Windmills have always played a great part in the life of Holland and its inhabitants. While at first they served to grind corn, to remove excess water from the low-lying districts, and to saw timber, thus making the country fit for human habitation and adding to habitable area, they developed - especially in the seventeenth century - into a most important factor in the social structure of those days. It is with increasing interest that one learns about this.
风车在荷兰人的生活中扮演着重要的角色. 最初风车被用来磨面,抽水,锯木,从而使这个国家更适合人类居住,并扩大人类居住地域的面积.到了17世纪风车获得了长足的发展,演化成社会结构的重要组成部分. 对风车的研究总是激起人们极大的兴趣
Although it can be said that windmills which can be compared with the Dutch windmills are to be found in other European countries as well (England, Belgium, France, Denmark, Germany, Finland), it has to be observed that their number is relatively small there. It is only in Holland that so many windmills are present in so small an area. These windmills moreover are in very reasonable, many of them even in excellent, condition and a considerable number of them are working regularly. There are windmills of the most varied types: drainage mills, corn mills, and industrial mills for all sorts of purposes.
尽管荷兰风车在欧洲其他国家也可以见到,但相对而言,数量都较少.只有在荷兰,才可以见到数量众多的风车集中在一片狭小疆域的景象.这些风车仍然运转正常,有些甚至状态非常出色. 大量风车都定期运转. 风车种类各不相同,主要有排水风车,玉米风车,和用于各种用途的工业风车
