A cloth hall or linen hall (German: Gewandhaus; Polish: Sukiennice; French: Halle aux draps; Dutch: Lakenhal) is a historic building located in the centre of the main marketplace of a European town. Cloth halls were built from medieval times into the 18th century.

A cloth hall contained trading stalls for the sale, particularly, of cloth but also of leather, wax, salt, and exotic imports such as silks and spices.

Belgium

Ypres Broadcloth Hall
Tournai Cloth Hall
Former cloth hall and later town hall of Antoing

Examples of cloth halls in Belgium include the Ypres Cloth Hall and cloth halls in Bruges, Leuven, and Tournai. Leuven's Linen-Hall is in an early-Gothic style, with baroque addition, and now serves as the Leuven University Hall.

Britain and Ireland

British examples are Drapers' Hall, London; the Piece Hall, Halifax; and Leeds' White Cloth Hall.

In Ireland, the Dublin Linen Hall was completed in 1728, and later White Linen Hall was constructed in Belfast,[1] and there were linen halls in other towns such as Castlebar and Clonakilty.

Germany

Examples of German Gewandhäuser can be found in the towns of Brunswick, Zwickau, and Leipzig.

The rebuilt, third Leipzig Gewandhaus is home to the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

Netherlands

Leiden (Holland) Broadcloth Hall: 19th-century view of present-day Museum De Lakenhal (Cloth-Hall Museum) of art

The former Cloth Hall in Leiden, Netherlands, has, since the 19th century, housed the Museum De Lakenhal (Municipal Cloth-Hall Museum) of art.

Poland

In Poland, the most famous existing cloth-hall building is Kraków's Cloth Hall (Sukiennice), rebuilt in 1555 in Renaissance style.[6] The 14th-century Gothic cloth hall in Toruń is preserved as part of the Old Town Market Hall.

Cloth halls formerly also existed in Poznań, at the Old Market Square; and in Wrocław, at the site of the street now called ulica Sukiennice (Cloth-Hall Street).

Notes and references

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cloth halls.
  1. ^ Hopkins, Frank (4 September 2008). "The Very Fabric Of Dublin's Past". Irish Independent. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  2. ^ Ter Kuile, E.H., & Koch, A.C.F. (1964). Zuid-Salland. Den Haag: Staatsuitgeverij, geraadpleegd van DBNL
  3. ^ Herwaarden, J., de Boer, D. P., van Kan, F., & Verhoeven, G. (1996). Geschiedenis van Dordrecht tot 1572, pp. 29-30. Gemeentearchief Dordrecht
  4. ^ "Nijmegen §2.1 Wereldlijke bouwkunst". Encarta Encyclopedie Winkler Prins (in Dutch). Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum. 2002.
  5. ^ J.F.A. Wassink (2005). Van stad en buitenie. Hilversum: Uitgeverij Verloren. p. 280. ISBN 90-6550-850-3. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  6. ^ The World's Best Squares, PPS website, Making Places, December 2005
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