Cheese market in Alkmaar

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Scales and Cheese Market, 1674
Weighing hall, left and in the middle the gates on the north side with the scales, printed by R. de Vries, 1870

The cheese market in Alkmaar is the most famous of the five Dutch cheese markets, where farmers in the area have been selling their cheeses since the Middle Ages . It has been held weekly on the Waagplein in Alkmaar for centuries , but is now primarily a tourist event.

history

First cheese market after the Second World War , June 11, 1946
Pocket man putting the weights on, 1946

The year the cheese market in Alkmaar was established in 1365, when the cheese market only had a single scale. Other historic cheese markets that have existed since the Middle Ages are in Edam , Gouda , Hoorn and Woerden . The cheese market in Alkmaar experienced a considerable boom during the Dutch Golden Age : In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Waagplein was enlarged eight times in order to be able to cope with the increasing volume of trade. The Dutch-Italian businessman and writer Lodovico Guicciardini praised the wonderfully beautiful scales in the 16th century in his work Beschrijvinghe van alle de Nederlanden . In 1593 the cheese market was established as a permanent institution and from then on held weekly. On June 17th of this year, the cheese carriers' guild was founded.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the agricultural area in North Holland increased sharply in the course of land reclamation . With that, cheese production also grew. For Alkmaar it meant a larger turnover of cheese, but the catchment area of ​​the cheese market shrank due to numerous new farmers' markets. In 1612 the cheese market already had four scales. For Alkmaar, the cheese market was an important economic factor, which, like the cloth trade in Leiden or Amsterdam, was the basis for the economic upswing in the Golden Age. In the 17th century the cheese market took place on Friday and Saturday between May and All Saints Day, and during the 18th century even four days a week. In the 18th century, six to seven million pounds of cheese were traded annually in the Alkmaar market. Exceptions were the years 1744 to 1750, when the Netherlands was hit by a devastating animal disease that destroyed a large part of the dairy herd. War events such as the Second World War were also an occasion not to hold the markets temporarily.

Today the cheese market, which takes place every Friday on Waagplein from late March to late September, is mostly a tourist attraction. The events at the historical cheese market are recreated in order to offer visitors attractive photo motifs and a background for tasting the cheese specialties.

Expiration of a market day

Checking the Cheese, 2009
Two traders haggle over the kilo price with a handshake, 2008

The most important employees of the cheese market are the cheese carriers, organized in a guild, who wear white work suits and colorful straw hats. They transport the cheeses to the scales and to the buyers' vehicles. Other people employed in the cheese market are

  • Setzer (Dutch: zetters ): the employees who pile up the cheeses on the market square from 7 a.m. in the morning. They are wearing blue work smocks;
  • Wiegemeister (Dutch: waagmeester ), officials of the city of Alkmaar, who supervise the weighing;
  • Inviteers ( ingooiers ): the employees who clear the unsold cheeses around 1 p.m. and bring them to the suppliers' trucks; they can be recognized by their beige work smocks.

In the early morning, the place is first cleaned. The cheeses are delivered by truck from two cheese factories. Work begins at 7:00 a.m. for all cheese carriers. In fact, only the typesetters are on time, they stack the cheeses in the intended order on the Waagplein. The 2400 or so cheeses weighing 30 tons have to be in the square by 9:30 am. This is also when the cheese carriers arrive. At 9:45 am, the cheese father, the head of the guild, gives a speech to the cheese carriers. He tells them the weight of the cheese in the market and any special features such as the appearance of important guests or the presence of TV crews. In addition, he informs the cheese carriers of the three Vemen on duty - a fourth is free - which areas of the market they have to look after.

