For eons, they have risen from the flat Dutch horizon like giants from a long-lost age, made from timber or brick and always turned toward the breeze. Once the beating heart of the Netherlands’ fight against water, these windmills are more than quaint postcard scenes. They are stories in motion, each rotation a chapter in a centuries-long tale of ingenuity, survival, and the art of harnessing the power of wind. Come with me on a brief journey through how the humble windmill stamped its place in history and, subsequently, changed the world.
If there is one thing that is, and always has been, an absolute about the Netherlands, it is that the sea is constantly trying to destroy it. The Netherlands, or Holland if you prefer to call it, is not only the flattest country in Europe, but large portions of it also lie below sea level. This is where Dutch innovation landed its place in history. After three hundred years of milling grain, in the 15th century, Dutch engineers refined the design of the windmill into the Polder Mill. These mills became water-pumping fiends, capable of redirecting water from lakes and marshes into canals and rivers, thus carving fertile, flood-resistant farmland out of the waves. This reclaimed land not only became valuable real estate, directly enriching landowners, city councils, and investors, but also reduced the dependence on imported foods, therefore strengthening economic stability.
By the late 16th century, which is often considered the dawn of the Dutch “Golden Age”, engineers had adapted windmills to perform a variety of industrial tasks that had previously required far more time and labor. Oil mills pressed seeds into oils used for cooking, lighting, and making soap, all of which were easily tradable goods. Paper mills supported a burgeoning printing industry, which spread Dutch books, maps, and artwork across Europe. And all of these new types of mills and a growing trade economy led to the generation of thousands of new jobs for Dutch citizens.
Yet what truly made Holland a very rich nation, and the envy of others, were the saw mills. These mills revolutionized timber processing, enabling the Dutch to cut ship planks thirty times faster than by hand, giving them a massive advantage over the lucrative shipping industry. This led to the development of the Dutch East India and West India trade companies, thus connecting Holland to the known world. Such ships transported various commodities from across Europe, spices from Indonesia, and sugar from the Caribbean, which turned Amsterdam into the busiest port city in the world.
Furthermore, the Dutch trade companies led to the transport of certain exotic raw and organic materials that, when ground with paint mills equipped with heavy millstones that could crush and refine materials far more efficiently and uniformly than by manual grinding, produced some of the finest pigments the world had yet seen. The combination of affordable, high-quality pigments and a growing wealthy middle class eager to buy paintings sparked a Dutch artistic explosion. This movement gave birth to famous Dutch artists like Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer, both of whom we still celebrate to this day. Vermeer’s Blues (showcased in probably his most famous painting, Girl with a Pearl Earring) were created from the ultramarine blue made from lapis lazuli mined in Afghanistan and which was more expensive than gold at the time.
The rapid manufacturing of Dutch seafaring ships not only led to the founding of the Dutch Empire (some of which still exists to this day), but also to the knowledge and exploration of lands that had yet been discovered by other Europeans. For instance, Willem Janszoon was the first recorded European to land on Australia, which would be called “New Holland”. Abel Tasman, yeah, the island of Tasmania is named after him because, you guessed it, he was the first European to step on it. Furthermore, he was also the first European to reach New Zealand, which gets its name from the Dutch province of Zeeland. A Dutchman by the name of Jacob Roggeveen was also the first European to set foot on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island.
As the 19th and 20th centuries unfolded, steam and later electric and diesel-powered pumps began to replace windmills. With that came the end of an era that lasted for centuries. At its peak, it’s believed that some 10,000 windmills were scattered around Holland. Now fewer than 1,000 remain. The modern windmills you can see in the Dutch seas and landscape are not windmills at all, but wind turbines, which, as of 2020, have been capable of generating enough electricity to power over 5.6 million households. And, in case you are curious, there are around 7.9 million households in the Netherlands today. The wind truly had a role in literally shaping the Netherlands and it will continue to serve an important purpose into the future.
So, there you have it. From its early days of grinding grain, to its evolution as a water-pumping, sea-fighting fiend, to its heyday as a rapid timber sawing, lush paint-producing miracle. The windmill truly has stamped its place in history and who knows what kind of world we would live in today if all they ever did was grind grain.
