Vereniging de Zaansche Molen
A Dutch heritage association that preserves, operates, and interprets the historic industrial windmills of the Zaanstreek.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Vereniging de Zaansche Molen is a Dutch heritage association devoted to protecting the remaining industrial windmills of the Zaanstreek, the historic industrial region north of Amsterdam. Its work combines conservation, ownership, restoration, public interpretation, and education. The association is particularly associated with the mills around the Zaanse Schans, although its collection and activities extend across the wider Zaan region. The organization emerged from concern about the rapid disappearance of the region's wind-powered industrial machinery. On 26 February 1925, the oil mill De Zoeker was damaged by a tornado. The incident affected Frans Mars, a schoolmaster and artist who was deeply interested in the Zaan landscape and its mills. Mars published an open letter in the newspaper De Zaanlander and sought support from people including Pieter Boorsma. Their efforts resulted in the association's establishment later in 1925. Its first major public initiative was an exhibition about windmills at the public primary school in Koog aan de Zaan. The exhibition attracted substantial interest and helped expand membership. The association subsequently pursued the creation of a dedicated museum. When the building known as the House with the Iron Bridge faced demolition because of plans for Koogerpark, a compromise allowed it to be moved to the edge of the park. The association adapted the building as the Windmill Museum, which opened on 24 May 1928 and also became the association's office. In its early decades, the association concentrated on fundraising for financially struggling mill owners. This approach treated preservation as a practical rescue effort: helping owners maintain historic structures so that mills would not be dismantled or lost. The organization later became a direct owner and custodian of historic mills. A key transition occurred in 1939, when the Zaan regional tourist office offered the oil mill Het Pink to the association. Although restoration was completed, the planned opening on 10 May 1940 was canceled because Germany invaded the Netherlands. Over time, the association's collection expanded to represent the principal industrial uses for which Zaan mills were known. Its holdings include oil mills, sawmills, flour mills, a peeling mill, papermills, a spice mill, a paint mill, and a meadow mill. The collection includes De Bonte Hen, De Ooijevaar, Het Pink, De Zoeker, De Os, De Gekroonde Poelenburg, Het Jonge Schaap, De Pale Death, De Koker, Het Prinsenhof, De Schoolmeester, De Jonge Dirk, De Huisman, De Kat, and De Zwaan. The mills are not merely static monuments: their machinery, industrial functions, settings, and associated skills form part of the heritage being conserved and explained. The association continued adding to and developing its collection in the twenty-first century. The newly built Het Jonge Schaap was added in 2007, restoring a hexagonal smock-mill presence to the Zaan area. In 2014, De Jonge Dirk and the meadow mill De Zwaan in Westzaan came into the association's possession. Through its museum, mill ownership, restoration work, educational activity, and public-facing heritage role, Vereniging de Zaansche Molen presents the Zaanstreek's windmill landscape as an interconnected industrial heritage system rather than as a collection of isolated monuments.
