De Bleeke Dood (The pale death)

Flour mill located on the Lagedijk in Zaandijk.

Zaandijk's citizens have traditionally and literally - at least since 1656 - lived between life and death. i.e. between the mills Het Leven (Life) and De Bleeke Dood (Death). The mill Het Leven was a drainage mill in the northern most tip of the village that saw service between 1633 and 1904. Mill De Bleeke Dood was a flour mill in the south of the village.

Until the mid-19th century bakers were obliged to have their wheat ground in the village flour mill which was the primary function of the De Bleeke Dood mill in Zaandijk. When this obligation fell into disuse, the mill itself deteriorated.

For many years afterwards De Bleeke Dood with its dilapidated body stood out like a sore thumb in picturesque village of Zaandijk. The skeleton that was the mill stood head and shoulders above the village. In the early 1930s, the mill lost all the attributes that give it the appearance of a mill, first its sails, then its 'tail' and finally its gallery.

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