History
The Zaanstreek
The Zaanstreek is a centuries old peat district named after the river Zaan, an important waterway that began life as a natural drain for the surrounding marshy peat area, typical of this part of the province of North Holland. At the end of the 13th century an extensive network of dikes and dams were ingeniously created and sometime later the first small villages began to appear along the Zaan. Between the dikes the land was pumped dry and cultivated into grassland for agriculture and cattle. From the 16th century the masters of Zaan canal vessels travalled further inland as far as Germany and Belgium and Zaan merchants formed extensive trade with the Baltic, Scandinavia and even later with eastern Asia and the West Indies.
Zaanse Windmills
When Amsterdam developed into an important global trading centre at the end of the 16th century, the Zaan Region joined the economic boom. Staple products stored in Amsterdam, were refined by industrial windmills set along the perfectly situated, beautifully windy river Zaan!
The essential application of an invention by Cornelis Corneliszoon van Uitgeest, a skilled inventor and innovator of windmill construction gave an enormous boost to the Zaans economy. In 1592 Corneliszoon built the world´s first sawmill, 'Het Juffertje', 'The little Missy', using a crankshaft to convert the windmill's circular motion into a back-and-forward motion allowing wood to be cut at high precision and at a much faster rate. It was mainly due to Corneliszoon that timber production in the area rose 3,000 percent. He sold his floating windmill to a Zaan miller in 1596 and a century later more than 1,000 industrial windmills such as sawmills, paper mills, oil, paint and threshing mills ranged along the banks of the Zaan. Windmills were used not only for pumping water and sawing wood but also for pounding, grinding and husking grains and seeds such as corn, oats, nuts, mustard seed, spices and cocoa beans, grinding stones and chalk to make paint and pigments, pounding hemp and shells and shredding bark, tobacco and snuff. The high concentration of windmills resulted in the Zaanstreek becoming the world's first industrial area.
Zaanse Shipyards
Prosperity peaked in the Zaanstreek during in the Holland's Golden Age in the 17th century. Zaan timber was used in countless shipyards. The Dutch East and West Indies Companies were established in 1602 and 1621 respectively. By 1670 the Dutch fleet had some 15,000 vessels - five times the number of the English, giving them a vital trading monopoly around the world. Craftsmen of all types moved into the area including tin founders, boat builders and sail makers. The flourishing, cosmopolitan Zaanstreek became prosperous and so well-renowned as a centre of innovation that even the Russian Tsar Peter came here in 1697 - incognito - to learn as much as he could about shipbuilding. Zaan merchants travelled throughout the world trading in East Asia and the West Indies. Sawmills flourished to such an extent that millers became shipbuilders and went into the whaling industry resulting in Zaandam becoming one of Europe's foremost whaling centres.
Zaanse houses
Stone houses were scarce in the Zaanstreek because building materials were prohibitively expensive and stone houses needed extensive piles built underneath to prevent them from sinking into the swampy, peaty soil. Wood became the preferred building material because of its great abundance and lighter nature. Gigantic supplies of wood could be easily delivered along the Zaan.
Rich Merchant's houses were usually built in the same style as labourers' dwellings, but were larger and embellished with brightly painted ornaments and fine carving, often depicting the trade of the merchant who lived there. A typical feature of Zaan houses was a white painted kingpost situated on the top of the gable. It was customary to use the front door only for special occasions; marriage or death. Daily entrance was made through the side door! Interior decoration highlights the flourishing Zaan economy. Wealthy merchants displayed their wealth with pride. Later houses were built with second floors and extensions. 'Good years end' houses were another sign of prosperity.
The historical development of building construction, architecture, decoration and the use of traditional building materials can be easily followed at the Zaanse Schans.
The 19 listed buildings and traditional houses, storehouses and Dutch barns are authentically painted green or tarred black. This collection of buildings gives a complete picture of life in the Zaanstreek as it was during the 17th and 18th centuries. The habit of painting houses green became a tradition over three centuries using a variety of different shades of green. Rich Zaan merchants were able to afford paint with more expensive pigments resulting in shades of green that were brighter and more intense. There were many shades of green used in the past as there is still today and contrary to public belief a typical Zaanse green never existed.
Zaanse Schans
With its traditional green painted houses, windmills, storehouses, Dutch barns and small, hump-backed bridges a stroll around the Zaanse Schans generates a feeling of having stepped back in time. All the houses are occupied creating an authentic atmosphere of residential cosiness making the Zaanse Schans so much more than just an open-air museum. Most of the buildings were carefully re-located from other areas in the Zaanstreek during the 1960’s and 70’s to protect them for posterity; to the exact location where, with the aid of local people, Diederik van Sonoy, a Governor in the service of William of Orange erected an entrenchment or Schans to hold back the advancing Spanish army in 1574.
Developments - The protection programme
After the enormously successful Golden Age and its subsequent decline in the mid 19th century with the advent of steam power, the Zaanstreek flourished once again as a successful industrial area in the 20th century. In old village centres buildings and windmills had to make way for the construction of modern industry. Especially after the second-world war many beautiful buildings were obliterated because they stood in the way of progress.
Local conservationists decided to take matters into their own hands. In 1950 the Zaanse Schans Foundation was formed, an association consisting of members of local town councils and private organisations. The engineering of architect J.B.Schipper's design for a public open-air museum was largely funded by the government, the province of North Holland and the Zaanstad county council. The remaining 20% of funding came from private donations and local companies. The ongoing survival of buildings is guaranteed by leasing them to private individuals. All of the houses at the Zaanse Schans are lived in and maintenance is paid for by the Zaanse Schans Foundation.
