'Silent Witnesses' (Wouda pumping station Lemmer)

This painting is an artist's impression of the central machine hall of the Woudagemaal in Lemmer. Two women's shoes are depicted on the stairs in the painting: the silent witnesses.
The D.F. Wouda pumping station is the largest steam pumping station in the world and is still in operation every now and then. The pumping station is located in Lemmer near Tacozijl in Friesland. It is used on average once a year, during periods with a lot of rain and wind, to keep the Frisian reservoir water at the required level if the pumping station at Stavoren cannot supply sufficient capacity due to circumstances. The pumping station has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1998.
The enormous machine hall depicted here contains four steam engines with four flywheels coupled to them, which are still operational. The steam engines and flywheels drive eight round pumps that move approximately six million m³ of water per day.

The title of the painting 'Silent witnesses' also refers to Lemmer's past, where the pumping station is located. Lemmer and in a broader sense the Noordoostpolder was a true paradise for people in hiding during the Second World War. The resistance and the allies had discovered the desolate Noordoostpolder as an area where pilots could make an emergency landing, or even drop weapons. It is estimated that a total of about 20,000 people in hiding were active in the Noordoostpolder. Bert can remember that both his father and mother, at the risk of their own lives, also brought people in hiding from the Western part of the Netherlands to Limburg and in this case Friesland to go into hiding. Unfortunately, many resistance fighters also died and the silent witnesses in the painting are a tribute to these heroes and heroines.