Kinderdijk

Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout

View of the windmills at Kinderdijk
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Location Molenwaard, Netherlands
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Coordinates 51°52′57″N 4°38′58″E / 51.88250°N 4.64944°E / 51.88250; 4.64944Coordinates: 51°52′57″N 4°38′58″E / 51.88250°N 4.64944°E / 51.88250; 4.64944
Criteria i, ii, iv
Reference 818
Inscription 1997 (21st Session)
Location of Kinderdijk

Kinderdijk (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌkɪndərˈdɛi̯k]) is a village in the Netherlands, belonging to the municipality of Molenwaard, in the province South Holland, about 15 km (9 miles) east of Rotterdam. Kinderdijk is situated in a polder in the Alblasserwaard at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers. To drain the polder, a system of 19 windmills was built around 1740. This group of mills is the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands. The windmills of Kinderdijk are one of the best-known Dutch tourist sites. They have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.

Name

The name Kinderdijk is Dutch for "Children dike". During the Saint Elizabeth flood of 1421, the Grote Hollandse Waard flooded, but the Alblasserwaard polder stayed unflooded. It is said that when the terrible storm had subsided, someone went to the dike between these two areas to see what could be saved. In the distance he saw a wooden cradle floating on the water. As it came nearer, some movement was detected. A cat was seen in the cradle trying to keep it in balance by jumping back and forth so that no water could get into it. As the cradle eventually came close enough to the dike for a bystander to pick up the cradle, he saw that a baby was quietly sleeping inside it, nice and dry. The cat had kept the cradle balanced and afloat. This folktale and legend has been published as "The Cat and the Cradle" in English.[1]Kinderdijk pumps water to keep the land from flooding.

History

In Alblasserwaard, problems with water became more and more apparent in the 13th century. Large canals, called "weteringen", were dug to get rid of the excess water in the polders. However, the drained soil continued to subside, while the level of the river rose due to the river's sand deposits. After a few centuries, an additional way to keep the polders dry was required. It was decided to build a series of windmills, with a limited capacity to bridge water level differences, but just able to pump water into a reservoir at an intermediate level between the soil in the polder and the river; the reservoir could be pumped out into the river by other windmills whenever the river level was low enough; the river level has both seasonal and tidal variations. Although some of the windmills are still used, the main water works are provided by two diesel pumping stations near one of the entrances of the windmills site.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Meder 2007; Griffis, 1918.

Sources

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