Tulips and windmills by Marc Hollenberg

About "Tulips and windmills"

by Marc Hollenberg

About the artwork

The Mijzenpolder lies between the Beemster and Schermer, adjacent to the villages Schermerhorn, Ursem and Avenhorn and has its origin around the year 1000. From the geestgronden people start working and grazing the high peat soil in the northern tip of the Schermer Island and they try to keep it dry. The reclamation, with the associated drainage, led to the settling of the peat, which increased the risk of flooding. It was decided in the 13th century to build dikes, so that the water management could be better controlled, after which many new dikes and embankments followed. In the first half of the 17th century watermills were built to keep the water out of the polder in a controlled way. But the peat dikes around the polder also collapsed and could not prevent the polder from flooding twice. Raising the dikes was extremely slow, partly because the polder administration changed quite often and was divided among three villages. One of the oldest villages in the Schermer Island and surroundings was (West)Mijzen, which dates from the first century. Around that time the little chapel of St. Mary was also founded, which fell into disrepair in the 18th century and was eventually demolished. The Mijzen church was a daughter church of the church in Heiloo. In 2007 the Mijzenpolder was declared an 'Earth Heritage Site' by the province. This was despite the fact that in the early 1970s there were plans to flood the polder again for the benefit of recreation. However, this plan did not