Oosterlingenplein

Oosterlingenplein is marked by the presence of the Oosterlingenhuis, a stone building that served as the central hub for merchants from the German Hanseatic League. The square takes its name from these traders, known as the Easterners, who lived and conducted business in this district from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries. The Oosterlingenhuis itself was commissioned by the city council in fourteen fifty-seven to entice these powerful merchants to stay in Bruges after they had repeatedly threatened to relocate their base to Antwerp or Utrecht.