Easy hikes and walks around Ouderkerkerplas

The Johan Cruyff Arena (Dutch Johan Cruijff Arena, until 2018 Amsterdam Arena) is a football stadium with a closable roof in the Zuidoost district in the Dutch capital Amsterdam. With currently 55,865 seats, it is the largest stadium in the Netherlands. The football club Ajax Amsterdam plays its home games in the stadium. On July 1, 2018, the arena received its current name in honor of Johan Cruyff. In 2012, the Ziggo Dome event hall with 17,000 seats was opened in the immediate vicinity and is mainly used for concerts.

The Johan Cruyff Arena (Dutch Johan Cruijff Arena, until 2018 Amsterdam Arena) is a football stadium with a closable roof in the Zuidoost district in the Dutch capital Amsterdam. With currently 55,865 seats, it is the largest stadium in the Netherlands. The football club Ajax Amsterdam plays its home games in the stadium. On July 1, 2018, the arena received its current name in honor of Johan Cruyff. In 2012, the Ziggo Dome event hall with 17,000 seats was opened in the immediate vicinity and is mainly used for concerts.

By blocking the lower pedestrian path, birds can no longer be observed near the shore. This can be done even further from this bird view point.

Blue-green algae were a big problem in the Ouderkerkerplas. An oxygen system was therefore installed there. we inject pure oxygen into the lake. This triggers a chemical reaction that binds the food for the blue-green algae. A wind turbine was installed on the same site, which means that the entire footpath along the lake in this area is no longer accessible.

At this point, the earlier bridge was deliberately removed, since the further path along the shore was completely closed due to a wind turbine.

De Zwaan was built around 1638 as an inland windmill. It drained the Klein-Duivendrechtse and Binnenbullewijkerpolder on the Amstel (the Amstelland reservoir), which together covered an area of 356 hectares. The mill has a flight of 25.6 meters. On July 22, the landowners of the Klein-Duivendrecht district and part of the Binnenbullewijk received a patent to dyke their land, which had previously been used jointly with the Amstelland polder. This created a polder that bordered the Westbijlmer and Laanderpolders to the east, which had their own windmills. In 1879, the polders were merged through peat extraction, creating the "Verenigde Westbijlmer- en Klein Duivendrechtse polder." This national monument is owned by the association "De Hollandsche Molen" (The Dutch Mill). In early 1900, the drained land was reclaimed, and the newly created polder was named "New Bullewijk." It was regulated by a state decree on December 21, 1909. Following an agreement of May 20 of that year, which stipulated that the remaining part of the "Verenigde Westbijlmer- en Klein Duivendrechtse polder" could divert its surplus water to the much lower-lying land under certain conditions, the steam pumping station of "Nieuwe Bullewijk" took over the function of the polder's two windmills in early 1910, when the agreement came into force. The mill of the Westbijlmer and Laanderpolders was then first partially and then completely demolished. The mill of the Klein-Duivendrechtse en Binnenbullewijkerpolder remained standing but gradually fell into disrepair. In 1930, the "De Hollandsche Molen" association took over management of the mill. It was rented out as a residential building, but the mill itself was no longer in operation. A pole was removed, and the reeds were also gradually disappearing, so demolition was considered. Source: nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Zwaan_(Ouderkerk_aan_de_Amstel)

De Zwaan was built around 1638 as an inland windmill. This drained the Klein-Duivendrechtse and the Binnenbullewijkerpolder on the Amstel (the reservoir of Amstelland), which together had an area of 356 ha. The mill has an escape of 25.6 meters. On July 22, the landlords of the Klein-Duivendrecht district and part of the Binnenbullewijk received a patent to embank their lands previously shared with the Amstellandsches Schoß. This created a polder that bordered to the east on the Westbijlmer and Laander polders, which had their own windmills. In 1879 the polders were merged through peat cutting, resulting in the "Verenigde Westbijlmer- en Klein Duivendrechtse polder". This national monument is owned by the association "De Hollandsche Molen" (The Dutch Mill). In the early 1900s the drained land was reclaimed and the newly created polder was given the name "New Bullewijk". It was regulated by state decree on December 21, 1909. As a result of an agreement of May 20th of the same year, which decided that the remaining part of the "Verenigde Westbijlmer- en Klein Duivendrechtse polder" could, under certain conditions, drain its excess water to the much lower-lying land, the abandonment of the two windmills became of this polder at the beginning of 1910, when the agreement came into force, was taken over by the steam pumping station of "Nieuwe Bullewijk". The mill in the Westbijlmer and Laander polders was then partially and then completely demolished. The mill of the Klein-Duivendrechtse en Binnenbullewijkerpolder remained standing, but fell into disrepair. In 1930 the association "De Hollandsche Molen" took over the management of the mill. It was rented out as a residence, but the mill itself was no longer in operation. A pole is removed and the reeds are also gradually disappearing, so demolition was considered. Source: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Zwaan_(Ouderkerk_aan_de_Amstel)

Within this park there is a beach, a restaurant, sports facilities and a large parking lot. The Ouderkerkerplas lake is not the largest, but one of the largest lakes in the Amsterdam area.