Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: Lemmer

The first mention of a church in Lemmer dates back to the 13th century. The foundation stone of the current Tsjerke oan it Dok (Church at the Harbour) was laid more than 300 years ago. According to the numerical wall anchors on the tower, the church was built in 1716. In 1759 the church was enlarged with a transept on the north side. The tower of he curch is half-embedded. The people of Lemmer call the tower of this church the Lemster toer (the Lemster tower>. If they can see it from a distance, they know they are (almost) home again. The original tower clock from 1598 was removed by order of the German occupiers during the World War II and has not been returned. After the liberation, the Tsjerke oan it Dok received a new clock. A memorial stone was unveiled after the war in the facade above the tower entrance, in memory of the approximately 50 war victims from Lemmer. Unfortunately, the church – as so often in the Netherlands – was not open to visitors, so I was not able to admire the interior.

The Ir. D.F. Woudagemaal is the largest, still functioning steam pumping station in the world. The pumping station was opened in 1920 by Queen Wilhelmina. Its job was pumping excess water from the provice of Friesland into the Zuiderzee (later IJsselmeer ). In 1966 the pumping station received reinforcement of the electric Hoogland gemaal in Stavoren. During the winters of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, large parts of Friesland were flooded. To counter this flooding, it was decided to build a steam pumping station at Lemmer in 1913. The pumping station is named after Ir. Dirk Frederik Wouda, who served as Chief Engineer at the time of the Provincial Public Works and was responsible for the style and performance of the building. In the huge machine hall there are four steam engines with four powerful flywheels, which are still operational. In 1967, after running on coal for 47 years, the boilers were converted to run on heavy fuel oil.The steam engines and flywheels drive eight centrifugal pumps that move about 6 million m³ of water per day. The Woudagemaal is brought under steam at least twice a year by its owner Wetterskip Fryslân . The largest steam pumping station in the world still plays a crucial role in the Frisian water authority to this day. When there is a lot of rain or during a persistent storm, the Woudagemaal can be used to help keep the Frisian water at the same level. The remarkable brick building - inspired by the Amsterdam School style - features clean lines and an austere appearance and has characteristics of Berlage's rationalism, such as the steel rafters, the use of stone, oak, sophisticated colours and decorative edges. Since 1998, the Woudagemaal has been one of the ten UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Netherlands. Nowadays it is open for visitors.