Meppel Nu

· 13 Oct 2020

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TJASKER (windmill), Kerkweg, Giethoorn

#TJASKER 😍 The tjasker is one of the smallest #windmolens in the Netherlands and was developed in Friesland. In this picture, taken with my smartphone, you can see the Tjasker at the Kerkweg in #Giethoorn . The tjasker was there to remove the excess water in the #Molengat to propel.
There are two types of tjaskers: the pile jacker and the boktjasker. At the pile jacker, the mill shaft is supported by a pole and in the case of a boktjasker the front of the mill lies on a wooden buck. The pile jacker grinds the inwater through the auger bowl to the outer ring ditch or from the outer ring ditch to the inland water. The boktjasker grinds the water from the inner water through the auger bowl to the outer ring ditch, which leads to the outside water. Only the boktjasker has a cradle for the crotch of the crosshairs on the wind. The pile jacket is pulled on the wind with the help of a chain.

A tjasker has no comb wheels in contrast to 'normal' mills. On the axle where the blades pass through, there is a barrel mill at the back. This is a small kind of mortar with a paneling around it. It is argued by mill experts that the only similarity between the tjasker and all other wind turbine types is the possession of a wicker cross.[source?] The crosshairs may be old Dutch or transverse witnesses.

This small type of wind turbine for inflating water was almost gone around 1950. After 1970 several mills were newly built. Especially in natural areas, this type of mills is used to prevent drying.

The tjasker fell into disrepair in 1930s. He couldn't sustain the competition with the metal wind engine. In 1935, the last tjasker was put into use in Steggerda, Friesian. In the sixties, the well-known tjasker builder Roelof Dijksma once again built a few tjaskers. In 1963 he built one in the nature reserve De Weerribben for the irrigation of rietland, commissioned by Staatsbosbeheer. New insights regarding nature and environmental conservation heralded the modest revival of the tjasker; since 1963 the remaining stock of three mills has been expanded to fifteen.

There are still 25 tjaskers in the Netherlands, 11 of which are in Friesland. The oldest tjasker in the Netherlands, Tjasker It Heidenskip, is located in It Heidenskip, a hamlet near Workum. It was built in 1915 by J. Dijksma.