When I was younger, I used to drive around with my parents visiting family members all over The Netherlands. I remember looking out of the window and staring at all the flat grasslands. We used to make it a game of how many windmills we would count on our trips. Once we started counting, we realized there were so much more windmills than we thought there would be. Naturally, raising the question, "why does the Netherlands have so many windmills?".
The Netherlands has so many windmills because they ensured that water was drained and, therefore, the land was not flooded. This was necessary because the Netherlands is 26% below sea level. Windmills were also used for sawing wood, grinding grain and spices, making paper, and pressing seeds for oil.
Counting windmills was a great way to pass the time when we were on the road but realizing that the windmills were converting wind into usable energy was a great eye-opener. But don’t forget that one of the big advantages of using windmills is that their production is retrieved from an inexhaustible source, also known as wind. Luckily for us, the Netherlands is also known for its limitless winds.
As many of you will know, the Netherlands is famous for windmills. This is because there are as many as 1200 windmills. But why are there windmills in the Netherlands in the first place?
The invention of wind energy and the unlimited amount of wind in The Netherlands quickly became an indispensable way for the dutch people to create energy, food, and transport water from one place to another.
The only thing needed was a generator that could convert the wind energy into usable mechanical energy. This was when the idea of windmills came into the picture.
History questions whether the idea of windmills in the Netherlands came from China or their southern neighbors, also known as Belgium. In the end, it doesn’t really matter where the idea came from. What it was and still is used for is more important. Windmills were built in different ways for different purposes but always included rotor blades to catch the wind.
In the 13th century, the first windmills were built in the Netherlands to grind grain to make bread. Apart from windmills being useful for grinding grain, they became more and more indispensable for the agriculture industry. The first windmills were made out of recycled material, mostly wood.
The Netherlands has over 1100 windmills
And another 100 watermills
The windmills were also a big help because they were able to take part in the heavy labor. Therefore it soon became a popular machine that popped up in more places in The Netherlands and expanded its functionality. From sawing wood to grinding grain, squeezing out the oil of oil-containing seeds, and grinding malt to make beer. Later around the 18th century, they also became useful for making paper and paint.
Around the 15th century, windmills were also made for the creation of landmass. As the Netherlands is below sea level by 26%, the Dutch needed to pump water out of the ground to gain more landmass. The windmills were used to pump up water and then transport the water to a different place.
The Netherlands has over 4000 polders, some of them created by traditional windmills. Nowadays, it is mostly regulated by electric pumps.
The windmills were also used to keep a constant groundwater level by pumping up water and transporting it to various creeks. This helped farmers add water to their grass fields in times of drought. During times of rain, their fields often overflowed with water.
To get rid of the high amount of water, they could turn on the windmills setting the blades so that they could catch the most amount of wind. The force collected from the wind would convert into the energy needed for the pumps to pump the water out of the fields.
Windmills have been proven to be very useful in the Netherlands, and this is the reason why the Netherlands has so many windmills. Besides being very practical in the above-mentioned methods. In modern life, they might be most renowned for their climate-friendly way of producing energy.
Although you can still see traditional windmills in The Netherlands, (unfortunately) technology has caught up, and many of them are not in use anymore. They either have deteriorated over time or are currently seen as cultural artifacts.
The Netherlands likes to share its history and is proud of its windmills. That is why there is a foundation in the Netherlands that specializes in the maintenance of traditional windmills; this foundation is named "Het Gilde van Vrijwillige Molenaars." Because of this voluntary organization, it is possible to visit more and more operating windmills all over the Netherlands.
The perks of having more operating traditional windmills are that you can experience firsthand what it was like when windmills were still used throughout the country.
The top 3 operating windmills in the Netherlands:
In these windmills, you will find freshly baked bread from homemade traditional ground grain.
Technology has changed dramatically in the past 100 years. With the quick change in technology, traditional windmills became redundant. On the other hand, the wind is still a never-ending factor in The Netherlands. Therefore they have built new modern windmills, also known as wind turbines or wind generators. The wind turbines were developed to reduce the import of gas and electricity to the Netherlands. Wind turbines are seen as the most cost-efficient way to produce green energy.
