2840 NETHERLAND (Netherland / South Holland) - Van Nelle Factory (UNESCO WHS)

Designed and built between 1925 and 1931 on the banks of a canal in the Spaanse Polder industrial zone north-west of Rotterdam, Van Nelle Factory is considered a prime example of the International Style, and an example of Nieuwe Bouwen, modern architecture in the Netherlands, influenced by Russian Constructivism. Prominent architects described it as "the most beautiful spectacle of the modern age" (Le Corbusier in 1932) and "a poem in steel and glass" (Robertson and Yerbury in 1930).

2413, 2700 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / South Holland) - A hollow post mill in Kaag

2413 A hollow post mill in Kaag

Posted on 27.03.2016, 21.08.2016
The post mill is probably the earliest type of European windmill, and it was invented because in Europe the wind has no prevailing direction. The 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. The design and usage of these windmills peaked in the 18th and 19th centuries and then declined after the introduction of high-speed steam-driven milling machinery.

2700 A hollow post mill

Among the many variants of post mills are the hollow post mills. In these mills the main post is bored to take a driveshaft, similar to an Upright Shaft in a smock or tower mill. This enables the mill to drive machinery in the base or roundhouse. In the Netherlands, they are called wipmolen and were mostly used for drainage (poldermolen). This type of windmill was used mainly in the polder areas of central and western Netherlands.

1747 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / South Holland) - Windmills of Leidschendam

Located in the western Netherlands, on the banks of the canal Vliet, near the historic city of Leiden, Leidschendam is now part of the agglomeration of the city of The Hague and is often regarded as its suburbs. The town's name has been in use for centuries and refers to the lock in the Vliet. The settlement on the Northern side of the lock was known as Veur, until the formation of the municipality of Leidschendam in 1938. As elsewhere in Holland, windmills were constructed to power local industry, such as a wheat grinding mill in 1594 and wood processing mills in 1643 and 1739 (de Salamander and de Hoop). In the postcard are three smock mills.

0227 & 0254 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / South Holland) - Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout (UNESCO WHS)

Posted on 28.05.2012
The windmill in the picture is a variant of smock mill (I wrote here about this type of mill), namely grondzeiler (ground sailer). These mills can be operated from the ground, and because the sails reach almost down to the ground, being a great danger to people and animals, are surrounded by a fence. This type of mill was built in locations with little wind barrier, for example in the barren western polders of the Netherlands. The best known example of such mills is the Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout, an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. The mill in the image is part of this group, which is the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands.

Located in Alblasserwaard (-waard = "land in or along the water), a polder at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers, about 15km east of Rotterdam, this network, consists of 19 windmills built around 1740 and very well preserved, had the purpose to drain the polder. In Alblasserwaard, problems with water was always apparent, so when the large canals dug in the 13th century weren't sufficient anymore, were built this windmills, which pump the water into a reservoir at an intermediate level between the soil in the polder and the river, and from there into the river, by other windmills. Although some of the windmills are still used, the main works are provided by two diesel pumping stations.

The legend about the name Kinderdijk (Children's dike) is very nice. During the Saint Elizabeth flood of 1421, one of the worst floods in history, the Grote Hollandse Waard was flooded, but the Alblasserwaard not. It's said that someone who went on to the dike between these two areas to see what could be saved, saw a wooden cradle floating on the waters, and on the cradle a cat, trying to keep it in balance by jumping back and forth. When the cradle reached close enough, he saw a baby who sleeping inside it.

The stamp is part of Green Progress set, about which I wrote here.

Added on 19.06.2012

Outstanding this winter image of the Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout. Ever since I saw the postcard it made me think to the paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, who otherwise was born in Breda, 45km from Kinderdijk. Regarding the legend about the name of the place, you can find here the lyrics of The child in the cradle, an old Dutch folk song very known in Netherlands.


About the stamp

The stamp is one of the two presented by Netherlands for the theme Visit..., chosen for Europa Stamps 2012. The stamps, issued on March 26, 2012, show how Amsterdam’s wealth and development as a city has been dominated by its historic concentric rings of canals and the River Amstel. The second stamps of the series can be seen here.


sender 1: Marion / patmar (postcrossing)
sent from Nijmegen (Netherlands), on 14.02.2012
sender 2: Wilma van Vegten (direct swap)
sent from Leiden (Netherlands), on 11.05.2012
photo: Emile Luider 

0219 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / South Holland) - Rijksscholen Gemeenschap

Behold a new postcard for the topic Received from those born on August 8, beautiful and nostalgic, coming from a very friendly lady from the Netherlands. Dankzij veel, Ado. Thus, this "club" has now seven members (from seven different countries). With me, eight.

As Ado says, in the image is a Rijksscholen Gemeenscha (Kingdom Community Schools), a secondary school, which she graduated, in South of Rotterdam. As far as I understand, this is (or was) a network of secondary schools (about which I couldn't learn more) who benefit from such buildings, built after the plans of the same architect. Today the building in the image no longer serves as school, but was turned into a residential complex.