The first settlements

Modern Bruges takes its historical origin in a Gallic-Roman settlement at the beginning of our era. Already at this time the city was trading with England and the rest of Gaul. In the 700s, the trade spread to Scandinavia as well, and the city got its name from the Nordic name for a place of landing, a pier.

In the mid-800s, in addition to a castle, there were two parish churches and other buildings that constituted an actual city. The name of the brew is also found on coins from that time.

In the 800s, the Vikings were a threat, and this caused Count Balduin I of Flanders to strengthen the former Roman defenses, and both Bruges and the Flemish coastline were fortified at this time.

In spite of the threat from Scandinavia, trade increased in the following centuries, among other things, to England and precisely to the Viking homelands. The city was at this time one of the absolute centers of commerce.

Commercial rights and sea access

Already from the mid-1000s, sanding had caused an increasingly difficult waterway from Bruges to the sea, and in the end this road was without the significance of the trade it had previously had.

Bruges gained market town rights on July 27, 1128, and new canals were dug and new city walls erected. Bruges was thus growing when a storm flood in 1134 changed the landscape on Bruges’s Flemish coast.

Zwin was formed as a new fjord with connection to the North Sea. Zwin stretched all the way to the town of Damme, a few kilometers from Bruges, which regained the important access to trade by sea.

During this time, Flemish wool and textile products were exported from Bruges to most of Europe. The widespread trade led to the establishment of a major banking and finance business in the city, and overall, Brugge was on the rise for the coming centuries.

Golden Age and Depression

In 1384 Bruges became subject to the united Burgundy and Flanders, and the city’s status as a trading center was preserved and expanded over the following hundred years.

The trade was developed in Bruges, seeking international relations. These included trade in Portuguese spice traders and textiles.

In the 1400s, Brugge was at its peak. In the central city, 40,000-45,000 inhabitants lived, and Bruges’ weaving and spinning mills were among the world’s leading.

With the sudden death of Mary of Burgundy in 1482, power came into her husband’s hands; it was the Austrian Archduke Maximilian. Against him a rebellion arose, which put political and military pressure on Bruges in the following years. It should prove to be the start of the city’s recession.

Bruges’ status as Flanders’s primary trading center gradually shifted to Antwerp, expanding on the basis of the easy trade along the river Schelde. Only a minor trade was maintained through Bruges in the following centuries, and by the end of the 1400s most trading houses had moved to precisely Antwerp.

Declining population and stagnation

In the 16th century, Zwin began to come true. The Fjord Canal was Bruges’ most important economic asset and a prerequisite for the trade that had been and continued to some extent. By the middle of the century, however, Zwin’s importance was so diminished that Bruges was a city in economic decline compared to the heyday when merchants from the north and south met here.

In 1584, Bruges and the region were divided from the Dutch Netherlands, reducing Bruges to a provincial city of no particular importance. The centuries passed and Brugge sought to maintain a certain maritime trade, and the city’s shipowners and merchants traded with the various European empires.

Initially, industrialization in Europe passed around Bruges, which was one of the country’s poorest cities in the mid-1800s, which was also reflected by the population. From at one time having attracted more than 100,000 citizens, the population dropped continuously to about 50,000 by the year 1900.

20th century to the present

Already in the late 1800s, initiatives were initiated to reverse the development in Bruges, which was and is known for its art and culture, which has attracted countless tourists for many years.

However, the population and industry of Bruges remained at modest levels throughout the 20th century. The development in the area initially took place by the sea, which was also the driving force for success in the past.

In 1907, the city and the port of Zeebrugge were constructed as Bruges’ new port, and from this the city experienced serious growth in traffic and freight volumes in the late 1900s.

In addition, the golden age and past of great trade and the resulting wealth, as well as the arts and culture, have created the foundation for a continued tourism, which annually brings visitors from all over the world to the historic international city that has preserved its old city center.