The Poldertoren is a

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

at the town center of Emmeloord, Netherlands. The Dutch name Poldertoren could be translated as

Polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...

Tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

. The 65-meter tower was built in 1959 and has a large

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...

. The tower is no longer in use as a water tower. The owner of the tower was the water company, Vitens, but since 2005 the municipality of

Noordoostpolder Noordoostpolder (; ) is a polder and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands. Formerly, it was also called ''Urk, Urker Land''. Emmeloord is the administrative center, located in the hea ...

has owned the tower. A replica of this watertower exists in Japan.

Details

The tower measures 65.3 meters in height with a weather vane on top bringing the total height to 70.5 meters. Visitors can climb the 243 steps up to a height of 43.4 meters. The Poldertoren has a 13.4 meter diameter. The water storage capacity is 1.850 m³. Building materials for the tower included 1,220 m³ of concrete, 185 metric tons of steel, 600,000 bricks, 624 metric tons of cement and 7,200 drainpipes.

Architects

* J.W.H.C. Pot (Architectenbureau Pot en Pot-Keegstra) (1955–1959) * H. van Gent (1950–1959)

History

In an early design of Emmeloord it was decided to build a tower at the central square of the town. The tower in the heart of the Noordoostpolder symbolizes unity of the Noordoostpolder and can be seen from all locations in the Noordoostpolder. The tower is not related to any church, because churches could dominate the others with this tower. The idea to build a tower originates in the need of a water tower in the Noordoostpolder. The water company of

Overijssel Overijssel (; ; ; ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name comes from the perspective of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, Episcopal principality of Utrecht ...

decided to offer a prize for the best design of a new water tower in December 1950. The tower had to include a carillon and a visitor platform. The tower had to symbolize unity of the new Noordoostpolder and it had to emphasize Emmeloord as the central town. The design ''Utillis'' of the

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

architect H. van Gent was chosen. J.W.H.C. Pot helped him to develop the detailed design.

The carillon

A.D. van Eck had dedicated himself to placing a

in the new tower. The result of a fundraising campaign among the Noordoostpolder population was a ring of 48 bells. Every village offered its own bell. The heaviest bell is 2382 kilograms, the lightest weighs 9.9 kilograms. All bells have inscriptions: *Juliana Regina (

Juliana of the Netherlands Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Sh ...

) (the heaviest bell) * Lely; Fait ce que dois, advienne que pourra *A.D. van Eck, bouwmeester NOP; Facta non Verba *De Arbeid;

Ora et Labora The phrases "pray and work" (or "pray and labor"; ) and to work is to pray () refer to the monastic practice of working and praying, generally associated with its use in the Rule of Saint Benedict. History ''Ora et labora'' is the traditiona ...

*De Vrede; Post Secundum Anno Tertio Decimo *Concordia Res Parvae Crescunt *Ratio Omnia Vincit

References

External links

*
Emmeloord.info

The Poldertoren on Twitter
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2020 Bell towers in the Netherlands Towers in Flevoland Carillons Noordoostpolder Towers completed in 1959 Water towers in the Netherlands