Windmills at Kinderdijk
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How it came to be
Kinderdijk lies where the Lek and Noord rivers meet in South Holland. In the Alblasserwaard polder, water problems grew serious from the 13th century and large drainage canals were dug, but the drained land kept sinking while silt raised the riverbeds.
Around 1740 a system of 19 windmills was built. They lift water from the polder into an intermediate reservoir, and other mills empty it into the river whenever the river is low enough. Eight round brick mills, ten thatched octagonal smock mills and one hollow post mill still stand.
The name means children's dike. Legend says that after the Saint Elizabeth flood of 1421 a cradle washed up against the dike with a baby asleep inside, kept afloat by a cat that leapt from side to side. Pumping stations now do the work, while the mills are kept ready as a reserve. The site was inscribed in 1997.
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