Weigh houses (or as we simply call it: Waags) can be spotted in a ton of different Dutch cities, and they are typical for them: Germany has some; Poland has some, but apart from that the practice of Weighing merchants’ goods at a specialized building is not that common. In the Netherlands these buildings are often at the center of the city, some of the more notable and beautiful buildings. The weigh House of Amsterdam is one such example.

Originally intended as one of the oldest city gates of the city (I am planning to make a whole set of posts about the old city gates and walls when we move to spring and the lights get a bit better for taking lots of photos), when the city grew beyond these gates, it was converted to a Weighing House. Nowadays downstairs there’s a restaurant, while upstairs there’s a cultural institute. Don’t bother for the food: it’s not that good for how much they charge you (expensive!), however the interior is indeed remarkable. You can still see exactly the doors that people used to enter the medieval city, and all of the small chambers and towers that would have been useful in a weighing house are also still there if you look well, with plenty of cellars and hidden rooms.

This was not the only Weighing house that used to stand in Amsterdam, however it is the only one that managed to stay standing to this day.