2015 - Hoorn - De Waag (Weighhouse)
Across from Westfries Museum on Roode Steen (Red Stone) Square sits Hoorn's Waag (Weighhouse). Its is now a bustling square cafe and pub.
De Waag was built in 1609. A weigh house or weighing house is a building at or within which goods, and the like were weighed. Most buildings were built before 1800, prior to the establishment of international standards for weights.
Originally there were seven scales for weighing all the goods. Today “De Waag" is a café/restaurant.
In a niche in the facade you can see a unicorn with a coat of arms in which the horn of plenty is depicted - Hoorns emblem.
As public control of the weight of goods was very important, they were run by local authorities who would also use them for the levying of taxes on goods transported through or sold within the city. Therefore, weigh houses would often be near a market square or town centre. Between 1550 and about 1690 people accused of witchcraft were at times brought to a weigh house 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.
Weigh houses were especially common in the Netherlands and Germany where they are called waag and waage respectively (both meaning scale).
2015 - Hoorn - De Waag (Weighhouse)
Across from Westfries Museum on Roode Steen (Red Stone) Square sits Hoorn's Waag (Weighhouse). Its is now a bustling square cafe and pub.
De Waag was built in 1609. A weigh house or weighing house is a building at or within which goods, and the like were weighed. Most buildings were built before 1800, prior to the establishment of international standards for weights.
Originally there were seven scales for weighing all the goods. Today “De Waag" is a café/restaurant.
In a niche in the facade you can see a unicorn with a coat of arms in which the horn of plenty is depicted - Hoorns emblem.
As public control of the weight of goods was very important, they were run by local authorities who would also use them for the levying of taxes on goods transported through or sold within the city. Therefore, weigh houses would often be near a market square or town centre. Between 1550 and about 1690 people accused of witchcraft were at times brought to a weigh house 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.
Weigh houses were especially common in the Netherlands and Germany where they are called waag and waage respectively (both meaning scale).