Bring back the age of steam in a new exhibition

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A thrilling exhibition and a makeover for the Kinderdijk Wisboom pumping station

At Kinderdijk World Heritage, you can find out for yourself that history doesn’t have to be boring at all; it can be full of action and excitement if you get it right! The great game of wind and water, in which brave millers have to fight hard night and day to mill the soil dry using windpower, has always been an awesome adventure. Now, Kinderdijk is adding even more spice to the mix, by a special exhibition by Amsterdam designer Onne Brouwer at the Wisboom pumping station.

Art? More like a game, actually!

Okay, so it’s officially called an exhibition, so it does have a little to do with art, but that doesn’t mean it has to be boring, does it? This is exhibition is completely interactive, you see, so you get to push the buttons in an adventure where you step into a miller’s (wooden) shoes. Are you smart enough to use the power of the wind and make your windmill drain the water from the soil? Come and find out for yourself here at Kinderdijk!

The battle of land and water

Onne Brouwer’s exhibition consists of four installations that take visitors back through over seven thousand years of history. The story of Kinderdijk is as ancient as it is thrilling, because here, the battle against the water still rages on to this very day. The exhibition gives you a personal taste of how special it is for large parts of the Netherlands to be below sea level – without flooding, that is! Curious how they do that? Come visit and experience it first-hand at Kinderdijk World Heritage!

From Steam to Electric and back again.

A new look for an old giant

The visitors centre hosting the exhibition is getting a serious makeover to celebrate the occasion. In the building accommodating the old Wisboom pumping station, where diesel fumes and billowing steam clouds used to set the mood, the aged machines now stand silently, allowing you to marvel at its old-school technology from up close. Designer Brouwer became fascinated by the various techniques using steam, diesel, and electricity to make these thumping and whirring machines move water around with ease. You can get a good look at this process from his remake of an old wall painting that used to decorate the Wisboom station, where you see people working hard to keep these impressive old giants going. We’ve also made a new version of our multi-screen film about the story of Kinderdijk, and we refurbished the visitors centre shop while we were at it. As you see, Kinderdijk UNESCO World Heritage is all set for a new season – about time for you to pay us a visit yourself, wouldn’t you say?