History

The cheese

In 1395, the city council of Gouda issued detailed guidelines for the organisation of the city’s markets. The butter market was located to the east of the town hall, while the cattle market was held to the west. By the early 1400s, several cattle and cheese markets are believed to have already existed in Gouda.

In a large area around Gouda, dairy farming was the main source of livelihood. This was largely due to the peat soil, which limited other types of agriculture. As a result, Gouda developed into the centre of an extensive cattle-breeding region. Every year, many thousands of kilos of dairy products (and livestock) were traded at the Gouda markets.

Combined with Gouda’s favourable trading location along the rivers IJssel and Gouwe, serving as a transit harbour between Rotterdam and Amsterdam, the city quickly developed into a regional centre for trade, including dairy products. This is still visible in the city today through the remaining historic cheese warehouses. Gouda cheese became famous for its long shelf life and excellent flavour. Even today, cheese farms can still be found in the immediate surroundings of Gouda. Fortunately so, as they perfectly match today’s demand for authentic and honest food.

Until the sixteenth century, Gouda cheese was still known as “Stolkse” or “Stolwijkse” cheese, referring to the nearby village of Stolwijk. In 1412, the cheese market of Stolwijk was moved to Schoonhoven. Only towards 1500 do sources clearly show that the cheese trade was increasingly concentrating in Gouda. A long-standing conflict with Schoonhoven over the cheese market was eventually settled around 1540 in favour of Gouda.

A few years later, in 1549, Gouda cheese was already being exported to the Antwerp market, where it gained a dominant position during the sixteenth century.

The weigh house

The current Weigh House dates from 1668 and was designed by the architect Pieter Post, who also designed the Weigh House in Leiden and the town hall of Maastricht.

This dignified stone building replaced an earlier wooden structure and better reflected Gouda’s importance and status as a true cheese city.

Since 1611, the dairy trade also had a building on the Market Square. The former Great School, located where the beautiful Arti Legi building stands today, was then converted into the Butter House. This trading house for butter, cheese and other dairy products received a new façade in 1616. The Butter House also served as a warehouse for grain and cheese baskets. In 1853, the butter market was moved to the town hall on the Market Square. Both the cheese and butter markets maintained their strong position throughout the nineteenth century. Walking through the city, you could often smell the scent of cheese, usually coming from one of the many cheese warehouses.

Until the Second World War, the streets and the Market Square on market days were filled with farmers and traders, but also with farmers’ wives who came along to do their shopping in the city or at the market stalls. On the square, deals between farmers and traders—often directors of large export companies—were sealed with the traditional handclap. Many transactions also took place in the nearby cafés, where a drink was shared, paid for by the seller, to celebrate the deal.

The cheese market now

Until 1987, the cheese market still served its original trading purpose. Today, the trading of cheese is performed as a traditional spectacle that is highly appreciated by visitors and tourists. It is a piece of nostalgia brought to life in the most authentic setting imaginable.

“Say cheese, say Gouda” is a slogan from a time before slogans even existed. Wherever you go in the world, simply saying the name Gouda brings a smile to people’s faces: “Cheese!”