Windmills of Kinderdijk
The ensemble shows how technical knowledge and collective water management shaped the Dutch cultural landscape. It is not an isolated group of buildings but an integrated system adapted over centuries to changing conditions.
Photo: Willard84 · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Facts
- Place
- Kinderdijk, the Netherlands
- Civilisation / patron
- Dutch water boards of Nederwaard and Overwaard
- Built
- 1738 – 1740
- Status
- Still standing
- UNESCO World Heritage since
- 1997
- UNESCO World Heritage
History
At Kinderdijk, a network of nineteen polder windmills, drainage basins, sluices and pumping stations drains low-lying land. The stated construction period refers to the main groups of mills at Nederwaard and Overwaard, built in 1738 and 1740; the water system and some other mills have earlier or later phases. The mills lifted water in stages to a higher level, enabling it to be discharged into the river. Modern pumping stations took over most routine drainage, while the windmills were preserved in working order.
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Sources: Wikipedia — Molens van Kinderdijk · UNESCO — Molencomplex Kinderdijk-Elshout