"De Grauwe Beer, mill on a unique spot" Beesel Things to Do Tip by vtveen

Mill ‘De Grauwe Beer’ was built in 1614 in Zaandam as a saw mill. It was transported by boat to Beesel in 1891 where it became a corn mill and was used by farmers till 1944. During World War II the mill suffered heavy damage and was not repaired until 1952.
In 1982 -1982 the mill was restored and moved to its present location in. Today ‘De Grauwe Beer’ is owned by the municipality of Beesel and maintained by a local mill foundation. The mill – still a working corn mill - is open to the public every Saturday..

‘De Grauwe Beer’ (The Grey Bear) is another ‘must see’ in Beesel. Of course the Netherlands has (still) a lot of windmills, but this one stands on quite a unique location: in the riverbed in a curve of the River Maas.
Coming from the centre of Beesel (foot, bike or car) we saw the mill and made a stop climbing the dike and just enjoyed this typical Dutch view with green meadows, a river and a windmill.

We were visiting on a Monday and we couldn’t visit the inside of this so called ‘belt mill’ (only open on Saturdays). A ‘belt’ is a man made hill of a couple of meters high, so the mill will catch more wind. The mill is surrounded by a fence, but there is still quite a nice view. There is plenty of (parking) space and a couple of pick-nick benches.

If you want to see ‘De Grauwe Beer’ on this unique location, you have ‘to hurry’ more or less, because the mill will be moved again, because flooding of the river caused damage to the interior a couple of times.

Address: Ouddorp 14, Beesel
Directions: On the Markt (central square of Beesel) follow the 'Kerkstraat', turn left into 'Ouddorp' and you will see the mill along the River Maas
Website: http://www.degrauwebeer.nl