De Adriaan () is a

windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

that burnt down in 1932"De Ondergang van den „Adriaan".". "Het nieuws van den dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië". Batavia, 1932/05/28 00:00:00, p. 17. Geraadpleegd op Delpher op 25-02-2020, http://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010229502:mpeg21:p017 and was rebuilt in 2002. The original windmill dates from 1779 and the mill has been a distinctive part of the skyline of

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

for centuries.

History of De Adriaan

Goevrouwetoren

The windmill was built on the foundations of the Goevrouwetoren by Adriaan de Booys, an industrial producer from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. The Goevrouwetoren, or Goede Vrouwtoren (Goodwife Tower), had been the northern support of the city's Catrijnenpoort, a defence work over the River

Spaarne The Spaarne is a river in North Holland, Netherlands. This partially canalized river connects the Ringvaart to a side branch of the North Sea Canal. It runs through Haarlem, Heemstede, and Spaarndam. The historic canals of Haarlem's moats are c ...

. By the late 18th century, the gate was redundant due to the expansion of the city, and de Booys bought the tower and the land around it from the municipality of Haarlem on April 24, 1778. By reinforcing the foundations with wooden supporting poles, the mill was built to 34 metres above the level of the river, and above the surrounding city. De Adriaan was officially opened on May 19, 1779. De Booys was granted permission to build a windmill to produce

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

paint Paint is a material or mixture that, when applied to a solid material and allowed to dry, adds a film-like layer. As art, this is used to create an image or images known as a painting. Paint can be made in many colors and types. Most paints are ...

, and

tanbark Tanbark is the Bark (botany), bark of certain species of trees, traditionally used for Tanning (leather), tanning Hide (skin), hides into leather. The words "tannin", "Tanning (leather), tanning", "Tan (color), tan," and "Tawny (color), tawny" a ...

. The windmill was built under the supervision of miller Henricus Ruijsch from

Waddinxveen Waddinxveen () is a town and municipality along the Gouwe river in the western Netherlands in the province of South Holland near Gouda. The municipality had a population of in and covers an area of of which is water. A small piece of artwork ...

. De Booy earned the concession to be the sole producer of cement in the city for 25 years. De Booys sold the windmill to Cornelis Kraan in 1802. The monopoly on cement had not been as lucrative as De Booys had hoped for; a competitor evaded the law by importing cement from

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

. The windmill was sold for 1650

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 Rom ...

, and Kraan converted the mill into a

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

mill, to produce tobacco snuff. Kraan already owned a tobacco shop, at the Grote Houtstraat (number 12). In 1865 a steam engine was placed in the windmill by the then owner, J. van Berloo, but this was not a commercial success. In 1925 the windmill was bought for 12,100

by the Dutch windmill society Vereniging De Hollandsche Molen to prevent demolition. The mill was severely damaged by a storm in 1930.

Fire

On the evening of April 23, 1932 the windmill burnt down. The fire brigade arrived quickly but could not prevent the complete burning down of the mill. This event was a shock for many citizens of the city; the cause of the fire has never been established.

Rebuilding

Immediately after the fire, citizens of Haarlem collected money to pay for the rebuilding of the mill. The owner of the mill, Vereniging De Hollande Molen, started a collection and the result was 3,000 guilders. The insurance money, 12.165 guilders, had to be used to pay off the

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...

on the mill. The municipality of Haarlem made 10,000 guilders, a large amount of money, available in 1938 for the renovation of the mill, but this was overruled by the provincial council because of the bad economic situation. The renovation had to be postponed until the economic situation improved (1930s). In 1963 the Haarlem municipality became owner of the mill and tried to restore it. That failed, however, due to a lack of funds. In September 1985 a plan was presented by the architects Braaksma and Roos for renovation of the Scheepsmakersdijk; and their plan included a renovated windmill. In 1995 detailed plans were made by the Haarlem municipality and on April 21, 1999, the first pole was put in the ground. De Adriaan was rebuilt on the original foundations of the old windmill. Windmill De Adriaan was reopened on April 23, 2002, exactly 70 years after the fire. The current owner is Stichting Molen De Adriaan.

Tourist attraction

The windmill is fully functional, and is capable of grinding grain. However, it is not often in use - it works for tourists, mostly on Saturdays and holidays. Inside the windmill is a small museum, and the interior can be seen.

References

General references

* Op en rond Scheepmakersdijk en Harmenjansveld, M.A. Bulte, De Vrieseborch Haarlem, 2002 () * De Adriaan van Haarlem, P. Hammann and P. Arp, Vereniging Haarlem 1998
Article on De Molenaar.nl (in Dutch)

Record in a windmill database (in Dutch)

External links

Molen De Adriaan (official website)

Kroniek van Haarlem: Herbouw molen De Adriaan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adriaan, Haarlem Windmills in North Holland Buildings and structures in Haarlem Museums in Haarlem Mill museums in the Netherlands Smock mills in the Netherlands Grinding mills in the Netherlands Windmills completed in 2002