Literally translated as Walen orphanage lock is named after the nearby orphanage at Vijzelgracht 2
1017 HR, Amsterdam. Like many of the buildings in central Amsterdam this is a national monument. The current building is the ‘new’ building as in 1586, the city council of Amsterdam assigned a former monastery chapel to the purpose but by 1631 the orphanage was in Laurierstraat. When that building became too small, they moved to a ‘new’ building on the Vijzelgracht.
Hospice Wallon (Walloon Orphanage) was needed as the Walloons or Huguenots were persecuted in France. In the sixteenth century the first wave of Walloons came to the Netherlands and around twelve thousand Huguenots settled in Amsterdam. By 1700 about six percent of the population of Amsterdam was French, from France, or a descendant of French parents.
The Orphanage is a large complex consisting of a rectangular main building under a hipped roof from around 1669-1671 by architect Adriaan Dortsman, a lower left wing on Weteringdwarsstraat (1683) and a low right wing on Prinsengracht (1726). The front façade with boxed brick corner isosceles and a wide central risalit encloses two door frames.
The Bridge at this location was already drawn on the map of Jacob Bosch from circa 1681 and the orphanage was also shown at this time. Around 1850 an earlier version of the bridge was in the news because a horse from a garbage cart landed on the bridge railing and died on the bridge.
More information:
https://weteringbuurt.nl/project/5056/walenweeshuis
https://rijksmonumenten.nl/monument/6181/walenweeshuis/amsterdam