A visit toThe Beemster, a World Heritage site

At the end of July 1612 the Princes Maurits and Frederik Hendrik were looking at the newly reclaimed Beemster. They were the first visitors to what was to become one of the most beautiful polders of Holland. At that time the land was still empty, but soon houses, farms and beautiful country homes were to be built in the new land.

The princes had been invited by the men who had realised the daring plan. A group of merchants from Amsterdam and regents from The Hague had been granted permission to reclaim North Holland's largest lake in 1607. In the area north of Amsterdam large lakes had been formed due to settling of the original peat soil, storm floods and the crumbling away of the banks.
The increasing water problems threatened the cities. Moreover, the growing city population created an ever increasing need for agricultural land for food. Merchants who had become rich through trade were looking for new forms of investment and were devising schemes to reclaim the large lakes. These plans could be realised thanks to new technological developments.

The dike builders engaged the mill builder Jan Adriaansz from 'De Rijp' to manage the technical part of the project. His success earned him the (nick) name Leeghwater.
After the construction of the ring dike, 26 windmills started to pump the water out of the Beemster. However in January 1610, a severe storm caused the polder to flood again and as a result, they had to start all over again. This time the work was done by 40 windmills. In the summer of 1612 the job was finished and the lake was dry!