If you’ve ever wandered the streets of Amsterdam, you’ve likely seen that many of the buildings have beams hanging out from them, as illustrated in the above photo. These are hoisting beams. They are fitted with a heavy metal hook and use a pulley system to pull heavy things to the upper floors of buildings.
I thought the reason these beams exist was interesting. Historically, property taxes in Amsterdam were determined based on the width of a building — not its height or depth. As a result, many of the older buildings are narrow and tall. The interior staircases within these structures are often very steep and narrow, making moving bulky items up the stairs nearly impossible.
The clever Dutch developed a solution. Many buildings in Amsterdam lean slightly forward toward the street. This allows for cargo or furniture to be pulled up using hoisting beams. Because of the tilt, the loads hang clear of the building and do not bang the facade on their way up.
Hoisting beams are still used to this day to move heavy furniture like sofas, beds, refrigerators and pianos into upper-level apartments