The Zaanstreek
The Zaanstreek is a centuries old peat district named after the river Zaan, an important waterway that began life as a natural drain for the surrounding marshy peat area, typical of this part of the province of North Holland. At the end of the 13th century an extensive network of dikes and dams were ingeniously created and sometime later the first small villages began to appear along the Zaan. Between the dikes the land was pumped dry and cultivated into grassland for agriculture and cattle. From the 16th century the masters of Zaan canal vessels travalled further inland as far as Germany and Belgium and Zaan merchants formed extensive trade with the Baltic, Scandinavia and even later with eastern Asia and the West Indies.
Zaanse Windmills
When Amsterdam developed into an important global trading centre at the end of the 16th century, the Zaan Region joined the economic boom. Staple products stored in Amsterdam, were refined by industrial windmills set along the perfectly situated, beautifully windy river Zaan!
The essential application of an invention by Cornelis Corneliszoon van Uitgeest, a skilled inventor and innovator of windmill construction gave an enormous boost to the Zaans economy. In 1592 Corneliszoon built the world´s first sawmill, 'Het Juffertje', 'The little Missy', using a crankshaft to convert the windmill's circular motion into a back-and-forward motion allowing wood to be cut at high precision and at a much faster rate. It was mainly due to Corneliszoon that timber production in the area rose 3,000 percent. He sold his floating windmill to a Zaan miller in 1596 and a century later more than 1,000 industrial windmills such as sawmills, paper mills, oil, paint and threshing mills ranged along the banks of the Zaan. Windmills were used not only for pumping water and sawing wood but also for pounding, grinding and husking grains and seeds such as corn, oats, nuts, mustard seed, spices and cocoa beans, grinding stones and chalk to make paint and pigments, pounding hemp and shells and shredding bark, tobacco and snuff. The high concentration of windmills resulted in the Zaanstreek becoming the world's first industrial area.
Zaanse Shipyards
Prosperity peaked in the Zaanstreek during in the Holland's Golden Age in the 17th century. Zaan timber was used in countless shipyards. The Dutch East and West Indies Companies were established in 1602 and 1621 respectively. By 1670 the Dutch fleet had some 15,000 vessels - five times the number of the English, giving them a vital trading monopoly around the world. Craftsmen of all types moved into the area including tin founders, boat builders and sail makers. The flourishing, cosmopolitan Zaanstreek became prosperous and so well-renowned as a centre of innovation that even the Russian Tsar Peter came here in 1697 - incognito - to learn as much as he could about shipbuilding. Zaan merchants travelled throughout the world trading in East Asia and the West Indies. Sawmills flourished to such an extent that millers became shipbuilders and went into the whaling industry resulting in Zaandam becoming one of Europe's foremost whaling centres.
Zaanse houses
Stone houses were scarce in the Zaanstreek because building materials were prohibitively expensive and stone houses needed extensive piles built underneath to prevent them from sinking into the swampy, peaty soil. Wood became the preferred building material because of its great abundance and lighter nature. Gigantic supplies of wood could be easily delivered along the Zaan.
Rich Merchant's houses were usually built in the same style as labourers' dwellings, but were larger and embellished with brightly painted ornaments and fine carving, often depicting the trade of the merchant who lived there. A typical feature of Zaan houses was a white painted kingpost situated on the top of the gable. It was customary to use the front door only for special occasions; marriage or death. Daily entrance was made through the side door! Interior decoration highlights the flourishing Zaan economy. Wealthy merchants displayed their wealth with pride. Later houses were built with second floors and extensions. 'Good years end' houses were another sign of prosperity.
The historical development of building construction, architecture, decoration and the use of traditional building materials can be easily followed at the Zaanse Schans.
The 19 listed buildings and traditional houses, storehouses and Dutch barns are authentically painted green or tarred black. This collection of buildings gives a complete picture of life in the Zaanstreek as it was during the 17th and 18th centuries. The habit of painting houses green became a tradition over three centuries using a variety of different shades of green. Rich Zaan merchants were able to afford paint with more expensive pigments resulting in shades of green that were brighter and more intense. There were many shades of green used in the past as there is still today and contrary to public belief a typical Zaanse green never existed.
Zaanse Schans
With its traditional green painted houses, windmills, storehouses, Dutch barns and small, hump-backed bridges a stroll around the Zaanse Schans generates a feeling of having stepped back in time. All the houses are occupied creating an authentic atmosphere of residential cosiness making the Zaanse Schans so much more than just an open-air museum. Most of the buildings were carefully re-located from other areas in the Zaanstreek during the 1960’s and 70’s to protect them for posterity; to the exact location where, with the aid of local people, Diederik van Sonoy, a Governor in the service of William of Orange erected an entrenchment or Schans to hold back the advancing Spanish army in 1574.
Developments - The protection programme
After the enormously successful Golden Age and its subsequent decline in the mid 19th century with the advent of steam power, the Zaanstreek flourished once again as a successful industrial area in the 20th century. In old village centres buildings and windmills had to make way for the construction of modern industry. Especially after the second-world war many beautiful buildings were obliterated because they stood in the way of progress.
Local conservationists decided to take matters into their own hands. In 1950 the Zaanse Schans Foundation was formed, an association consisting of members of local town councils and private organisations. The engineering of architect J.B.Schipper's design for a public open-air museum was largely funded by the government, the province of North Holland and the Zaanstad county council. The remaining 20% of funding came from private donations and local companies. The ongoing survival of buildings is guaranteed by leasing them to private individuals. All of the houses at the Zaanse Schans are lived in and maintenance is paid for by the Zaanse Schans Foundation.
