Molen De Hoop

Walking along the vestingwallen, you will come across two more stone corn mills where grain was ground into flour. One is on the Dalemwal: Korenmolen De Hoop.

De Hoop was built in 1764. This tower mill stands on the city rampart on the Upper Merwede and can be easily seen from the water. It took more than 100 years for the mill to be named. Only in 1879, the then new owner A.J. van de Water named it De Hoop.

In 1900, a gas engine was installed in the mill to allow grinding even when there was no wind. However, the mill was operating less and less and fell into disrepair. In 1941, a campaign was launched to preserve both mills - De Hoop and Nooit Volmaakt - for posterity. With success; in 1942, both mills started operating again. But in 1944, nearby aircraft bombs were dropped and De Hoop ruptured. Since then, the mill has had problems with moisture penetration.

Restored in 1965 and again from 1993 to 1995, De Hoop has two grinding seats and a mixing boiler, all wind-driven. Soms the mill runs on weekends and can be visited during opening hours.

Disaster year

In the Disaster Year 1672, a corn mill also stood on this spot (since 1634). Corn mills were particularly important then, because with the arrival of soldiers, the population had suddenly increased 1.5 times. So much more corn had to be ground to bake bread. But because the land was flooded, there was not enough corn and so people went hungry. You can go into the mill and up to the scaffolding, where you can enjoy the view of the 1672 Waterline landscape.