schermerhorn
village of schermerhorn
Museum mill
The village Schermerhorn is located on what was once Schermereiland; this island arose around 1100, after the peat of what are now the Beemster and Schermer polders swept away. Part of the island was surrounded by dikes, and the village was mainly built on that dike. The part that was not diked around is the current Eilandspolder. The Beemster and the Schermer were connected by an inland waterway, the Zwet.
The water surrounding Schermerhorn was brackish, and fishermen and later whalers had Schermerhorn as their home port. The maritime past is present in the reformed church in the form of tombstones and ship models, among other things. The greatest threat posed by the sea came to an end with the reclamation of the inland lakes, which started around 1600. Near Schermerhorn, a number of the windmills that were used for this have been preserved.
Museum mill exterior
Museum mill interior
It is possible that the municipality of Schermerhorn used a seal in the 18th century with a shield standing between two lions and a facing lion (looking to the heraldic right) on the shield.
The shield would also be covered by a marquis crown.
The weapon can be seen as a speaking weapon, because the inhabitants of Schermerhorn were also called Rooters. According to a folk tale, they got this nickname as a result of a dispute with the inhabitants of Oosthuizen.
