Toll House Bruges

In the 1200s , the district developed into a commercial center around the nascent harbor .

The ships entered Bruges via the Langerei and the Spiegelrei. For traders, this was the ideal place to build homes with spacious warehouses. Presumably at the beginning of the fourteenth century, the office of the Great Toll was housed here. The toll house was the place where an import tax or Great Tol was collected on the products that arrived in Bruges via interregional and international trade. The Little Toll referred to local trade and was levied at the city gates. The amount for the Great Toll was determined by the weight of the imported products. This meant that a 'weighing house' always belonged to a toll house. In the Middle Ages, a toll was levied on the Sint-Jansbrug, now the Jan van Eyckplein.

With that money, Pieter van Luxemburg, knight of the Golden Fleece, rebuilt the Tolhuis in 1477. The late Gothic porch also bears his polychrome coat of arms . On the left you notice the natural stone facade of the craft house of the Rijkepijnders or ship unloaders. Four portal figurines illustrate the craft. The Tolhuis consists of several buildings : the corner house "Het Heilig Graf" , the Pijndershuisje , the actual Tolhuis and the house "Het Wezelkin".

Since 2017, the building has been managed by the Provincial Development Company West Flanders (POM) and Entrepreneur Centers West Flanders and houses the Entrepreneur Center Bruges, with workplaces for starting entrepreneurs and professional meeting rooms. The Provincial Information Center and Info Point Europe can still be found on the ground floor.

Willem Vandenameele