Schiedam: Genever, Windmills and Polder Landscape

Genever and City History

The Nationaal Jenevermuseum Schiedam is housed in a former malt-wine distillery and provides information about distillation, Schiedam’s role as a genever city and the influence of advertising on genever’s image.

The collection of the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam comprises more than 15,000 objects: 8,000 historical objects relating to the history of the city of Schiedam and 7,000 works of modern art from 1947 to the present day.

Schiedam op de kaart provides information and photos about important monuments in Schiedam, as well as numerous themed walks and historical maps.

Windmills and Buildings

The grounds of the Babbersmolen feature a lively windmill yard, a historic miller’s house with a box bed, a wetland area with pollard willows and a duck decoy; it demonstrates how a miller’s family lived from wind, land and water around 100 years ago.

An interactive miniature polder on the same grounds can be flooded and drained again using a large wooden scoop wheel and sluices.

The Babbersmolen is the oldest surviving stone polder windmill in the Netherlands.

The De Walvisch Museum Windmill has been a museum windmill since February 2018. It provides information about Schiedam’s large malt and distillery windmills, which milled exclusively for the genever industry and are described as the tallest windmills in the world.

The Korenbeurs is a monumental building constructed in 1787 under the direction of the Italian architect Carlo Giovanni Francesco Giudici; in the Netherlands, he was known as Jan Giudici and lived from 1746 to 1819.

The Liduina Basilica in Schiedam was built as a neo-Gothic church between 1878 and 1881 to a design by the architect E.J. Margry and was elevated to basilica status in 1990.

Landscape and Parks

The historic centre of Kethel in the north of Schiedam has preserved its village and agricultural character, with historic buildings and polder landscapes.

De Plantage Park is described as the oldest city park in the Netherlands and includes a 150-year-old Oriental plane tree descended from the Anne Frank tree, as well as an art collection.

Speelpolder Het Wijland lies on the outskirts of Schiedam in the expansive Midden-Delfland area.

It can be reached by a cable ferry and offers sand and water play, as well as various ways to cross ditches using tree trunks and rope structures.

Play, Sports and Tours

Stadsganzenbord Schiedam is a playful scavenger hunt through the city centre, in which teams visit locations marked on a historical city map and complete tasks.

Schiedams Reuzenavontuur is a cycling route featuring Schiedam’s tallest windmills, pancake stops, playgrounds and a flock of sheep.

Prinses Beatrixpark has a 200-metre sprint track and two running routes.

The Distillers Tours in Schiedam offer visits to historic distilleries, insights into the distillation and production of genever and gin, as well as genever and gin tastings and workshops.

Getting Around

Stedelijk Museum Schiedam can be reached on foot from the railway station in 20 minutes.

Bus routes 51 and 54 and tram routes 1 and 11 stop at the Koemarkt stop, which is a three-minute walk from the museum.

To the main travel overview: Schiedam.