Our guide tells us that it always rains at Kinderdijk. And it’s pouring as we head out for our walking tour of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. The gloom adds atmosphere to one of the most iconic and picturesque places in the Netherlands. And during our two hour visit the weather changed at least four times. Shower, then brief clearing, more rain, brief clearing, rain….you get the idea.
Kinderdijk is known for its 19 historic windmills, most dating to the 18th century (about 1738-1740). This is the largest concentration of historic windmills in the Netherlands and the region is a UNESCO World Heritage site (1997).
This area is located below sea level (known as “polder” land), so it was subject to frequent flooding. Windmills were built to pump excess water uphill into a higher elevation reservoir, and from there to a river and ultimately towards the sea. The idea is fascinating and a testament to the terrific engineers the Dutch are, and their skills at water management. What’s very fascinating is that most of the windmills are still working, and most windmills are occupied by caretaker/tenant renters.
Two of the windmills are open to the public as museums. We visited one of them:
You can enter the windmill and see displays of how families lived within them.
The photo below shows some of the internal wooden gearwork that turned wind power into pumping action. It also was used as last weekend’s One Clue Mystery photo. As usual, George G identified where we were — one of the windmills at Kinderdijk.
Most of the windmills still work but are no longer actively used to pump water. There is a modern pumping station (built in the mid- 20th century) that took over from the windmills in daily use. By the way, the name “Kinderdijk” literally means “Children’s Dike.”. Legend has it the name originated from the St. Elizabeth’s Flood of 1421, After the floodwaters receded, people reportedly found a cradle floating on the dike with a baby and a cat still inside. A statue in the World Heritage site illustrates and commemorates this:
If you visit:
Kinderdijk is in the province of South Holland, about 15 km east of Rotterdam. It is located at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers.
There is a visitor center with a short film, a gift shop, and a café.
To enter the official UNESCO area, you need a ticket. Click on this link to get the most up to date admission information. I really enjoyed visiting this site, which is interesting and photogenic. I conclude this post with a few more windmill photos:
