The last autumn sunlight on Mill 't Haantje by Jeroen de Jongh Photography

Mill 't Haantje was built in 1663 on the east side of the Boerenwetering, that is on today's Ruysdaelkade near the Saenredamstraat, not far from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It was built as a grinding and sawing mill for stone, but converted into a lead white mill in 1716. In 1820, 't Haantje was moved to Weesp where it was rebuilt as an oil mill until 1828 and changed to a corn mill after about 10 years.

Traditionally, the mill located on the Smal in Weesp, especially when viewed from the south, strongly determined the view of the city of Weesp. In the 1960s this changed considerably as a result of urban expansion. High-rise buildings at a short distance to the north of the mill greatly detract from its image-defining value.

In many ways 't Haantje is a special mill. First, because it is a tilting mill with scaffolding. Traditionally, seesaw mills were mainly used as polder mills. As industrial mills, perhaps because of the limited working space, they were not very common. After years of standing with 1 post, an external restoration followed in 1964. Since 1977, 't Haantje is again operated occasionally.

Windmill 't Haantje is one of the last two rocker/positioning mills in the Netherlands. Furthermore, it is the largest and the oldest ever seesaw/industrial mill in the Netherlands. Molen 't Haantje, molen de Vriendschap, and molen d'Eendragt, the latter two located on the Vecht, are the three only surviving examples of the total of over 20 mills that Weesp has had in the last 300 years. When entering Weesp from Amsterdam, windmill 't Haantje has long been the entrance to Weesp.