Windmills and Wooden Shoes
One of the highlights of our trip was a day trip to see the iconic windmills of the Netherlands. There are many locations in the country where you can see windmills, with about 1,200 still in existence. In the late 1800's, at the height of their use, there were as many as 10,000 windmills throughout the Netherlands.
The largest grouping is at Kinderdijk about 60 miles southwest of Amsterdam. Kinderdijk is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with 19 windmills that were built in the 1700's, and are still operating in their original location. They function as a water pumping system, removing water from the surrounding low-lying fields called polders. Polders are plots of land that have been reclaimed from lakes or the ocean, and are bordered with dikes to keep the water out. The windmills pump out water that seeps in so the ground remains solid enough to support buildings or agriculture. Windmills were used widely because so much of the land in the Netherlands was subject to flooding - a quarter of the country is below sea level, and half is only about 3 feet above sea level.
Fortunately, we did not have to go far to see windmills - the village of Zaanse Schans is just on the outskirts of Amsterdam, There are 9 windmills located there, each one built during the 1600 to 1800's. Two of them were originally located here and the others were moved to Zaanse Schans from other areas to preserve them.
Zaanse Schans is located in the city of Zaandam about 10 miles from Amsterdam. While there are plenty of guided tours available, we decided to try and navigate there on our own. It is easy trip, only about 20 minutes by train, followed by a short walk to the village. With detailed instructions from our online research, advice from friends who had visited there, and information from the hotel concierge, we felt confident we could find it - sure, we were in a foreign country, we didn't have a map, and all the signs were in Dutch - but we had the internet - what could go wrong? We were ready for an adventure!
The Amsterdam Centraal Train Station was a few blocks from our hotel. We bought round-trip tickets to Zaanse Schans from the Kiosk, grabbed coffee and a quick breakfast at the market, and headed upstairs to the platform to catch the train. The station is a hub for both intercity high speed trains and Sprinter trains - these are commuters for traveling shorter distances. They run on the same tracks, but the intercity trains do not stop at all the local stations. To get to Zaanse Schans, we needed to take the Sprinter train. The trains do look different and - most importantly - the name of their final destination appears on the outside. Arrival/departure times for each train are posted and continually updated on an overhead monitor. After studying the signs to confirm we were on the right platform, heading in the right direction, and we boarded the next train, found seats by the window, and we were off!
You remember how I said the signs are all in Dutch? Many of the names are very similar or appear to be a combination of two names so were a little tricky to decipher. This became very clear to us, as we did, in fact, get on the wrong train! No problem - We got off the train at the first station, and luckily for us, the Sprinter train for Zaanse Schans in Zaandam was the next one coming through, less than 10 minutes later!
After arriving at the Zaandam station, we walked about 10 minutes to the little town of Zaandijk and the large drawbridge over the River Zaan. The Zaanse Schans village is on the other side of the river. Are you noticing all the similarity in names? In the Dutch language the names of things are linked together. In this case the geographic locations and structures are tied to the name of the river. For example, Zaandam means "dam on the River Zaan", Zaandijk means the "dike" that was built to keep water out, and Zaanse Schans refers to a "schans", an fortress that was built here to protect the town in the 1500's. We arrived just in time to see the drawbridge raised to let traffic on the river pass under.
The village is on the other side of the bridge. It is a lovely setting of windmills and shops, homes, gardens and open fields with grazing sheep.
The windmills here are used for various types of manufacturing. They are mills for industries that use grinding to process raw materials. For example - hulling and grinding of grain crops like oats, barley, millet and wheat, to make food supplies like oat meal, barley pearls, rice and flour. Other mills included a mustard mill for crushing mustard seeds or other spices like cinnamon, nutmeg or pepper; a sawmill that processed local timber into lumber; Oilmills to grind seeds from linseed, rapeseed and peanuts to make oil for cooking, making soap or paint; Paint mills that would grind chalk, wood, rocks, minerals and other natural materials to make high quality paint for artists.
The Dutch did not invent windmills. Windmills originated in the Middle East and Persia in the 800's and spread to other areas through expanding trade routes. Mills were widely used throughout western Europe and the Mediterranean by the 1200's for processing grain into flour. The Europeans changed the design of the mills from having sails that rotated around a central vertical axle, like a carousel, to one that had sails rotating on a vertical post, like a pinwheel. The mechanism could also be moved to face the changing direction of the wind.
The Dutch revolutionized the design, and really used windmills to gain control of their environment and to gain a trade advantage. They changed to a "smock" design to house the mill mechanism with wood and thatch. This allowed them to build much larger windmills, made of lighter material at the top and wider at the base, that could stand on top of polders without sinking into the soggy ground. They changed the structure so that just the top part or "cap" of the building could be rotated instead of the base to accomodate changing wind patterns and angled the sails to utilize the wind more efficiently.
They enhanced water management by using a hollow drive shaft to pump large amounts of water out of the ground to reclaim the land. They also grouped several windmills together to form a relay system for moving pumped water to storage basins or back into the ocean. They used the sails to communicate between mills when a storm was coming, or when the relay needed to be shut down to prevent damage or avoid overflowing of storage containers.
These larger windmills had increased wind power and capacity which the Dutch used to drive manufacturing. In addition to powering grinding types of industries, they created a crankshaft that used wind to power a sawmill, and processed local timber into lumber, and built a large fleet of merchant ships. The Netherlands utilized windmills much longer than the rest of Europe. When other countries were converting to steam power, the Dutch continued using windmills because the country did not have the extensive coal resources found in England or France. But they had tremendous wind power from the North Sea, and the wind was free! Today they are a big user of wind turbines to generate electricity.
The Zaanse Schans community lies on the edges of the River Zaan. Along the river residents travel around the area by boat. You can also take a pedestrian ferry to cross the river to the village. All manner of sailors navigate these waters, including this friendly pair of First Mates!
The village paths lead visitors down a pleasant stroll past gardens with chickens and fruit trees, and the traditional wooden shoes. The gardens were full of pear trees and flowers.
The pastures provide easy grazing for sheep and a lookout perch for playful goats. Alongside the paths narrow trenches drained water from the fields, some blooming with water lilies and a Mama Duck paddled with her little family of ducklings. The edges of the village were bordered with canals stretching through the fields. A pair of geese rested in the cool grass and a beautiful heron flew overhead.
In addition to the windmills, homes and shops in this little haven, Zaanse Schans has a Wooden Shoe Workshop where they demonstrate how wooden shoes are made. You can even buy a pair to take home if you are so inclined.
Wooden shoes are made from the wood of poplar or willow trees. After carving they are dried, which makes them light and naturally waterproof. They are also known as Klompen, which means "block" or "lump" of wood. Ideal for "klomping" around in waterlogged fields, they provided insulation from the cold muddy ground and protection from heavy farm work. Wooden shoes were very economical because the wood used came from trees local to the region. They cost much less than leather, and lasted longer than leather which would get wet and moldy. Whether worn in the fields, on a farm or in factories, the shoes could last a couple of years or more, depending on what surface they were used on. Traditional wooden shoes had no paint or glue or chemicals. Purely organic, they were the ultimate eco-friendly footwear, because once they were worn out they could be burned for fuel!
We truly enjoyed exploring this village, stepping back in time, to learn about this industrious and creative country.
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