More than 160 dairies have been built in Friesland since the end of the nineteenth century. Over a third of the villages and towns had such a factory. Like the church, the dairy became a social reference point, a place that united the people in and around the village or town in a common activity, namely making butter and cheese. Of all those old dairies, only a few are still in operation, and more than a hundred have been demolished - sometimes partially. Zuivelfabrieken in Friesland provides the first complete and richly illustrated overview of these factories and their history. In Zuivelfabrieken in Friesland, historian Marijn Molema places the arrival and development of Friesland's dairy factories in a broader, social context. In the second part, architecture expert Peter Karstkarel discusses the dairy factories alphabetically per town. He discusses the origins, history and architectural features of both the factory and the director's house. The basis for this standard work is the collection of Robert Visser, who for about thirty years has collected everything that has anything to do with dairy factories and industrial processes that took place in them. A unique collection recorded in this book.