This beautiful mill in Etten-Leur Noord takes its name from a polder of the same name, on the south bank of the small river De Mark. It is a unique polder mill for Brabant.
Vincent van Gogh, born in Zundert in 1853, was 11 years old when his parents decided to send him to boarding school in Zevenbergen. Vincent must have passed this place, via Etten, several times in Pa and Moe's distinctive yellow carriage, on his way to boarding school or home leave. They were not Vincent's happiest years. But would he be standing here on this spot now, how he - nature lover that he was - would enjoy this wonderful West Brabant landscape.
Van Gogh drew and painted several mills in his lifetime. Also during the time he stayed in Etten. For example, the mill of Coppens on the Roosendaalseweg. In 1881, Vincent made a stopover in Dordrecht on his way back from The Hague to Etten. From the train he had seen a row of windmills that he wanted to draw. On the Weeskinderendijk he braved the rain and made a drawing of the mill-rich landscape there. In Etten he then worked the drawing into a watercolor. 'Mills at Dordecht' is now in the collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum.
Although Vincent never wrote about it and never drew it - as far as we know - , he must have seen the Zwartenberg Mill in the period 1864-1866. Not this one, but its predecessor, which was built in 1721. As a result of lightning strikes, the mill burned down in late August 1888. A year later - when Vincent was already living long and wide in the south of France - the present wind-water mill was built, intended to rid the polder of excess water. In 1968, the mill lost its function when an electrically powered pump pumping station was put into operation on the other side of the polder. But after more than two centuries of faithful service, the Zwartenberg mill still graces the polder, as it once did, and is a recognizable landmark for many a traveler.
The mill can be visited regularly on Saturdays between 9 am and 2 pm. To be sure, contact miller Chris Baeten in advance, 076-5017525.
At the mill is an audio column that tells the full story. You'll also see the mill when you ride the Van Gogh Bicycle Route Etten-Leur Noord.
