ANTAÑO :: Christa Zaat

Christa Zaat


Jacob Olie (Dutch photographer) 1834 - 1905
Windmolen "De Gooyer" (Windmill "De Gooyer"), 1896
photograph
s.l.

The Gooyer is a windmill in Amsterdam located between Funenkade and Zeeburgerstraat. It is the tallest wooden mill in the Netherlands. It is registered as a National Monument.
The names dates from the around 1609, when the mill was owned by Claes and Jan Willemsz, two brothers from Gooiland. It is also known as "The Funenmolen" ("The Mill on the Funen").
The Gooyer consists of a stone foundation topped by a wooden octagonal body. The mill is owned by the municipality of Amsterdam and is not open to visitors. Although the blades are functional, they no longer operate any grinding mechanism.
Next to the mill, in the former Municipal Bathhouse dating back to 1911, is the Brouwerij 't IJ. Contrary to popular belief, neither the mill nor former bathhouse have any historical or architectural relationship, and the mill fulfils no function for the brewery despite the image of a mill being in the brewery logo.

The original mill was constructed in the 16th century. After destruction and some movements, in 1725 the mill stood on the site of the current Orange-Nassau barracks. Finally, in 1814 the mill moved again its current location on Funenkade atop the stone base of a watermill that had been demolished in 1812.
This mill is the last 26 corn mills on the bastions of the 17th century walls of Amsterdam. The location of the mills was at that time very favourable as the outskirts of town provided ample wind.
After the mill had fallen into disrepair, it was purchased in 1928 by the city of Amsterdam for 3200 guilders and restored. Due to the lack of power during the Second World War the mill served as a corn mill for Amsterdam. The sails were damaged on November 13, 1972 during a storm. The upper shaft broke and the blades embedded in the adjacent Nieuwevaart. Some years later the original, old Dutch type blades were restored.

* * *

Jacob Olie was a Dutch carpenter, architect, headmaster of the first Dutch technical school (1868–90), and prolific amateur photographer. He photographed in two periods, during the 1860s until c. 1867, and between his retirement and death, in these latter years taking c. 3,600 photographs. In both periods he used the same 9 × 12cm (3 1/2 × 4 4/5 in) plate camera, but after 1890 with a better lens and dry instead of wet plates. Olie's photographs are enormously interesting and varied, including portraits and self-portraits, architecture, harbour and nautical subjects, rural views, and countless scenes from his native Amsterdam. They are held, with a large collection of personal documents, in the Amsterdam City Archive.