Korenmolen de Hoop Bunschoten

The Korenmolen De Hoop Bunschoten Foundation was established with the main aim of rebuilding the mill. After all, Korenmolen De Hoop was one of the image-defining buildings of the municipality of Bunschoten for centuries.

The reconstruction of the mill started in November 2007. On the edge of the Stadsgracht, the new mill rose in the course of 2008. In April 2009, the mill was completed and the villagescape was restored. Since then, the sails of Korenmolen de Hoop have been turning at least twice a week. A beautiful sight. But also fascinating to see how the sails drive the mechanisms in the mill and how flour is ground from grain. Flour used by local bakers to bake bread.

A mill is a fascinating structure. The techniques devised in the past to make a mill turn as lightly and as much as possible still appeal to the imagination. Wonderful to see how the sails can always be turned precisely in the direction of the wind. It is not a museum, but a piece of living history on the edge of the medieval town of Bunschoten.

On the edge of Bunschoten's old Town Meadows, the rebuilding of Korenmolen de Hoop began in 2007. Exactly forty years after the last remnants of the old mill were demolished, construction of a new mill could begin. A project that had started in 2001 with the aim of bringing Bunschoten's vanished mill back into the townscape. After all, for centuries a mill had stood in Bunschoten. After the rise of engines, the mill fell into disrepair. After the cap, sails and scaffolding were removed in 1930, the remaining hull was demolished in 1967.

History
The demolished mill had been moved from the Zaan region to Bunschoten in 1899. The mill replaced a so-called grondzeiler. That is a mill in which the sails turn to just above the ground. For some reason, there was a need for a mill with a brick base. Probably to get a better wind catch and create a bit more space at the same time.

Why the name De Hoop?
The corn mill has the name De Hoop. The choice of that name was not difficult because the old mill had the same name.
De Hoop is a very well-known name for mills. There are about 65 mills in the Netherlands in which the word 'Hoop' appears. Sixty times that is simply as 'De Hoop' and in addition in names like Op Hoop van Beter, De Goede Hoop, Hoop doet Leven and De Hoop en Verwachting.

In this context, the word 'hope' refers to the miller's expectation that on a good wind, the mill could turn. Without wind, a miller could not grind and thus earn nothing. In this context, a comparison can be made with historical sailing ships. Many of those ships had a name that included the word hope or expectation and that too refers to a good wind. Just like for millers, for skippers wind was a necessity to carry out their profession.