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Delfshaven is a city district located in the west of downtown Rotterdam, The Netherlands. There was a lot of activity in Delfshaven in the 18th and early 19th centuries. From 1700 onward the number of grain wine distilleries grew strongly. By 1856 their number had increased to 31 distilleries and 7 malthouses. The raw material for this industry (being malt) was ground in traditional windmills built on site. Over time, 8 mills appeared on the outskirts of Delfshaven, most of which were malt mills. One of these mills, called 'De Distilleerketel' (Distilling Boiler), was built in 1727. It burned on July 25th, 1899. The mill was rebuilt and operated until 1922, when it was closed down and the mill fell into disrepair. In 1938, 'De Distilleerketel' was dismantled and in May 1940 it was shot down during fighting between Dutch and German troops. Since then there has been an empty hull.

Historic Delfshaven wouldn't be 'real' without a mill and so it was decided to restore 'De Distilleerketel'. That decision (in the 1980s) was quite difficult and it was taken at the last minute, so to speak, because the demolition of the hull had already started! Nevertheless, it was decided that the restoration would go ahead and it was only then that it turned out that new apartment houses had been built right next to the mill and so close to the old hull that if it were to be rebuilt.

This was no reason to cancel the rebuilding, on the contrary: it was decided to completely demolish the old hull and build a new mill 11 meters away. The new mill was immediately built a good meter higher; the ground circle of the mill remained the same; so did the taper of the hull, and so the slightly higher brick mill became remarkably slim. Because all this caused the upper axis to be one meter higher, the flight could also be significantly increased. The new mill was festively put into use on May 9th, 1987.