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Open Monumentendag bij Stoomgemaal Vier Noorder Koggen

12 September 2026
- 10:00 – 16:00

On Saturday, September 12, the Steam Engine Museum, housed in the monumental Vier Noorder Koggen steam pumping station, is open to visitors free of charge. The pumping station is one of the oldest still intact steam pumping stations in our country. Open Monument Day attracts over a million visitors annually. Will you join us on a journey of discovery this year to explore our ‘living heritage’? We look forward to welcoming you! The national theme this year is ‘Heritage in Danger’. For enthusiasts, a handout is available with interesting details about the architecture of the steam pumping station.

Auxiliary steam pumping station

Because the land continued to subside and the water level in the Zuiderzee rose, and because there was also far from always enough wind to turn the windmills, the water board decided in 1866 that an auxiliary steam pumping station was needed to support the 24 windmills in the Vier Noorder Koggen, 15 of which stood on the Oosterdijk. Boote de Vries, son of a mill builder who, as a master carpenter, had specialized in building steam pumping stations, was hired to carry out this job. The pumping station entered operation for the first time in 1869 to drain the polders and remained in active service for over 100 years. In 1907, the pumping station was expanded with a large centrifugal pump, doubling its capacity and rendering the windmills redundant.

The new section of the building was designed by Chief Technical Officer Adriaan Kater. With beautiful mosaics of blue and grey bricks, large arched windows, and wrought-iron ornaments, the pumping station was the water board’s showpiece.

The museum is under steam this weekend; the boiler is being fired and the machines are running.