Milling heritage in Midden-Groningen
Cycling and walking routes past mills
Fans of mills have come to the right place in Midden-Groningen. After all, the mill is a national Dutch symbol that created new land and food. Used for land reclamation from water and grinding corn, mills have also played a vital role in Groningen’s history. Bringing wealth to the people of Midden-Groningen, their historic sails still turn today, while modern mills are used to generate sustainable energy.
From polder draining-mill to flour mill
Most of the milling heritage in Midden-Groningen is situated around the villages of Slochteren and Noordbroek. The Molenstichting Midden-en Oost-Groningen (MSMOG) maintains ten of them. ‘It’s impossible to imagine our region without mills. This heritage simply must be maintained and we make sure that this is exactly what’s done,’ says Bert Steenhuizen of MSMOG. ‘Without the polder draining-mills – used to transport water from a lower to a higher area – the Netherlands as we know it would never have existed.’
Midden-Groningen features eight mills, varying from polder draining-mills to flour mills. Slochteren is home to the oldest surviving polder draining-mill in the province of Groningen, called the Molen van de Groote Polder. With help from its neighbouring mills – De Ruiten and the Fraeylemamolen – it worked to remove sufficient water from the polder to work the land. In doing so, it increased the area’s wealth and economic prosperity step by step and bit by bit.
Three in a row
Just outside Slochteren is a row of three mills where there used to be no fewer than thirty. ‘This is why it’s so important to us that these mills are preserved,’ says Steenhuizen. ‘The best way to do this is by operating them. Our passionate millers spend as much time as possible in the mills to keep the vanes turning. Unused mills eventually start creaking and moaning, which will leave them unusable.’
Vincent Mathlener is one of the enthusiastic millers. ‘Each mill has its very own history, and no mill is the same as the next. I love guiding people through the mill and telling them all about it.’ He started volunteering for the Noordermolen in Noordbroek in 2018, and ‘since then I can hardly be dragged away from here.’
