Genaderse Molen

Genaderse Molen is a historic watermill in Houthalen-Helchteren, in the Belgian province of Limburg, standing on Springstraat in the Cité Meulenberg district. Records of a mill on this stretch of the stream go back to 1250, although the original structure stood roughly 500 meters upstream from where the mill stands today.

Why did the mill move to its current spot?

The turning point came in 1788. To give the mill the drop it needed, a branch was cut from the Laambeek stream and channeled through a newly dug aqueduct roughly 700 meters long, leading to the site of the newly built mill. Digging that channel was no small undertaking — local accounts describe three generations of millers working it by hand, shovel by shovel, until an artificial fall of about four meters was achieved, enough to drive the wheel.

How did the mill work, and what was it built for?

Genaderse Molen was constructed as an overshot watermill, meaning water strikes the wheel from above rather than pushing it from below or the side. That arrangement makes far more efficient use of the water's energy than an undershot design, but it depends on exactly the kind of artificially raised and directed channel that was dug for it. From the start, the mill served as a grain mill, processing grain for nearby farms and the surrounding community.

What happened to the mill in the 20th century?

As electrification spread, the practical need for water-driven machinery declined. In 1950 the mill was converted to electric drive, which allowed it to keep operating even as the wheel and the old channel system gradually lost their original, purely productive role.

What is the mill used for today?

The biggest change in the building's history came at the end of the 1980s. Between 1987 and 1989, the mill underwent a thorough renovation and was converted into a restaurant. That transformation helped preserve the historic structure rather than leaving it to decay, and visitors today can see the old watermill up close instead of only from behind a fence as an abandoned monument. The surrounding site, with its former supply channel and centuries-old industrial layout, still reads clearly as a trace of the region's old water-powered economy.

Its location in Cité Meulenberg — a district historically tied to Limburg's coal-mining past — makes for an interesting contrast: a much older structure set within a landscape later shaped by the mining industry.

Frequently asked questions

Does Genaderse Molen still grind grain? No, the mill building now houses a restaurant, and its original production role was given up when it was converted in 1987–1989.

Why isn't the mill in its original location? Because in 1788 the water intake point was moved and a new, longer channel was dug to create the greater drop needed for an overshot mill — the older site from centuries earlier stood about 500 meters away.

What is an overshot mill? It's a type of watermill where water hits the wheel from above, falling from a height, which requires an artificially raised channel or reservoir — exactly what was built to feed Genaderse Molen.

Where exactly is the mill located? On Springstraat in Houthalen, part of the municipality of Houthalen-Helchteren in Limburg province, in the area known as Cité Meulenberg.