? and got the best answer
Answer from Oriy Chernov[guru]
Having learned in time immemorial to use the power of the wind, man radically changed his relationship with the world. With the advent of the sail, the world became small. With the advent of the windmill - the mill - it became more changeable. Previously, it was not possible for a person to saw huge logs, grind hard mineral rock into powder to make paints, and simply grind enough flour and press oil was not easy. By entrusting this work to mills, in the distant 13th century the Dutch brought the construction of houses and ships, textile production, and food production to a new level.
Residents of the Netherlands have never expected favors from nature. Having learned to use the power of the wind, they were faced with a problem - they had to do the work day after day, and the changeable wind did not always blow in the right direction. Do you think they've come to terms with this kind of volatility? No matter how it is! Dutch engineers began to build mills with rotating towers - such towers could be rotated, choosing the most efficient position of the wings in relation to the wind.
The Netherlands have long been one of the most densely populated countries in Europe - already in the 11th century they began to run out of land, every piece of arable land counted. It would seem that nothing can be done about this circumstance; the Lord created as much earth as He created, and there is nowhere to take a new earth from. But no - in the 16th century, the Dutchman Jan Ligwater found a way to increase the land area - again with the help of a wind engine.
By this time, the Dutch already knew how to drain wetlands using trenches and dams, but they could not cope with deep water - they needed a system of powerful pumps. Ligwater proposed creating wind pumps by connecting the shafts of mills with an Archimedes screw. However, it turned out that single pumps would not raise water to the required height, so he developed a sequential pumping system. Ligwater proposed building entire systems of parallel canals. Dozens of mills would pump the water from canal to canal, eventually diverting it behind a dam that surrounded the drained area.
This is how land arose, which was not provided for by the plan of creation of the world - or, in the words of Voltaire, “God created the earth, and the Dutch added Holland to it.” The scale of this addition is impressive even by modern standards - over the past six hundred years, the territory of the Netherlands has increased by 10%.
Before the invention of the steam engine, thousands of mills operated in the Netherlands. Each village had its own mill, or even several, and by the position of the mill wings, neighbors could always find out what was going on in the miller’s family. If nothing special happened, then, having finished the work, the miller stopped the mill wings in the position of a straight cross - one wing parallel to the ground, the other perpendicular. The indirect position of the wings spoke of some event. The tilt of the wings to one side showed that the miller had an addition to his family; tilting in the other direction meant the death of one of the family members. It is said that during the Second World War, members of the Dutch resistance used windmills to tell British planes where the Germans were.
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Answer from 2 answers[guru]
Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: Why are there so many mills in Holland???
Answer from Iolanta[guru]
Because it stands on the shores of the North Sea and the winds often blow, and they also sacredly honor their traditions, my neighbor has a working one, he runs it for foreign tourists... And where am I from near Utrecht
Answer from Funny Man[guru]
They were previously used to pump out the water that constantly floods the Netherlands, which lies mostly below sea level.
Once upon a time, life in Holland could not exist without mills. The landscape here is flat and flat, so there are no rushing rivers or waterfalls, which means there are no water mills. But there is an abundance of windmills for various purposes. Including those that simply move water from bottom to top. This is a typically Dutch phenomenon.
Why have mills become such a typical feature of the Dutch landscape? This can best be understood if you come here, especially in winter, autumn or spring. The winds blow here with such force that it is simply a sin not to use their power.
Imagine entering the country from the north, heading towards Amsterdam. Then the ethnographic museum complex Zaanse Schans in the city of Zaandam will certainly be on your way.
Your path will lie past polders - green meadows, lined with even arrows of canals. “Are these canals used for irrigation?” — one of the tourists once asked me a question. “No, on the contrary!” - I answered cheerfully. Through such channels, water is removed from the meadows in the polder, raised upward by a small polder mill. And the polder itself lies below road level. If it weren’t for the mills, it would be difficult to drain such large areas, and given the shortage of land in Holland, this idea is worth its weight in gold!
Let's see what kind of mills were in use by the Dutch starting from the 17th century. Of course, flour mills. This is sacred. Millers who were lucky enough to organize such an enterprise quickly made a fortune. Firstly, the grain must be ground, otherwise you will not bake bread. Secondly, there was a procedure according to which the miller received not only payment for his work, but also a part of the product. Therefore, there was always a shop at the mill where they sold different types of flour.
In the city of Leiden there is a magnificent mill-museum De Valk ("The Falcon").
This is a good-quality brick building with several floors. The two lower floors were reserved for housing. Next come: a shop, an elevator for raising grain and lowering flour, storage facilities, workshops where tools were repaired, the millstone itself, made of a special soft millstone, and many utility rooms. There is an exit to the gallery at the top of the building, here you can walk under the wings of a windmill rhythmically flying overhead and admire the views of wonderful Leiden. The flour that was offered to customers here was of the following varieties: wheat, rye, buckwheat, barley, pea.
By the way, the father of the famous Dutchman Rembrandt van Rijn was also a miller in Leiden. He started with one mill, added several more to it, then acquired apartment buildings... All his sons received an education. But only Rembrandt was the ninth child in the family!
And the most surprising moment for me was that when I arrived in Zaanse Schans for the first time, I learned that not only flour was ground at the mill. And not only ground. Here they squeezed oils from various plant crops: rapeseed, mustard, peanuts, sunflower. Minerals were ground to make paints. They even... sawed wood. Remember the English nursery rhyme translated by S.Ya. Marshak: “Jenny lost her shoe, cried for a long time, searched for it. The miller found the shoe and ground it at the mill”? What a fool this miller is, I was indignant as a child. And now I know: old rags were ground up when papers were made. This means that a cloth shoe (the kind they wore in the 19th century) could also be used for this purpose!
Zaanse Schans smells amazingly of chocolate and spices. The Householder Mill grinds cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and some exotic spices from Indonesia (Netherlands Indies). They are not known in Russia, but here every housewife prepares food with them. All the local mills - “Cat”, “Seeker” and others - have been restored and belong to the Dutch Mill Community. Each has its own owner, a miller. He wears wooden clog shoes, a neckerchief, and sometimes smokes a pipe. The cost of such an enterprise as the Dutch mill is about a million euros. Mills produce products that are sold in stores. And they charge a small fee for visiting. The local mills are of the “tent” type: only a small cap rotates on top, often covered with reeds.
“Stolbovok”, more popular in Russia, are almost non-existent here. In these mills, the entire structure rotates on a pole. All wooden parts of the mill are made from coniferous, very hard wood. And the central shaft is often made of oak. The speed of movement of the windmill wings is regulated by canvas sheets stretched over them. They are either collected or dissolved, depending on the strength of the wind and the required speed. Millers can “talk” to each other using a special, secret signal: they change the position of their wings. Each mill certainly has its own name. Sometimes with quirks. Sometimes it’s completely strange. So, in Zaandam there is a mill “Pale Death”. And another one, newly built according to old models - “Young Sheep”.
The 19 mills in the town of Kinderdijk, near Rotterdam, are unusually good.
It’s great to take a boat ride along the mills and visit a residential mill to learn first-hand about the way of life of a miller’s family today.
Mills will probably never disappear in Holland. Those that have lost their original meaning are restored and used for new purposes. Or they become museums. The simple and cozy silhouette of a mill with rotating wings against the backdrop of a water meadow lined with canals adorns paintings by many local artists, and now photographs of visitors to the Netherlands. Be sure to visit at least one of the mills, inhale the smell of weathered wood, grain - or paints, spices, roasted peanuts... And buy a box of the best paints in the world or a jar of vigorous Dutch mustard!