The Netherlands and windmills: they belong together, for centuries. Well before the Golden Age mills already played an important role in the economy, the development of the landscape and social life of the Netherlands. This later changed: the industrial revolution set in late in the Netherlands, but around 1920 mills were pushed to the fringes of society. Mills are among the most recognisable monuments in the Netherlands. They are, like church towers, water towers and lighthouses, beacons in the landscape, landmarks