windmills * Kinderdijk * Netherlands | 风车 * 小孩堤防 * 荷兰

This year, a bit unusually for me, II took a short trip to the Netherlands with a large travel agency. I was keen on visiting museums and having guided tours, but I didn’t feel like preparing for the trip at all. I was happy to rely entirely on others. I knew on one day we would be going somewhere to take a boat ride among old windmill scenes.

It was a beautiful, very warm July morning. When we boarded the boat, there were no other groups around, and ours had fewer than 20 people. It was quiet and peaceful, with just the sound of water as we sailed.

In truth, I didn’t even know the name of the place until I got back home. When I overheard it in passing, I thought I’d misheard. I don’t speak Dutch, but I know German well, and children and dyke didn’t seem to go together. But the place is indeed called Kinderdijk, which roughly translates as Children’s Dyke. You can see nineteen old Dutch windmills there, and you can even go inside some of them. In fact, most of these windmills are still inhabited today by people, even whole families, who take care of them and are paid for their efforts by the Dutch government. It’s all about preserving heritage. Even the boat we sailed on was captained by a Dutch woman who lives in one of the windmills.

There’s a small ticket office where you can buy entry tickets as well as tickets for the boat ride, a little café, and a souvenir shop. There are also a few toilets, so it’s a great place to enjoy a visit. The photos below show a place full of tranquillity. Unfortunately, that wasn’t entirely the case. During our one-hour cruise, it was indeed just us, but it eventually got crowded. Several groups tried to enter the showcase windmill at the same time. So, I decided not to go in, as I wouldn’t have had the chance to take any clear photos anyway. Still, I consider the morning very successful. The charm was further enhanced by the coffee and apple strudel I enjoyed while gazing at the windmills and boats on the canal.

Now to the name, that at first sight seems a bit weired. Why is a place where you can enjoy old windmills called Kinderdijk, literally Children’s Dyke? The name actually comes from a local legend associated with the St. Elizabeth’s Flood of 1421. During this great flood, which struck the Netherlands, the water breached the dikes and flooded many villages and areas around the river. According to the legend, after the waters receded, the villagers saw a cradle floating on the waves. Inside the cradle was a baby who had survived the flood, and next to the baby was a cat. The cat was jumping from one side of the cradle to the other to keep it balanced and prevent it from tipping over. This sight deeply moved the villagers, and so the place where the cradle was found was named Kinderdijk, in memory of the rescued child.

Kinderdijk is located in the province of South Holland, about 15 kilometres east of Rotterdam, at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers. It sits in a low-lying area known as the Alblasserwaard polder, a region traditionally vulnerable to flooding. The windmills were strategically built here to drain excess water from the polder into the rivers. The site is managed by a non-profit foundation established to preserve and maintain this UNESCO World Heritage site. It is responsible for the upkeep of the windmills, the visitor centre, and other facilities, as well as for providing educational resources and managing visitor access. The foundation works closely with local, regional, and national authorities, including the Dutch government and water boards, to ensure that Kinderdijk’s cultural and historical significance is maintained while allowing the public to experience and learn from the site. While there you can also visit the old Wisboom Pumping Station, where you can learn about the broader context of Dutch water management, explaining how windmills were a critical part of an elaborate system that continued to evolve and were eventually replaced with more modern machinery, yet still serving the same purpose of keeping the land dry.