Dutch celebrate their history-defining windmill - by Frederic Bichon
In the beginning there was water. Then the Dutch came and claimed their territory: a centuries-long task of drying out lakes, marsh land and even parts of the sea, all thanks to windmills.
In the Netherlands, 2007 has been declared the "Year of the Windmill" to celebrate the national symbol that has brought the country riches and shaped its social fabric but is now threatened by time, urban expansion and simply lack of interest. Historical documents trace the first Dutch windmill back to 1407, though the actual mill mentioned in the papers no longer exists."The windmill has kept our feet dry," said Leo Endedijk, the chairman of the association for the conservation of Dutch windmills.
Even today this holds true. When a terrible storm swept over northern Europe on January 19 many mills in the northern Netherlands were put into action to lower dangerously high water levels.
No comments:
Post a Comment