De Walvisch Mill

The Walvisch. Molen De Walvisch owes its name to the bowhead whaling, which flourished at the end of the 18th century. Then was the rise of malt wine and gin. The museum. With a moving projection of 180 degrees you will discover the history of the Schiedam mills, for example how burner mills worked and how millers lived.

De Walvisch did not only grind for the distilleries. In the early 1930s, magnesium was even processed. This produced a medicine and pure carbon dioxide, which was sold to the lemonade factories that Schiedam had in those years. In 1954, the Kluit family took the mill into use. What is special is that they lived in the mill. The mill was thoroughly renovated at various times. For example, in the early 1970s, the counter was restored and also the outside of the sails. De Walvisch also got a completely new hood. In 1982, after research, it turned out that it was no longer responsible to let the mill turn. A new upper wheel was needed. The Association De Hollandsche Molen transferred the mill to the Foundation De Schiedamse Molens. Miller van Driel Kluit continued his work on the mill. In the early morning of 14 February 1996, Schiedam is startled by the sirens of the fire brigade: De Walvisch is on fire. This fire destroys the entire interior from the roof to the first attic. Thanks to many actions by Schiedam companies, institutions and citizens, the restoration of De Walvisch was made possible. In 1999, the mill started turning again. Since 2002, a real mill shop has been located in the De Walvisch mill with a large assortment of mill flour and other baking products. Milling is no longer done at this mill, but at two mills further on in the De Vrijheid mill, where the traditional milling company of De Schiedamse Molens is housed. Click here for more information about the assortment and opening hours of the mill shop. In 2018, the De Walvisch mill was completely renovated into a combined museum mill and mill shop. For more information about the museum, visit jenevermuseum.nl.

In 1982 the municipality of Schiedam took over De Walvisch from De Hollandsche Molen for the known amount of NLG 1, -. At that time the mill had been standing still for some time due to a bad upper wheel. In July 1983 this wheel was renewed by the Fa. Verbij (the old wheel has been placed separately in De Noord since then).