Waag
Encyclopedia
Between 1550 and about 1690 people accused of witchcraft
European witchcraft
European Witchcraft is witchcraft and magic that is practised primarily in the locality of Europe.-Antiquity:Instances of persecution of witchcraft are documented from Classical Antiquity, paralleling evidence from the Ancient Near East and the Old Testament.In Ancient Greece, for example, Theoris,...
were at times brought to a weigh house in order to be subjected to a "witch test". If a person was found to be lighter than a set weight, he or she was deemed guilty. This is similar to the use of a ducking stool.
Weigh houses were especially common in the Netherlands, Germany, where they are called waag and waage respectively (both meaning "scale
Weighing scale
A weighing scale is a measuring instrument for determining the weight or mass of an object. A spring scale measures weight by the distance a spring deflects under its load...
") and Poland (smatruz, in Krakow
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
and Poznan
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
). Outside the Netherlands and Germany the public weighing usually didn't take place in a special building, but in a town hall, guild hall, courthouse, or the like.
Weigh houses in the Netherlands
Alkmaar
One of the very few remaining weigh houses still in use is the one in AlkmaarAlkmaar
Alkmaar is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of Noord Holland. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination.-History:...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, where the Cheese Market still includes the weighing of the cheeses as a demonstration for tourists.
Amsterdam
The Amsterdam Waag is a remnant of the former city walls in AmsterdamAmsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. Constructed in 1488, it was originally one of the city gate
City gate
A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. Other terms include port.-Uses:City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods and animals...
s, the Sint Anthoniespoort. When the city wall disappeared, the Nieuwmarkt
Nieuwmarkt
Nieuwmarkt is a square in the centre of the Dutch capital Amsterdam. The surrounding area is known as the Nieuwmarktbuurt ....
(new market) was created around it and the weighing scale
Weighing scale
A weighing scale is a measuring instrument for determining the weight or mass of an object. A spring scale measures weight by the distance a spring deflects under its load...
s for the market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
were placed in the former gate. Today the building houses the Waag Society, an ICT research foundation working in the social and cultural domain, and there is a café/restaurant on the ground floor.
The building carries the oldest plaque in Amsterdam, which reads On 28 April 1488 the first stone of this gate was laid.
The city walls that the Sint Anthoniespoort was part of were built in the years 1481-1494. These walls have now completely disappeared and the only remnants are this gate, the lower part of another gate, the Regulierspoort (now the Munttoren
Munttoren
The Munttoren or Munt is a tower in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It stands on the busy Muntplein square, where the Amstel river and the Singel canal meet, near the flower market and the eastern end of the Kalverstraat shopping street....
) and one defence tower, the Schreierstoren
Schreierstoren
The Schreierstoren , originally part of the medieval city wall of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, was built in the 15th century. It was the location from which Henry Hudson set sail on his journey to Northern America. This expedition would lead to the discovery of the island of Manhattan among others...
. When in the late 16th century the city expanded the wall was torn down and the gate lost its function. The defensive canal and palissade around the gate was turned into a market square. In the process the ground level was raised, so the building is no longer quite as high as it used to be. For the new weighing function the original front and rear gate were connected with a roof.
The upper floors housed four guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
s for some time, namely those of the smiths, painters, masons and surgeons. Each guild had its own entrance tower. In 1632 Rembrandt van Rijn was commissioned to paint the surgeons at work, and the resulting The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp made his reputation. In 1691 a theatrum anatomicum was added, which became famous for admitting (paying) members of the public to witness human dissection
Dissection
Dissection is usually the process of disassembling and observing something to determine its internal structure and as an aid to discerning the functions and relationships of its components....
s.
After the guilds were dissolved around 1795 the building served numerous purposes, later housing a fire brigade and two museums (including the Jewish Historical Museum
Joods Historisch Museum
The Joods Historisch Museum is a museum in Amsterdam dedicated to Jewish history, culture and religion, in the Netherlands and worldwide. It is the only museum in the Netherlands dedicated to Jewish history...
