The windmill: a national icon

brand netherlands

There are many countries in the world with mills, but for most people, when they think of windmills, thoughts of the Netherlands are not far behind.

On the other hand, in the Dutch imagination, mills are symbolic of their centuries-old struggle against water.

did william heath robinson invent the windmill?

Dutch mills vary in both their appearance and their function. However, whether driven by wind or water, the mechanisms that operate them are surprisingly similar. Inside they are all levers, winches, turning gears, wooden beams, and grinding stones that look like together they weigh more than a house.

It is possible that Heath Robinson, the English artist renowned for his whimsical contraptions to solve everyday problems, designed the first windmill. (Just joking.)

Machines for making

The most popular products worked by mills come from grains. Before supermarkets were commonplace, bread was bought from local bakeries, which sourced their flours from a local windmill. Nowadays, with the increased interest in organic ingredients and cutting down the distance a product travels from source to table, some mills are once again doing a roaring trade in their immediate neighbourhoods. 

Each mill specialises in generating specific product types. In addition to those that work with flour products, others produce ground spices, seed oils, paper, chalks, paint pigments, or wood.

The giants of the mill world are the saw mills. Watching the sets of huge metal saws having their way with serious logs of wood is both impressive and a little scary. This is milling on an industrial scale.

Windmill varieties

While they are all powered by wind catching the canvas of the cross blades, there is a variety in the building construction types. Sometimes only the hood at the top moves with the blades, while at others more parts are included. One type, the paltrokmolen rotates in its entirety.

Fun fact: windmills located in populated areas, such as in towns or cities, are usually very tall. That way, the blades don’t lop off the neighbour’s roofing tiles or the hats of passing pedestrians.

With so much wind in the Netherlands, it’s not surprising to find lots of wind energy turbines operating today.

An audio walking tour from our team

Humans vs the sea

Crucially important to the ongoing fight that the Dutch have against the sea, the polder mill’s function is to move water from reclaimed lands (polders) into nearby rivers or canals. Since much of the country is below sea level, in the past these mills played a vital role in converting swamps and lakes to functioning land. The country we now know as the Netherlands looked very different in the 15th century, when the earliest of these mills began operating

Watermills

As is obvious from the name, it is running water, rather than wind, that generates the water mill’s power.

A water mill uses the power generated from running water from adjacent streams and rivers. With a wheel or a turbine, a shaft is set in motion, which drives all that gear inside the mill. You’ll find watermills mainly, but not always, in the centre and south of the Netherlands, since the slightly higher landscape helps push the water around a little faster.

Banner image: Waker of Karnton mill, Dordrecht, circa 1905, Koos Versteeg photographer, postcard, Stichting Molendocumentatie Collection, 03941