History of the Mill Museum

Hundreds of wind powered industrial mills made the Zaan region world famous. From the sixteenth century onwards an industrial area developed along the banks of the river Zaan which was unparalled throughout the world. Around the year 1800 some 600 windmills were in full operation. When first seeing so many windmills in 1811 Napoleon exclaimed “Sans pareil”!

The House with the Iron Bridge
Due to technological advancement many windmills became redundant in the course of the nineteenth century and by the 1920’s owners conceded that there no longer existed a future for the windmills. Ultimately all that remained was the preservation of tangible windmill relics and memories.  
A successful exhibition by the Society of the Zaan Mills held in a Koog’s primary school in 1925 as well as the availability of the House with the Iron Bridge proved to provide a significant impetus to the establishment of a windmill museum aimed at preserving the ingenious windmill technology as well as retaining a record of the often arduous conditions of everyday life in and around the windmills.

H.R.H. Prince Hendrik of the Netherlands officially opened the Mill Museum in 1928.
The main objective of the museum was the preservation of everything reminiscent of the era of the windmill: from a copper tobacco-box to the key of a windmill, from an old weatherworn wooden name shield to a scale model of a windmill, to an old coffee pot …etc. Eventually this objective resulted in a priceless collection of antiquities and curiosa which however due to its volume initially lacked cohesion. From the 1970’s onwards the Society gradually re-arranged the collection and created a presentation which was essentially more thematic and included the use of objects which could be clearly identified in the remaining working windmills.

Expansion
Since the 1970’s the Society has been able to expand the size of its museum. In 1982 it acquired the merchant’s residence located at 109 Oostzijde in Zaandam which after its demolition was resurrected alongside the existing museum building. This extension created additional space and allowed the museum to conduct reciprocal exhibitions with other musea. Soon after the expansion the Windmill Panorama painted during the war years by local artist Frans Mars was transferred to an especially reserved section within the museum. This unique panorama which provides an impression of the eastern bank of the river Zaan around the year 1800 as seen from the Town Hall of Koog aan de Zaan makes a visit to the museum a worthwhile experience in itself. A final expansion to the exhibition hall in 1996 created further space to accommodate a meeting room/lecture theatre above the enlarged hall.

Mill Museum = knowing the ins and outs
The restored and now operating mills allow the Society of Zaan Mills to demonstrate to the visitor how the windmills functioned and to give an impression of the working conditions as they were in the past and still are today! In most instances the visitor also learns about the various products processed by the mills. The exhibits in the Mill Museum provide a comprehensive coverage of the evolution and demise of the industrial windmills of the region. The Mill Museum however has much more to offer. The collection of scale models of oil mills, paper mills, peeling mills and saw mills is unquestionably of international significance. These are a pleasure to the eye for everyone and not just only for people with a technical background.
The scale models demonstrate how the mills’ sails transfer the power of the wind to an ingenious mechanism within the heart of the mills. They also show how this mechanism differs depending on the product that is processed at each mill.

The city of Amsterdam flourished as a transit port in bygone centuries on account of the industry and produce generated by the windmills of the Zaan region. Windmill proprietors enjoyed wealth and a life of comfort. But life along the river Zaan was not as comfortable for everybody. The Mill Museum shows how the miller and his employees had to work day and night when the wind blew. Often they worked in dreadful conditions accompanied by ear deafening noise and odious smells. When the wind dropped there was time to attend to maintenance of the mill. And sometimes there were festivities. But the threat of fire was ever present due to friction causing overheating of the working components of the mill mechanism. Over the centuries many a mill went up in flames due to this factor.

Exhibitions
The program of exhibitions held at the Mill Museum is quite varied. Historical exhibitions are alternated with informative presentations and attention is paid to older established artists as well as contemporary artists. A four yearly highlight of the exhibitions is an interactive program named Aan de slag met Japie (Japie-cyclus) which is specifically for boys and girls between the ages of 7 to 11 years.

Photograph: The Mill Museum shortly after the move in 1929, L.W.R. Wenckebach