Rebuilding History. Windmill "De Adriaan", Haarlem, The Netherlands
In 2002 it was decided to rebuild this handsome windmill "De Adriaan". It burned down in 1932, a century and a half after it had been built for Adriaan de Booys, an entrepreneur and inventor of Amsterdam in 1779. He had vested interests in paints, tanbark and cement, and to that end he needed a mill for their production. In 1789 he was granted a patent for a particularly strong cement of his invention and he became the official supplier to the city until 1810. In that year he went bankrupt through the machinations of jealous colleagues and new 'recipes' for cement production. He'd already had to sell "De Adriaan" in 1802 because his prices for cement were being undercut by a miller from Dordrecht. The mill was reduced to grinding down tobacco to provide snuff for gentlemen... After the middle of the nineteenth century the mill was again converted, this time for the milling of cereals, but it was never a commercial success. Perhaps tourism will change that...
Rebuilding History. Windmill "De Adriaan", Haarlem, The Netherlands
In 2002 it was decided to rebuild this handsome windmill "De Adriaan". It burned down in 1932, a century and a half after it had been built for Adriaan de Booys, an entrepreneur and inventor of Amsterdam in 1779. He had vested interests in paints, tanbark and cement, and to that end he needed a mill for their production. In 1789 he was granted a patent for a particularly strong cement of his invention and he became the official supplier to the city until 1810. In that year he went bankrupt through the machinations of jealous colleagues and new 'recipes' for cement production. He'd already had to sell "De Adriaan" in 1802 because his prices for cement were being undercut by a miller from Dordrecht. The mill was reduced to grinding down tobacco to provide snuff for gentlemen... After the middle of the nineteenth century the mill was again converted, this time for the milling of cereals, but it was never a commercial success. Perhaps tourism will change that...