Just under 100 years ago, the Netherlands boasted over 10,000 windmills. This invention, which was originally Japanese, is now internationally associated with Holland. Unfortunately, less than 1,000 are left, a few dozen in the Utrecht region. One of the most beautiful ones, called Rijn en Zon (Rhine and Sun), was originally located somewhere else. During World War II, this mill from 1745 played an important role for Utrecht inhabitants who had managed to grab hold of a bag of flour. During a storm on 1 March 1949, the mill was damaged and became unusable, and during another storm in 1965, more parts of the gallery came down. In the 1960s, there were plans to demolish the mill, but after the municipality bought it in 1974, it was finally restored. Today the mill still frequently turns and it is sometimes even used to grind flour.