At 10:00 a.m. the cheese market opens with the ringing of a bell. This task is often performed by prominent invited guests such as athletes, television stars or foreign diplomats. When the market opens, the traders and onlookers start to work. The cheese wheels are randomly checked. This includes tapping the loaf, taking a sample with a cheese bur, and cutting through loaves to inspect the holes. The most important part of the deal is the haggling between seller and buyer over the price per kilo. The traders clap each other's hands and shout their price out loud. The final handshake seals the deal. The cheese carriers in their white linen suits then bring the sold cheeses to the scales on stretchers. The stretchers weigh about 130 kilograms loaded with eight cheeses. At the scales, the cheeses are weighed by the "pocket man" under the supervision of the balance master, an official of the city of Alkmaar, and marked with a stamp. The cheese carriers then carry the sold cheeses on stretchers to the buyers' vehicles. The porters walk in a peculiar corridor that avoids stepping in step and thus avoiding the bier swinging open. At around 1 p.m., the unsold cheeses are brought back to the vendors' vehicles by the invites. The Waagplein has to be cheese-free again at 1:00 p.m. on the dot so that it is available for street cafes again.

Libra

Scales from the northeast, behind the two right gates are two of the three cheese scales, 2013

The image of the Waagplein is determined by the building of the scale, which was declared a Rijksmonument in 1969 . The earliest documented mention of the scales in Alkmaar dates back to 1408. At that time, Alkmaar was already an important transshipment point for cheese from the north of Holland, including the islands of Texel and Wieringen . However, the scales were not yet in their current location.

In the 14th century, a hostel was set up near the current location, which in 1566 weighed in on the cheese market. From 1582, the church belonging to the hostel was rebuilt as a scale. There are some indications that the renovation was carried out under the direction of Adriaan Anthonisz . The east choir was laid down and the monumental east facade was erected instead. As part of the renovation, the two eastern yokes of the nave were given double outer walls in the form of wall shells in front of them so that they were as wide as the rest of the nave. Between the now double outer walls there are beams on which the three scales today, two on the north and one on the south side, are movably mounted. For operation, the balance beams are moved outwards so far that the weighing pan with the weights is still in the building, but that for the cheese is almost completely in front of the portal. After the market, the scales are moved back a little, the scales removed and the inclined balance beam swiveled into the building. This construction probably dates from 1884 when the weighbridge building was extensively renovated, replacing wooden weighbridge beams from 1692.

The Dutch Cheese Museum has been housed on two floors of the scale since 1983 and presents numerous exhibits on the history of cheese making.

Cheese carrier guild

The Cheese Carriers Guild, 2013

On June 17, 1593, the Alkmaar cheese carrier was founded. Professional organizations were unknown in the cheese production environment because of the rural production methods. The concentration of the cheese trade in a few economic centers made it possible to found guilds in the cheese trade. Other examples existed in the Dutch cities of Edam, Hoorn, Gouda, and Woerden, where cheese markets also sprang up. London, with its numerous cheese dealers, had no such organization. The cheese carrier guild exercised a monopoly in Alkmaar for the organization of the cheese market, all transport services and the weighing in the market.

The cheese carrier guild today has 29 full members. The cheese father (Dutch: Kaasvader ) is the head of the cheese carrier guild. He is responsible for tasks such as assigning the areas of the market to the Vemen and calls the cheese carriers to roll call shortly before the market opens. The 28 cheese carriers are divided into four groups, the Vemen (Singular Veem ), three of which are used at each cheese market. The cheese carriers of the fourth Veem fill the places of colleagues who have not appeared due to illness or other reasons. A Veem consists of six cheese carriers and a pocket man. The Vemen can be distinguished from one another by their colors, red, green, blue and yellow. These colors are also those of the straw hats , the foremen's bow worn on a chain, and the stretchers. In the heyday of the cheese trade, there were five scales in use on the market, and accordingly there were five Vemen. Today only three scales are used, the fifth Veem no longer exists, and of the four remaining are only three each

Within the cheese carriers 'guild, the members' responsibilities for the various tasks are clearly regulated; most of them have several functions. Highlighted people include:

  • Provost (Dutch: provoost ): he collects the fines from the cheese carriers for delays or other misconduct during work;
  • Pocket man ( tasman ): he stands at the scales and weighs the cheese sold. He can be recognized by a tied belt pouch that used to hold receipts and change when cheese was paid for in cash;
  • Foreman ( overman ): the head of a Veem. The Overmannen and the Kaasvader form the board of the guild.

