de Bonte Hen dates from 1693 and produces oil. The place doubles as mooring for the pedestrian ferry
het Jonge Schaap is a 2007 replica of the original 1680 saw mill
a footpath along the Zaan leads you to the other windmills
presently the Huisman sits on top of the spice warehouse but it started in 1786 as a stand-alone spice mill
and another one
from here the Albert Heijn family moved on to become the largest super-market chain of the Netherlands
a replica of the first Albert Heijn grocery shop from 1887
one of the relocated houses built in the typical Zaanse style
he will not be the first nor the last artist wanting to catch this grand panorama
people line up for a paid visit to the interior of the paint mill de Kat
One of the top tourist attractions in The Netherlands is Zaanse Schans, an large open air museum some 10 km to the northwest
of Amsterdam.
The main attractions are the 8 windmills, lined up along the east bank of the small and short Zaan river.
The nearbyZaans Museum explores the cultural and industrial history of the region.
In the decade after the founding of the museum in 1961, the
windmills and other historic buildings were moved to their new location, cleaned up,repaired or completely rebuilt according to the
original design.
Most of these objects did not have to travel far as in the 17th and 18th century the Zaanstreek was the
industrial heart of the Noord Holland province. In 1730 there were 635 registered windmills, producing anything from paint, mustard
and oil, to the planks for the ships that sailed to the Dutch overseas territories.
The Industrial Revolution brought the steam engine
and the demise of the windmills in the Zaanstreek.
We visited a busy Schans in August 2018.
the map and actual view caught in one picture
you have to cross the draw bridge first
the Gekroonde Poelburg in the foreground saws wood, the Kat in the background produces paint
a busy day for het Jonge Schaap
this wooden shoe symbolizes the "one size fits all" principle
Het Klaverblad is a small hollow post saw mill, built in the early 2000s
