Zoo funny when foreign guests point to our haystack and ask what kind of structure that is, what it is for. Only then do I realize that it is a typical Dutch building. So I took a moment to delve into the history of the haystack.

From the site of the Haystack Museum: There have been written mentions of mountains since the early Middle Ages, but even in this case it is not certain whether it is the little structure with the movable roof that we know. The oldest Dutch source in which mountains are mentioned dates from 1022, and charters from 1281-1283 mention a “Didderic Scade hostade, huus ende barch ende alle datter op staet” among the loans of Count Floris V. It is only from an account from the year 1345/1346 of the earldom Holland that one knows with certainty about the mountain with adjustable cap. This speaks of “6 barchroeden ende 6 laen, 3 yzeren, den barch mede te heffen,” in which some important haystack components can be recognized. Images exist from the first half of the 14th century. The first Dutch image dates from 1465. A painting from around 1480 of the Saint Elizabeth Flood (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam) also shows mountains. The attached photo shows a mountain often interpreted as a seven-robed. In recent years, however, people have been convinced that it is a six-rower.

But it turns out that haystacks also occur outside the Netherlands: in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine and possibly Russia. In the past, they also occurred elsewhere, as far away as Scandinavia.

The Overhorn (1886) consists of a summer and winter house and used to have two haystacks, see photo.

When we bought the farm in 1996, the haystack had already been demolished. We received permission to rebuild the haystack in 2009, provided that we surrender the square footage of the barn behind. The haystack now has a luxury apartment for 5 on the second floor, with beautiful views of the Naardermeer area