“Nineteen windmills have been holding back the sea in this polder since 1740, and on demonstration days they all still turn.”
About Kinderdijk-Elshout Windmill Network
The Kinderdijk mills were built around 1740 as part of a larger water management system to drain the Alblasserwaard polder. They replaced earlier drainage methods and operated until steam pumps took over in the 19th century. The mills were preserved and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
In brief
Kinderdijk is a network of 19 windmills built around 1740 in the Alblasserwaard polder, about 15 kilometres east of Rotterdam. The mills were designed to pump water from the low-lying polder into the river system, preventing flooding in a landscape that sits below sea level. Together they form the most concentrated and best-preserved group of historic windmills in the Netherlands and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Kinderdijk is a network of 19 windmills built around 1740 in the Alblasserwaard polder, about 15 kilometres east of Rotterdam.
19 Mills Holding Back the Sea
The Netherlands has been fighting water for centuries, and Kinderdijk is the clearest surviving evidence of that struggle. The 19 mills stand in two parallel rows along canals that drain the polder, and each one is a working machine: wind turns the sails, the sails drive a scoop wheel or Archimedes screw, and the water is lifted from the low-lying fields into a canal and eventually into the river Lek. The system was made redundant by steam and later electric pumping stations, but the mills were preserved and some are still operated on demonstration days. You can enter one mill to see the cramped living quarters of the miller's family on the upper floors and the mechanical workings below. The landscape is perfectly flat, criss-crossed by canals and ditches, and in every direction you see sails turning slowly against the wide Dutch sky.
The Experience
You walk or cycle along the canal between the two rows of mills, with the sails turning overhead on windy days. One mill is open to visitors, and the interior is surprisingly cramped: the miller's family lived in the upper floors with the grinding mechanism below. The landscape is perfectly flat and open, dominated by water, sky and the silhouettes of mills. On national mill days, all 19 are set in motion.
Why It Matters
Kinderdijk is the most important surviving example of Dutch water management technology and the best-preserved group of drainage windmills in the world. The UNESCO listing recognises both the engineering achievement and the cultural landscape.
Kinderdijk is the most important surviving example of Dutch water management technology and the best-preserved group of drainage windmills in the world.
Why Visit
19 historic windmills in a Dutch polder landscape, the finest surviving example of the water management system that made the Netherlands possible.
✦ Insider Tips
- 1
Rent a bike at the entrance for the most efficient way to see all 19.
- 2
Visit on National Mill Day in May when all mills operate.
- 3
Enter the museum mill to see the living quarters and machinery.
