Nederland - Terwolde, ‘De Ooievaar’

The current mill is the third one at this place. The first mill was a so called ‘grondzeiler’ with wings which came about two feet above the ground. The mill was built in 1854.by Abraham Ledeboer. Five years later the mill was sold to family Dieperink.

In 1896 the original mill was destroyed by fire. The second mill was a thatched stage mill and was used by the same family till the year of 1948, when it was bought by family Vorderman, well known millers in the region. In 1967, still in operation, the mill was restored for the first time.

Four years later the mill was destroyed again by fire. A local foundation took the initiative for rebuilding the windmill in Terwolde, 100 meters to the west of the old mill site. For the reconstruction the octagonal buck from the ‘Holtermansmolen’ from Deventer (most probably built in 1640 as a polder mill) was used.

In 1990 the reconstruction of ‘De Ooievaar’ (the Stork) was completed . Since then it houses one of the seven remaining operational flour mills in the Netherlands. But on 31 August 2015 the mill burned down again. Eearly May 2018- after the reconstruction - 'De Ooievaar' was opened to the public again.