Googermolen

Googermolen

In 1717 the Googermolen was built to drain the Googerpolder. The current miller is Jos van der Donk.

Presumably as a result of fire, the hood of the mill was returned to its original state in 1839. The  beams which were partially burned at the time are still visible. It went amiss again in 1903: during milling the shaft of the mill broke. The hood was severely damaged and the sails were completely destroyed. The polder management immediately had the windmill restored and until 1956 the Googerpolder was drained exclusively by wind energy.

After the installation of an auxiliary engine, the mill fell slowly into disrepair. Around 1980 it was no longer workable. After a thorough restoration in the 1990s the Googermolen has been working again on a voluntarily basis. An electric screw pump next to the mill is responsible for the main drainage of the polder.

Every year the Googermolen is open during the Heritage Days, which always take place in the second weekend of September. The current miller Jos van der Donk. "In 2017 the mill will be 300 years old and this will not go by unnoticed," says Van der Donk.

Bas Brand made a lovely video of the Googermolen from the air: view the video here.

More information about the Googermolen can be found in the Dutch windmill database.