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BUILDING

Pulleys that moved a city and changed the world

Juan Samaniego
Juan Samaniego

29 of May of 2017

Greek historian Plutarch wrote that Archimedes was able to move the Syracusia, the largest ship in
ancient Greece, by simply pulling on a rope. The secret: a multiple pulley system. “Give me a point of
support and I will move the world.” This, it seems, is what ancient Greece’s most important scientist and
inventor said to challenge King Hiero.

Today, far removed from worlds of tragedies and legends, and despite a certain modernisation,
[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]pulleys – an apparently very simple device – continue to
move the world.[/inlinetweet] A wheel with a groove cut into its periphery as a symbol of human
technology. A simple mechanical device which multiplies the strength of man. A point of support for the
rope which changed a small village on the swamps of the Dutch coast into Europe’s most buoyant city.

“Sailing through Amsterdam’s canals, one could find elephants and armadillos, snakes and frogs,
microscopes and telescopes, fine bone china and Delft pottery. And, of course, spices and herbs, not
only for cooking, but also to aid digestion, as a laxative, or for keeping illness at bay. Shops were much
more than simple warehouses for pepper and cinnamon, they also stored numerous exotic plants such
as scammony, turmeric, galangal, muskroot, tragacanth gum and, some even say, dragon blood.”

This account dating back to the 17th century and included in Russel Shorto’s book “Amsterdam: A
history of the world’s most liberal city”, is a vivid illustration of the golden age of a city which began to
develop in the early 1600s. A centre for international trade and bustling port, anyone lucky enough to
visit the capital of Holland (or, more properly, The Netherlands, Holland being only the country’s
westernmost province) will, perhaps unknowingly, step right into the legacy of that century of
spectacular growth.

spices for food amsterdam holland

Spices for use in food – Stock

Pulley systems that moved a city

The canal houses

Tall and narrow, elegant yet restrained in their design, with their façade leaning slightly towards the
water and sporting a hook at the highest point. There is a reason for everything in the way these typical
houses on the banks of Amsterdam’s canals, the grachtenpand or canal houses, were built.

Given the high cost of land (taxes were paid depending on the number of metres occupied along the
canal), plots were narrow, so houses were built tall. Trade with the then known world, including the
newly-discovered America, was Amsterdam’s largest source of wealth, so most of these houses
belonged to merchants and were also used as warehouses.

The ground floor, traditionally built about a metre above ground level to avoid damage from flooding
when the water in the canals rose, usually housed a shop and a small store. On the upper floor was the
main warehouse with the most valuable goods, such as spices, which were released in small quantities
to keep market prices stable.

And at the highest point of the house, overlooking trading activities and, indeed, the whole city, a hook
with a large pulley. Given how narrow the houses were, it was difficult to get supplies up to the top
floor. However, with this simple pulley, goods could be hoisted directly from the canal to the storeroom.
And the slight angle of the façade made the task easier, as goods would not bang against walls and
windows if they swung slightly while being hoisted up.

pulley systems house in amsterdam

Pulleys in Amsterdam, still in use today / Roger W – Flickr

So, with a pulley as their main ally – and no doubt with very little knowledge about Archimedes –, Dutch
traders set the stage for a busy Europe of cities and commerce.

The Golden Age

From the East and West Indies, and from the south and horn of Africa, Europe received coffee, cocoa,
pepper and cotton, products which were just as valuable as gold, or even more so. And these goods
almost always transited Amsterdam, where they were stored with the aid of a pulley set atop the
highest point of a narrow house.
According to some of the accounts of the time, for much of the 17th century the Dutch capital received
more than 100 tonnes of pepper thanks to the trade routes with countries in the Indies. And this was
not all, according to Russel Shorto’s book: any product which could possibly be traded was stored in
these canal houses.

“In 1625, the warehouses of the Dutch East India Company contained four million pounds (1,800 tonnes)
of pepper. A year later, there were six million pounds (2,700 tonnes) of pepper carefully packed in
trader warehouses along the banks of the canals. In addition, of course, to the cinnamon, dried fish, tea,
whale oil, sugar, salt, soap, silk, beer and tobacco that was also stored there”.

artistic engraving amsterdam city

Main warehouse of the Dutch East India Company in 1647

Such an accumulation of wealth and the emergence of global trade made Amsterdam stand out as the
world’s first liberal city. However, the so-called Dutch Golden Age was about more than just money and
riches galore. And its causes and consequences lie rather closer to home than we might think.

Following the 80 Year’s War, the provinces of Flanders gained independence from Spain. The war ended
with the Treaty of Utrecht, marking a new era for Europe in the 17th century. The new country emerging
from the war promised freedoms, particularly religious freedom, for which reason large numbers of
Protestants and Jews, originating mainly from Spain and Portugal, settled in Amsterdam, thus already
turning this small port, at the turn of the century, into one of the world’s main trade centres and the
continent’s most multicultural city.

Moreover, cheap sources of energy, such as wind (exploited through the iconic windmills to be found all
over The Netherlands) and peat allowed a never before seen level of scientific, technological and artistic
development. And the new kingdom soon rose to prominence as a naval power in the light of the
declining influence of Spain and Portugal, thus positioning itself firmly in line for trade with the new
America and the East Indies. Trade required maritime routes, large ships for transporting goods and,
above all, safe warehouses in which to store these goods.
And so the cycle closes, and we return to the pulleys which have been endlessly turning for centuries,
pulleys without which all this commercial effort could have collapsed in a single flood. An ancient device
without which Amsterdam’s narrow houses would have been a barrier to the country’s development
and, perhaps, to that of the entire continent.

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