Body Mass Index and Bruges Meridian Line

Sometimes a title needs to grab your attention…

Over the past few months I visited Bruges several times which allowed me to explore Bruges in a different way instead of a typical tourist tour. Inspired by Patrick Wouters' lectures on the meridian lines, I did some research before my visit. According to various information, there are Belgian meridian lines in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Dendermonde, Aalst, Lier, Mechelen and one in Bruges. In Bruges we find the meridian line on the market place, Grote Markt. The meridian line itself is visualized by a row of copper plates in the ground over a length of 65 meters. According to the literature, this is not the original line applied by Adolphe Quetelet. It is not even clear whether there has ever been a “line”. On the “true noon” a replica copper-colored sphere casts its shadow on this meridian line. This 50 cm large sphere stands on top of the mansion "Huis Bouchoute" (1480) which today houses Brasserie "Meridian 3". 

Some more history. It was the astronomer Adolphe Quetelet (1796-1874, director of the Royal Observatory of Belgium) who was responsible for the construction of the Bruges meridian line at the request of the government (RD 22/02/1836). The Bruges meridian line would be completed on July 28, 1839 (Ref 1). The meridian line would be part of no fewer than 41 planned meridian lines at various places in the country, of which Quetelet eventually built 10. The intention was to harmonize time in different places in our country. This harmonization became important due to the expansion of the Belgian rail network (from 1835). Because cities had their own time, the safety of train traffic could not be guaranteed. At that time, trains still ran on one track, so you don't want unplanned oncoming traffic 😊. By the way, did you know that Adolphe Quetelet was the basis of the BMI (Quetelet Index (Ref 2)), yes, the Body Mass Index!

Reference 1

Reference 2