Molen De Valk: Climbing Leiden's Last Windmill

The postcard is a windmill. The real thing is seven storeys of ladders, millstones and a view that explains the entire city. De Valk means The Falcon, by the way. It watches everything.

By Leiden Secret Stories · September 2026 · 5 min read

Windmills look like decoration from a distance. Up close they are machines, and this one is still a working museum: millers set its sails the way millers have since long before electricity made patience optional. Built in 1743, a tower mill of seven storeys, standing where the city's defenses used to be.

The last of a whole crowd

Here is the part the postcards skip. De Valk was never alone. Leiden's ramparts once carried an entire ring of windmills, grinding malt for the brewers, flour for the bakers, oil and paint and whatever else needed grinding in a rich city. One by one they came down. De Valk is the last survivor.

And here is the secret that ties the city together: Rembrandt's father's malt mill belonged to that same vanished ring. The boy who became the most famous painter who ever lived grew up inside this skyline. The walk ends inside the silhouette where it began, which is either a coincidence or the best ending ever arranged.

The climb itself

You go up the way the grain went up: steep ladders, one level at a time. Past the millstones doing their slow argument with gravity. Past living quarters where a miller's family once ate dinner while the whole house worked around them. It is a house that is also a machine. There are not many of those left anywhere.

At the top, the stage. From there the whole rainy city lies glittering below you, both great churches included. The best view in Leiden, earned one ladder at a time.

Coming down is the hard part. Generations of millers' children learned it first. Face the wall, trust the ladder, pretend the drop is not discussing your ankles. You will be fine. The millers need you calm for the gift shop.

Practical things, honestly stated

• Where: at the Molenwerf, five minutes past the official end of the walking loop. The perfect epilogue.
• Entry: charged if you go inside, like the route's other museums. The outside is free to admire, any hour.
• When: hours change with the season; check locally before you build your day around it.
• Steepness: yes. Wear shoes that have met stairs before.