History
Vereniging de Zaansche Molen was founded in 1925 in response to the deterioration and loss of industrial windmills in the Zaanstreek. The immediate catalyst was the damage caused to the oil mill De Zoeker by a tornado on 26 February 1925. Frans Mars, a local schoolmaster and artist, responded publicly through an open letter in De Zaanlander. He gathered supporters, among them Pieter Boorsma, and their campaign led to the creation of an association dedicated to the preservation of the region's mills. The association initially built support through public education. Its first major activity was a windmill exhibition held at the public primary school in Koog aan de Zaan. The exhibition generated interest and helped increase membership, demonstrating that the mills were not only obsolete industrial facilities but also important elements of local history and identity. A permanent museum became the association's next major objective. The building known as the House with the Iron Bridge was threatened with demolition in connection with the development of Koogerpark. A compromise permitted the building to be moved to the edge of the park. The association converted it into the Windmill Museum, which opened on 24 May 1928. The museum also housed the association's office and became a base for collecting, interpreting, and promoting knowledge about Zaan windmills. During its early years, the association generally worked by raising funds for mill owners who could no longer afford the upkeep of their buildings and machinery. This model allowed owners to retain their mills while the association acted as a preservation network and advocate. Its role changed gradually toward direct ownership. In 1939, the regional tourist office offered the oil mill Het Pink to the association. Restoration followed, but the official opening planned for 10 May 1940 could not take place because of the German invasion of the Netherlands. As ownership and conservation capacity increased, the association developed a representative collection of mills with different industrial functions. The collection came to include oil mills such as De Bonte Hen, De Ooijevaar, Het Pink, De Zoeker, and De Os; sawmills including De Gekroonde Poelenburg and Het Jonge Schaap; gristmills such as De Pale Death and De Koker; the peeling mill Het Prinsenhof; papermills De Schoolmeester and De Jonge Dirk; the spice mill De Huisman; the paint mill De Kat; and the meadow mill De Zwaan. This range reflects the historic importance of wind power to the Zaanstreek's processing and manufacturing economy. The association also supported reconstruction and renewal where appropriate. Het Jonge Schaap, a newly built mill, joined the collection in 2007 and provided the region with another hexagonal smock mill. In 2014, De Jonge Dirk and De Zwaan in Westzaan came into the association's possession. These additions extended the association's responsibilities beyond its earlier core group of mills and strengthened its role as a long-term custodian of the regional landscape. Today, Vereniging de Zaansche Molen combines the functions of a membership association, heritage conservator, museum organization, and mill owner. Its work encompasses structural maintenance, restoration of machinery and buildings, historical interpretation, and public engagement. The association's principal subject is the industrial windmill tradition of the Zaanstreek, and its heritage strategy links individual mills to the wider economic, technological, and cultural history of the region.
- 2014
De Jonge Dirk and De Zwaan acquired
[1]De Jonge Dirk and the meadow mill De Zwaan in Westzaan came into the association's possession.
- 2007
Het Jonge Schaap added
[1]The newly built Het Jonge Schaap joined the association's collection, adding a hexagonal smock mill to the Zaan region.
- 1940
Het Pink opening canceled during the German invasion
[1]The planned opening of restored Het Pink on 10 May was canceled after Germany invaded the Netherlands.
- 1939
Het Pink enters the association's preservation program
[1]The Zaan regional tourist office offered the oil mill Het Pink to the association, leading to its restoration.
- 1928
Windmill Museum opened
[1]The relocated House with the Iron Bridge opened as the association's Windmill Museum on 24 May, also serving as its office.
- 1925
Association founded after damage to De Zoeker
[1]Following a tornado that damaged the oil mill De Zoeker, Frans Mars published an appeal and gathered supporters including Pieter Boorsma. Their efforts led to the founding of Vereniging de Zaansche Molen.
- 1925
First public windmill exhibition
[1]The association organized an exhibition about windmills at a public primary school in Koog aan de Zaan, helping attract public interest and new members.
Products and positioning
A specialist regional heritage organization preserving the Zaanstreek's industrial windmill landscape through direct stewardship, restoration, museum work, and public education.
Museum and heritage interpretation · 1928
Windmill Museum
The Windmill Museum in Koog aan de Zaan is the association's principal museum and office site. It developed from the relocated House with the Iron Bridge and provides an institutional base for exhibitions, interpretation, and public education about the industrial windmills and working heritage of the Zaanstreek.
Industrial windmills
Oil mills
The oil-mill group includes De Bonte Hen, De Ooijevaar, Het Pink, De Zoeker, and De Os. These mills represent the Zaanstreek's historic use of wind power to process oil-bearing materials and are preserved as buildings, machines, and evidence of the region's industrial economy.
Industrial windmills
Sawmills
De Gekroonde Poelenburg and Het Jonge Schaap represent the region's wind-powered timber-processing tradition. Their preservation communicates the technical relationship between wind power, saw machinery, and the Zaanstreek's historic manufacturing and shipbuilding economy.
Industrial windmills
Processing and manufacturing mills
The wider collection includes the gristmills De Pale Death and De Koker, the peeling mill Het Prinsenhof, the papermills De Schoolmeester and De Jonge Dirk, the spice mill De Huisman, the paint mill De Kat, and the meadow mill De Zwaan. Together they show the diversity of industrial tasks once powered by wind in the Zaan region.
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