Beemster Polder
The Droogmakerij - or Polder - Beemster was constructed in 1612. It was one of the first experiments in Holland in reclaiming agricultural grounds from the water.
The new land was not only used for farming: a lot of rich people from the wealthy city of Amsterdam built their second home here. Their houses have now disappeared, as have most of the windmills.
The area is split by roads in squares of 1800 meters. The roads, the canals, the grounds and the farming houses all are part of the ingenious 17th century masterplan. Therefore, Unesco described the landscape as a masterpiece of creative planning.
Visit April 2001, April 2008
So typical Dutch that it even is not remarkable anymore when you are living there. Flat, very flat, and neatly ordered. The best views of this and other polders in the area are from the air, when you prepare for landing at Schiphol Airport.
My first visited was on a dreary Sunday, not the best of times. A good way to explore the Beemster polder is on a bicycle. But beware: the wind can be strong in these open fields!
On my second visit I tried to find (and photograph) some of the 62 monuments that are included. The village of Middenbeemster is the core area for this: when you park your car near the church, a couple of the monuments are close enough to visit on foot. A little more out of the way are the windmill (under repair) and the Mennonite church. The roads are so narrow here that it's impossible to park.
More photos can be found in the Picture Gallery
Reviews
Ian Cade (England):
 I must admit that I was not really looking forward to this visit; it is by its very essence featureless, just flat and featureless. However I actually quite enjoyed the few hours I spent driving around and having a walk. It was the one site where I could grasp the Dutch water management system that seems to dominate their inscriptions.
There is no real monument or place where you can ‘see’ this site; you just have to lose yourself on the very straight roads overlooking the fields. One aspect that didn’t really occur to until I looked out at the landscape, but in Britain and most other places I have visited farms are all bounded by fences or hedge rows, but here it was drainage ditches that stopped the cows from wandering off, it is not really such an exciting point but I just found that quite interesting, and it gave the countryside quite a distinctive character.
I visited the town of Middenbeemster, it looked a lot like a very well presented ‘small town America’ however I was corrected on this, small town America looks a lot like this! The rigid grid layout of the roads was exported to the new world; Beemster even has a claim to being the model that the street plan of New York is based on. Middenbeemster was quite a nice place and had a few small museums, traditional farmhouses (picture) and a very friendly and helpful tourist information centre.
There is a dike that runs around the edge of the polder and from here you can really appreciate the difference in the levels of the surrounding lands and the polder itself. Also along the southern parts of the dike are three of the forts from the ‘Defensive Lines of Amsterdam’ WHS, the one at Spijkerboor is normally open to visitors but was closed when we visited but we had a little walk around it, and held a celebration for seeing the lesser spotted UNESCO site in a UNESCO site.
This site is not going to be the highlight of most peoples time in the Netherlands, but the good weather and empty roads made this a nice place for me to appreciate the Dutch ‘struggle against water’ |
| Date posted: August 2006 |
Joyce (Netherlands):
 The Beemsterpolder might be on the Unesco list, but to me, and I guess to every Dutch person visiting it, it looks like any other polder: flat and green. This wasn’t a very exiting visit, but when we drove up the small dike around it, it was pretty cool to see how high the land and water next to the Beemsterpolder is. |
| Date posted: February 2006 |
Christer Sundberg (Sweden):
 More of historic value to the Netherlands than actually a place to visit, could be a way to characterise the Droogmakerij de Beemster Polder. Droogmakerij means “make dry” in Dutch and Beemster is the name of the oldest “polder”, an area that has been transformed from sea to land. As you all know, this is somewhat of a Dutch speciality and the Beemster polder happened to be the first really large undertaking back in the early 17th century.
I visited the small village of Middelbeemster, located right in the middle of the polder, where a small museum and an information centre can be found. The story of how the Beemster polder was made is very interesting and a good example of Dutch business and craftsmanship. If you’re in the neighbourhood, head for Middelbeemster, go to the museum and then go for a relaxing lunch at the gourmet restaurant not far from centre point and the crossroads. |
| Date posted: November 2005 |
John Konyn (USA):
My Family comes from the Beemster and I have returned there on numerous vacation from the time I was 5. Having lived near the mountains in Southern California, I can attest to the fact that when you sit in the middle of the Beemster, it looks flat.
I have been there for all four seasons. The Colors in the spring will knock your socks off. Some of the sunsets in the late fall and winter are unbelievable.
The number one thing you can find in the Beemster (besides the cheese) is the people. They are some of the most friendly in the world. |
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