Zaanse Schans for Windmills
By sandra. Filed in History, Holland, Museum |
Zaanse Schans, 10 miles northwest of Amsterdam is easy to get to by train (4 stops), bus (#91) or car, and has no entrance fee (www.zaanseschans.nl). We lucked out and arrived on Windmill Day, so this open air museum with its six windmills was bustling, and we got to climb up all over them and learn how they work.
According to Marit Hendriksen, a spokeswoman for National Windmill Day in May, there are 1,156 mills officially listed, and the Dutch still love to go out and “meet the guys that work these things” which have been “the face of the country for so long”. Windmills were the very first factories, popular from1650-1850, and used to run machinery.
We got to meet Pete, whose family owns “De Kat”, which still makes paint pigments, probably the last wind powered dye mill in world. Windmills are run by those sails which must be turned to face the wind (which they can count on for only about half the year). Workers can regulate speed and use a brake on top which can make the mill stop in 15 sec. The other mills at Zaanse Schans press linseed oil, grind spices and cut wood.
The town buildings that surround the mill area are a bit touristy but are still an enjoyable visit. There’s a cheese maker, a bakery, a museum of the Dutch clock, a distillery, pewter foundry, cooper and you even get to see how wooden shoes are made.
