It must have been a remarkable sight when the Beemster dried up. The muddy bottom of the lake suddenly became visible and stretched out to the far horizon. Were the inhabitants of the surrounding villages capable of imagining in 1612 how the future Beemster would look?
Idyllic spots
Imagine the 49 windmills at the Beemster that were responsible for keeping the land dry. It must have been a magnificent sight. The polder was divided according to mathematical compositions; all the plots were laid out perfectly and equally. The sea had threatened Amsterdam for all that time, and as soon as the lake dried up the rich Amsterdam merchants travelled to the Beemster polder, where they had their idyllic spots landscaped with gates and arbours, vegetable and ornamental gardens. The map, drawn by Van Berckenrode in 1640, shows 'Noort Beemster', located around the Middenweg - Oosthuizerweg intersection.
Regional products
To this very day, the Noordbeemster still has three-hundred and fifty inhabitants. The building that now houses restaurant De Beemster Hofstee was built as a country schoolhouse in 1725. The old school later became a café cum grocery and for many years also served as a tavern for the locals. Nowadays, you can pull up a chair in restaurant ‘Stoer in de Beemster’ for a sumptuous meal for which many regional products are used. The Beemster is unique and was placed on the UNESCO world heritage list in 1999.