Technology and Industry

They were used for draining the land, grinding flour, grating wood to extract dyes, pressing oils and sawing timber. The first sawing mills were built in the late 16th century. Around 1700 the Zaan Region in North Holland was home to more than 600 industrial windmills. Millwright and hydraulic engineer Jan Adriaensz Leeghwater developed drainage techniques that relied on windmills to remove water from large areas of land. They played an essential part in drying reclaimed land and maintaining water table levels in polder areas such as the Beemster, Schermer and Purmer. Multitalented engineer Simon Stevin was responsible for a variety of other inventions relating to water management and hydraulic technology. The Rijksmuseum holds a number of prints depicting Stevin’s spectacular ‘sailing chariot’, which drew crowds of spectators to Scheveningen beach in 1602.