In addition, the Vemen usually include one or more honorary members and a temporary worker ( Noodhulp ) who can be recognized by the straw hat that is not colored through, but only with a colored hat band. The temporary workers complete a two-year qualification and then become full members of the guild as cheese carriers.

Since the cheese market today mainly serves to entertain the tourists, the cheese guild and the other participants maintain a multitude of picturesque rituals. Any misconduct on the part of the cheese carrier, for example being late, is noted on a "scandalous board" and punished with a fine. The cheese carriers' guild supports a school in the village of Alkmaar in Suriname with part of the income ; the remainder is used to finance the activities of the guild. In addition to smoking, alcohol consumption and physical disputes, swearing is also prohibited. If a cheese falls off the stretcher or someone stumbles, those involved call "Uil" ( owl ) instead . All cheese carriers are called by a nickname, which is often an allusion to personal characteristics or a civil profession. When the cheese father appears at the market without a hat or a stick, the cheese carriers shout after him "Father, father, you are naked" ( Vader, vader, u loopt naakt ). The Crumb Evening takes place on the Friday before Christmas . On this occasion, the cheese carriers receive two filled cakes and a sandwich with a thick slice of cheese for the children as a reward for the wife who has washed the white work suits over the year.

Madurodam

A replica of the cheese market can be found in the Madurodam miniature park in Scheveningen .

Web links

Commons : Cheese market in Alkmaar  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Anne McCants: Alkmaar auction . In: Catherine Donnelly (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Cheese . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2016, ISBN 978-0-19-933088-1 , pp. 13-14 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Vanaf 1365 wordt er al kaas verhandeld op het waagplein. In: kaasmarkt.nl. Retrieved January 29, 2020 (Dutch, shortened German translation ).
  3. ↑ a b Sander Wegereef: Van Gasthuis tot Waag, van Waag tot VVV . In: Gemeente Alkmaar (ed.): Levend Alkmaars erfgoed. Herbestemming van alle tijden . Dékavé Managing Print, Alkmaar 2011, ISBN 978-90-73131-00-2 , p. 9-23 ( docplayer.nl ).
  4. ↑ a b Kaasdragers Guild. In: kaasdragersgildealkmaar.nl. May 14, 2014, accessed January 29, 2020 (Dutch).
  5. ^ Karl Kiem: New architectural research on the Alkmaar scale . In: Koldewey Society, Association for Building History Research e. V. (Hrsg.): Report on the 38th conference for excavation science and building research from May 11th to 15th, 1994 in Brandenburg . Habelt, Bonn 1996, ISBN 3-7749-2788-X , p. 67-71 ( karl-kiem.net ).
  6. ^ Karl Kiem: Weigh house. A building type of the Dutch Golden Century. Second edition . Universi Universitätsverlag Siegen, Siegen 2019, ISBN 978-3-96182-037-5 , p. 37–52 , doi : 10.25819 / ubsi / 39 ( uni-siegen.de ).
  7. ↑ Shirley Cherkasky: Appendix. Cheese museums . In: Catherine Donnelly (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Cheese . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2016, ISBN 978-0-19-933088-1 , pp. 787-790 .
  8. ↑ Kaasmuseum de History kaasmarkt. In: kaasmarkt.nl. Retrieved January 29, 2020 (Dutch, shortened German translation ).
  9. ↑ Volker Bach: guilds . In: Catherine Donnelly (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Cheese . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2016, ISBN 978-0-19-933088-1 , pp. 337-339 .
  10. ↑ Divorce. In: kaasdragersgildealkmaar.nl. May 14, 2014, accessed January 29, 2020 (Dutch).
  11. ↑ Het Bestuur. In: kaasdragersgildealkmaar.nl. August 21, 2014, accessed January 29, 2020 (Dutch).
  12. ↑ Tradities. In: kaasdragersgildealkmaar.nl. May 14, 2014, accessed January 29, 2020 (Dutch).