Weigh house, Medieval weighing facility at Weckmarkt, Frankfurt, Germany.
The Weigh House was a stone building with tall cross-stock windows on the upper floor and a slate-covered hipped roof above plastered rubble walls. It served merchants by allowing them to have goods such as bacon, salt, and copper weighed and officially registered.
The building was erected in 1503 on the site of Frankfurt's first synagogue and operated as a municipal weigh house until 1874. It was then replaced by a neo-Gothic archive building, and archaeological work later uncovered Romanesque remains of the original synagogue beneath its foundation.
The building served as the center of trade life in Frankfurt, where merchants brought their goods to have them officially weighed and registered. Its location at Weckmarkt shows how closely commerce and municipal control were connected in the medieval city.
The former Weigh House is located near Frankfurt Cathedral, making it easily accessible within the old town. The site at Weckmarkt remains a central point in the historic city center today.
The building was constructed on the site of Frankfurt's first synagogue, a choice reflecting the city's transformation following the expulsion of its Jewish community. This hidden history was only rediscovered through archaeological work decades later.
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