''De Noord'' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''The North'') was a

tower mill A tower mill is a type of vertical windmill consisting of a brick or stone tower, on which sits a wooden 'cap' or roof, which can rotate to bring the sails into the wind.Medieval science, technology, and medicine: an encyclopedia (2005), 520 Thi ...

located on the in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It was built between 1695 and 1711 as a replacement for a

post mill 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 vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind. All p ...

which had stood at the site since around 1562. De Noord was used as a

malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...

mill until the nineteenth century, when it switched to grinding grain for animal feed. The mill was almost demolished in 1919, but intervention by the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

saved it. The mill was one of the only buildings to survive the

German bombing of Rotterdam in World War II Rotterdam was subjected to heavy aerial bombardment by the ''Luftwaffe'' during the German invasion of the Netherlands in World War II. The objective was to support the German troops fighting in the city, break Dutch resistance and force the Du ...

and during the

Nazi occupation of the Netherlands Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of Fall Gelb (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces surrendered. The Dutch government and the royal family re ...

, it became a symbol of Dutch resistance. De Noord suffered in a fire over the night of 27-28 July 1954 and, despite being well-insured, was demolished soon after due to the extent of the damage and because the mill would get in the way of traffic. There was a campaign for the mill to be rebuilt soon after which raised 20,000

guilders Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empir ...

, but the plan was rejected by the city council by 22 votes to 18. Frans Blok, a Rotterdam designer, launched a new campaign to rebuild De Noord as part of a redesign of the Oostplein in 2020. According to Blok, it would improve the Oostplein by giving it more green space and would be comparable to mills that had been rebuilt elsewhere in the Netherlands, such as the Molen De Kameel in

Schiedam Schiedam () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen, and south of Delft. In the south the city is connected with the village ...

. In Blok's plans, the mill would not be built on its original site, as the Oostplein metro station now lies under it.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noord (Rotterdam) Windmills in South Holland Tower mills in the Netherlands Grinding mills in the Netherlands Windmills completed in 1711 Buildings and structures demolished in 1954 Buildings and structures in Rotterdam

See also

References