De Zoeker (The Seeker) is the name of an oil windmill, located in the Zaanse Schans, Zaanstad. Its purpose is to press seeds such as linseed and rapeseed into vegetable oil. [1] It is the only oil mill still in operation, and is one of five remaining oil mills in the area.
The mill was built in 1672 in Zaandijk. The mill continued with few interruptions until 1968, when it was moved to the Schans.
The mill is owned by the Vereniging De Zaansche Molen . [2]
Zaanstad is a Dutch municipality in the province of North Holland, situated northwest of Amsterdam. Its main city is Zaandam. It is part of the conurbation and metropolitan area of Amsterdam. It had a population of 156,901 in 2021.
Koog aan de Zaan is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad, and lies about 11 km northwest of Amsterdam.
The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single central vertical post. The vertical post is supported by four quarter bars. These are struts that steady the central post.
De Adriaan is a windmill in the Netherlands that burnt down in 1932 and was rebuilt in 2002. The original windmill dates from 1779 and the mill has been a distinctive part of the skyline of Haarlem for centuries.
Zaanse Schans is a neighbourhood of Zaandam, near Zaandijk, Netherlands. It is best known for its collection of historic windmills and wooden houses that were relocated here from the wider region north of Amsterdam for preservation. From 1961 to 1974, old buildings from all over the region known as the Zaanstreek were relocated using lowboy trailers to Zaanse Schans. Two of the windmills in Zaanse Schans are preserved on their original site where they were first constructed, and therefore do not constitute part of the relocated structures. The Zaans Museum, established in 1994, near the first Zaanse Schans windmill, is located south of the neighbourhood. This architectural reserve for Zaanse timber construction is a protected village scene because of its architectural-historical and landscape value. It developed into an international tourist destination with several million visitors every year: in 2016, there were 1.8 million, in 2017 – 2.2 million.
The Zaan is a small river in the province of North Holland in the northwestern Netherlands and the name of a district through which it runs. The river was originally a side arm of the IJ bay and travels 13.5 kilometers through the municipalities of Zaanstad and Wormerland north of Amsterdam, from West-Knollendam in the north to Zaandam in the south, where it empties into the IJ.
Zaandijk Zaanse Schans railway station, until 2016 Koog-Zaandijk railway station, is a railway station in Koog aan de Zaan and Zaandijk, both neighbourhoods of the municipality of Zaandam, Netherlands. It is also the closest railway station to Zaanse Schans. The station opened on 1 November 1869 and is located on the Den Helder–Amsterdam railway between Zaandam and Uitgeest.
The Den Helder–Amsterdam railway is a railway line in the Netherlands running from Den Helder to Amsterdam, passing through Alkmaar and Zaandam. It is also called the Staatslijn K in Dutch. The line is 81 km long.
De Schoolmeester is a smock mill in Westzaan, Netherlands which is maintained in full working order. It is the only wind powered paper mill in the world. The mill is listed as Rijksmonument number 40013.
De Kat is the only remaining working windmill in the world which makes paint. The mill is in the Zaanse Schans, Zaanstad.
De Huisman is a small octagonal mill at the Zaanse Schans in the Zaanstad, and currently makes mustard.
De Os is an oil windmill in the Zaanse Schans, Zaanstad.
De Gekroonde Poelenburg is a paltrok mill in Zaandam, Netherlands which has been restored to working order. Like all Dutch paltrok mills it is a windpowered sawmill. The mill is listed as a Rijksmonument, number 40093. It is located at the Zaanse Schans in a group of several historic industrial windmills.
Het Jonge Schaap is the name of a wooden wind powered sawmill, located in the Zaanse Schans, in the municipality of Zaanstad.
Het Klaverblad is a small wooden saw mill, located in the Zaanse Schans, in the municipality of Zaanstad.
De Bonte Hen is the name of an oil mill, located in the Zaanse Schans, Netherlands. De Bonte Hen is the northernmost of the mills in Zaanse Schans.
Zaans Museum is a museum in Zaandam, Netherlands, located at the Zaanse Schans. It opened in 1998 to preserve and protect the heritage of the Zaan area. In 2009, the museum was extended with the addition of the Verkade Experience.
A Tjasker is a type of small drainage windmill used in the Netherlands and Germany. There are 28 tjaskers remaining the Netherlands.
The Kinderdijk windmills are a group of 19 monumental windmills in the Alblasserwaard polder, in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Most of the mills are part of the village of Kinderdijk in the municipality of Molenlanden, and one mill, De Blokker, is part of the municipality of Alblasserdam. Built in 1738 and 1740, to keep water out of the polder, it is the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands and one of the best-known Dutch tourist sites. The mills are listed as national monuments and the entire area is a protected village view since 1993. They have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997, and as such are officially named as the Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout.
Media related to De Zoeker at Wikimedia Commons