) before it was handed over to a foundation in 1990. This had plans to partly destroy the building and build an addition designed by Philippe Starck
Philippe Starck
Philippe Patrick Starck is a French product designer and probably the best known designer in the New Design style...
, but the foundation went bankrupt before any plans were carried out. The neighbourhood and monument lovers convinced the Amsterdam city council that the building deserved a better fate. It was decided to restore it in keeping with its medieval background. Waag Society became the principal tenant in 1996.
Other cities
A number of other Dutch towns also have a weigh house, including DelftDelft
Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....
, Deventer
Deventer
Deventer is a municipality and city in the Salland region of the Dutch province of Overijssel. Deventer is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, but also has a small part of its territory on the west bank. In 2005 the municipality of Bathmen Deventer is a municipality and city in...
(with museum), Edam
Edam
Edam is a city in the Dutch province of Noord-Holland. Combined with Volendam, Edam forms the municipality of Edam-Volendam. Approximately 7,380 people live in Edam. The whole municipality of Edam-Volendam has 28,492 inhabitants...
, Enkhuizen
Enkhuizen
Enkhuizen is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia.Enkhuizen was one of the harbour-towns of the VOC, just like Hoorn and Amsterdam, from where overseas trade with the East Indies was conducted. It received city rights in 1355...
, Gouda
Gouda
Gouda is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Gouda, which was granted city rights in 1272, is famous for its Gouda cheese, smoking pipes, and 15th-century city hall....
, Hoorn
Hoorn
-Cities :* Purmerend * Enkhuizen * Alkmaar * Amsterdam * Lelystad * Den Helder * Leeuwarden -Towns :* Edam...
, Langweer
Langweer
Langweer is a small Dutch town in Friesland in the municipality Scharsterland. The town was established in 1256, and has a population of 964 ....
, Leeuwarden, Leiden, Nijmegen, Oudewater
Oudewater
Oudewater is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht.-Population centres :The municipality of Oudewater consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Hekendorp, Oudewater, Papekop, Snelrewaard....
(Heksenwaag = witches' weighing house), and Vlaardingen
Vlaardingen
Vlaardingen is a town in South Holland in the Netherlands. It is located on the north bank of the Nieuwe Maas/Nieuwe Waterweg river at the confluence with the Oude Maas...
. Pieter Post
Pieter Post
Pieter Jansz Post was a Dutch Golden Age architect, painter and printmaker.-Biography:...
, a Golden Age architect, had his weigh house design chosen for two cities; Gouda, and Leiden:
Weigh houses in Belgium
Some cities in BelgiumBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
still have a Stadswaag like Kortrijk
Kortrijk
Kortrijk ; , ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province West Flanders...
.
Weigh houses in Germany
Cities in GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, where such a building (in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
called: Stadtwaage) still exists, are (among others): Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Emmerich am Rhein, Michelstadt
Michelstadt
Michelstadt in the Odenwald is a town in the Odenwaldkreis in southern Hesse, Germany between Darmstadt and Heidelberg.- Location :Michelstadt is the biggest town in the Odenwaldkreis and borders on the district seat of Erbach....
, Osnabrück
Osnabrück
Osnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest...
and Stralsund
Stralsund
- Main sights :* The Brick Gothic historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.* The heart of the old town is the Old Market Square , with the Gothic Town Hall . Behind the town hall stands the imposing Nikolaikirche , built in 1270-1360...
.
See also
- Weigh stationWeigh stationA weigh station is a checkpoint along a highway to inspect vehicular weights. Usually, trucks and commercial vehicles are subject to the inspection....
, a checkpoint along a highway to inspect vehicular weights, usually equipped with a truck scaleTruck scaleTruck scales or weigh bridges are large scales, usually mounted permanently on a concrete foundation, that are used to weigh entire vehicles and their contents. By weighing the vehicle both empty and when loaded, the load carried by the vehicle can be calculated...
(weigh bridge) - Södra BankohusetSödra BankohusetSödra Bankohuset or Gamla Riksbanken is a building in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden, together with Norra Bankohuset the location of the Bank of Sweden until 1906...
, a former weigh house in Stockholm, Sweden