It is not hard to spot the modern-day windmills with their average height of 75 meters (246 feet). Apart from seeing them on land, there are also windmill parks in the sea. Naturally, having more wind at sea than on land will automatically mean that wind turbines can catch more wind and therefore be able to convert the most energy.
Like with most things, there is also a downside to these modern machines. Some Dutch people aren’t thrilled with the new wind turbines as they take up lots of space and are situated in open places causing damage to the environment and animals.
Windmills are, of course, a symbol of the Netherlands for a reason. The Netherlands has many of them, and these attract tourists from all over the world.
Although this article is about "why does the Netherlands have so many windmills," I would like to briefly tell you where you can see these beautiful pieces of history. Below are three places in the Netherlands where you can best view the traditional windmills.
One of the main places to see windmills is in the village of Kinderdijk. Kinderdijk has 19 windmills, and they are all located close enough to one another so that they can be visited in one day. The small town in the South of the Netherlands mainly uses windmills for the transportation of water.
This village is one of the most popular places to see windmills in the Netherlands and is accessible by public transport. The windmills at Kinderdijk are some of the most famous windmills in the Netherlands.
Another place to visit would be the Zaanse Schans, which only takes a quick train ride from Amsterdam to take you there. Here you can visit thirteen traditional windmills. The Zaanse Schans is a good place if you are looking to see various types of windmills.
You will find woodcutting mills, grain-grinding mills, Oil-Mills, Paper-Mills, Peeling-Mills, Sharpening- Mills, Paint- Mills, and last but not least, Spice- Mills. Together with Kinderdijk, Zaanse Schans is probably the most known place to see traditional windmills in the Netherlands.
If you are not only looking to visit a windmill from the outside but also want to take a look on the inside, Haarlem would be your place to be. After restoring the original 18th-century windmill, it is a famous museum that exhibits Dutch history.
Apart from the recognizable windmill, Haarlem is also known for its cozy city, having lots of small streets, shops, and local produce. Haarlem is also the capital of the Dutch province of Noord-Holland.
Even though not many people know it, it is also possible to see windmills in Amsterdam. Although these windmills are not the most famous, it is well worth visiting the windmills in Amsterdam.
This also gives tourists who are only in the Netherlands for a short time, and perhaps only staying in Amsterdam, the chance to see these iconic structures.
Windmill De Gooyer is the most famous windmill in Amsterdam. Located near the city center, this windmill is located next to a popular beer brewery. So you can perfectly combine a visit to both.
Kinderdijk, The Netherlands:
If you were to drive through all of the Netherlands, you should be able to count approximately 1100 traditional windmills. As I mentioned above, if you want to see the most windmills in the smallest area, Kinderdijk would be the place to go.
There are five different types of windmills in Holland which are all created for different purposes. Down below, you can see the different types of windmills the Netherlands has used in the past and still uses some of them.
The “Polder Molen”
Used to keep groundwater levels balanced.
The “Koren Molen”
Used to grind grains for making bread.
The “Industrie Molen”
Used for industrial purposes like sawing wood, Squeezing oil out of seeds, making paper or paint, peeling rice, etc.
The “Wind Molen”
Used to collect as much wind as possible to convert it into usable energy. This energy is then used for homes, companies, etc.
The “Water Molen”
This is a different kind of mill. The water mill is not powered by wind but by using running water.
Modern Wind turbines
Because wind turbines are important in Holland, they grow exponentially each year. In 2019 there were over 2031 wind turbines. It is hard to say what the total amount of turbines is in the Netherlands at the moment.
The idea of the government was to have enough energy for 60% of Dutch homes by 2020. The highest number of closely located wind turbines is in Flevoland, situated in the middle of the Netherlands.
I hope you enjoyed reading this article and that you now know why there are so many windmills in the Netherlands. After reading this blog post, you most likely have a better insight into the different types of windmills, their functions, and the best places to visit them.
(Be sure to read my article with facts about Dutch windmills if you would like to learn more about them)
