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What did the windmills do all day, what floated up to the dike in the old legend, and which rivers meet here? Ten questions about Kinderdijk.
Windmill admirer 0–4 · Miller's helper 5–8 · Master miller 9–10
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Kinderdijk has 19 windmills, the largest group of old windmills in the Netherlands. It is one of the best-known sights in the country.
Photo: Willard84, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
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The land kept sinking while the rivers kept rising, so the mills lifted water out of the polder. They pumped it into reservoirs that drained into the river when the water there was low.
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Kinderdijk is in the province of South Holland, east of Rotterdam. Many visitors come by water bus from the city.
Photo: Rob Oo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
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After a great flood, a cradle drifted up to the dike. A cat jumped from side to side to keep it level, and inside the baby was sleeping, safe and dry.
Photo: Lucas Hirschegger, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
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UNESCO calls the site the Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout. The mills are also protected as national monuments.
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The Alblasserwaard lies between rivers and has had trouble with water since the Middle Ages. The Beemster is a different polder in North Holland, drained by windmills around 1612.
Photo: Dmytro Balkhovitin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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The eight round brick mills of the Nederwaard date from 1738, and the eight-sided wooden mills of the Overwaard from 1740. Each row was owned by its own water board.
Photo: Cnyborg, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
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In November 1421 a storm broke the dykes and flooded the Grote Hollandse Waard, swallowing whole villages. The Alblasserwaard, where Kinderdijk lies, stayed dry.
Photo: Master of the St Elizabeth Panels, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
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Steam, electric and diesel pumps had taken over the work, but in the war there was no fuel, so the mills turned again. Afterwards they stopped for good, though they are still kept in working order.
Photo: Mark Ahsmann, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
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The Lek is a branch of the Rhine, and the Noord is a short tidal river that starts at Dordrecht. Together they flow on towards Rotterdam.
Photo: Michiel1972, Wikimedia Commons, Attribution.
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