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Kinderdijk
The Netherlands is famous for its windmills. Today there are still more than 1000 mills.
Nowhere in the world you will find as many windmills as near the Dutch village Kinderdijk.
Around 1740 no less then 19
sturdy mills were build here. They have been weel preserved
to the present day.
The mills drain the excess water from the
Alblasserwaard polders - which are situated below sea-level - after which the water is sluiced into the river Lek.
The powerfull mill sails serve to transmit the force of the wind to the large paddle-wheels
which scoop up the water.
Nowadays power-driven pumping engines do the job, including
one of the largest water screw pumping stations in Europe.
The foundation "Wereld Erfgoed Kinderdijk"
maintaines and preserves the windmills in
Kinderdijk. The preservation is not limited to the windmills themselves, but also covers
the area in which the windmills are situated.
The foundation makes use of funds from the government and the members of the
foundation each contribute to the cost of maintenance. Additional sponsoring should take
care of reducing the backlog of repairs.
In 1997 the mills of Kinderdijk were put on the World Heritage List of UNESCO.
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