{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.weigh-house","code":"thing-q1407236","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q1407236/","name":"weigh house","alternateNames":[],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.3","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Physical world and living systems","entryKind":"thing","plane":"PHY","domain":["PHY.BLT"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A public building, common in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and other trading regions from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, in which goods brought to market were weighed on official scales to determine tolls and taxes and to guarantee fair trade, often a prominent structure on the market square, later used for other purposes and today frequently preserved as a museum, restaurant or civic building; weigh houses were also sites of witch weighing in some towns.","purpose":"Let an agent explain weigh houses and their function, relay history, architecture and notable examples from heritage sources, describe their reuse today, and distinguish weigh houses from market halls, customs houses and weighbridges.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Official scales","Market square location","Municipal control","Heritage reuse"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What a weigh house is.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Definition and function.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What was a weigh house, and how did official weighing regulate trade and taxes?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the question about weigh houses, market halls, customs houses or weighbridges?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"architecture","name":"Architecture","description":"Architecture.","findings":[{"id":"architecture-finding","name":"Architecture","description":"Architecture.","questions":[{"text":"What architectural features characterise weigh houses, and how did they vary by region?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific building?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","layers":[{"id":"trade","name":"Trade","description":"Trade history.","findings":[{"id":"trade-finding","name":"Trade","description":"Trade.","questions":[{"text":"How did weighing rights and weigh houses fit into medieval and early modern trade, as historians describe?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"witches","name":"Witches","description":"Witch weighing.","findings":[{"id":"witches-finding","name":"Witches","description":"Witches.","questions":[{"text":"What was witch weighing at Oudewater and elsewhere, and how well is it documented, with sources attributed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which sources are cited?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"visit","name":"Visit","description":"Visiting.","layers":[{"id":"examples","name":"Examples","description":"Notable examples.","findings":[{"id":"examples-finding","name":"Examples","description":"Examples.","questions":[{"text":"Which weigh houses survive in Amsterdam, Gouda, Leiden, Deventer and other towns?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific weigh house?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"reuse","name":"Reuse","description":"Reuse today.","findings":[{"id":"reuse-finding","name":"Reuse","description":"Reuse.","questions":[{"text":"How are weigh houses used today as museums, restaurants and civic spaces?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits adaptive reuse?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"context","name":"Context","description":"Context.","layers":[{"id":"metrology","name":"Metrology","description":"Weights and measures.","findings":[{"id":"metrology-finding","name":"Metrology","description":"Metrology.","questions":[{"text":"How did weigh houses relate to historical weights and measures regulation?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits the history of weights and measures?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"comparison","name":"Comparison","description":"Other countries.","findings":[{"id":"comparison-finding","name":"Comparison","description":"Comparison.","questions":[{"text":"What equivalents existed outside the Low Countries and Germany?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits market building?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Describe historic weigh houses and their role in trade, citing heritage sources.","Report the heritage status of a weigh house from official registers."],"mustNot":["Alter or damage a listed weigh house or its historic scales.","Present visitor or opening information without a current source.","Misattribute dates or builders without evidence."],"requiresHuman":["Any repair or change to a protected weigh house building."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Weigh houses are heritage of fair trade in town centres.","Conversions of heritage buildings can erase their public value."],"affectedParties":["Local communities","Heritage visitors"]},"owners":{"steward":"The owner of each building, usually the municipality; heritage authorities protect listed ones.","roles":[],"masterSystems":["National heritage registers"]},"relations":[{"target":"Q41176","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"building","type":"related","note":"in registry terms"},{"target":"market","type":"related","note":"trade regulation"},{"target":"Waag, Amsterdam","type":"related","note":"a surviving example"},{"target":"weighbridge","type":"related","note":"an outdoor scale"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.weigh-house","Wikidata: Q1407236 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1407236)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"required","items":["period: 13th to 19th centuries range","notable examples: Amsterdam, Gouda, Leiden, Oudewater list","Oudewater witch weighing charter: 1545 year - traditional"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"required","items":["Historic public weighing building","Waag buildings of Dutch and Flemish towns, German Waage","Market halls sold goods; customs houses collected duties; weighbridges are outdoor platforms","A substantial historic building on a market square, often with wide doors for carts and a scale inside."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain function","relay history and examples","describe reuse","distinguish related buildings"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Confusing weigh houses with market halls or customs houses","Treating witch weighing folklore as fully documented history without attribution","Loss of interiors through reuse"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Historical municipal weighing rights and charters","Heritage protection for surviving buildings"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Historically, official weighing of goods.","Dutch waag buildings","Flemish and German weigh houses","weigh houses combined with town halls or guild rooms","weigh houses used for witch weighing","weigh houses reused as museums and restaurants"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q1407236: weigh house","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1407236","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Weigh house","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weigh_house","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should notable weigh houses be linked individually?","How should heritage sources be linked?","How should the witch weighing tradition be attributed?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q1407236/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q1407236/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-13T05:29:44Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"filled","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:51:54+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass"},"score":1.0}}