The Child-Catcher’s?
From the nostalgic “awwwws” of the Christmas Museum, to the aarghhs of the Kriminal Museum of Rothenburg up next! Talk about from one extreme to the other!
This Museum was (unsurprisingly) the attraction of choice of the Small People – both of whom I do believe could have spent all day here inspecting all kinds of (horrible) history (I can assure you that this is a place you wouldn’t want to be locked in at night)!
Covering several floors, and almost a thousand years of Western Judicial Law, this Museum is all about historical punishments for all crimes over the centuries that you can possibly think of – and there are plenty for those that you can’t possibly think of too (and perhaps would never have imagined without visiting)! Whoever dreamt up some of these things had quite an imagination, believe me!
Reading up on ancient school punishments and thanking his lucky stars…
You will find plenty of descriptive texts here as to exactly what it is you are looking at (which is necessary in some cases), and you may well learn a few meanings behind present day sayings and traditions – salt became widely used for example as theorists claimed that witches and demons couldn’t tolerate it, and pretzels were covered in salt to protect against such things during lent!
I will admit to lingering over some of this historical reading for slightly longer than necessary, when out of the corner of my eye I witnessed Mr R trying to divert the attention of the Small People away from one exhibit featuring several medieval chastity belts (luckily the descriptions weren’t that involved, and were quite high up)! I believe he told them they were weighted swimming trunks?!…
I found that there were plenty of laws that our Judicial system could perhaps make use of today – in particular, the quite spectacular masks and collars of shame! These were a common punishment for medieval fishwives, nagging spouses, argumentative people, generally nasty people, and those without morals. The accused would be made to walk through the town wearing such a mask (or collar) which usually had bells attached to announce their arrival… We found that this one in particular reminded us of Mr Potato Head!
But amongst the not so “serious” lurk a few articles that will truly give you the shivers if you dwell too long upon them. The Iron Maiden for example turns out to have nothing to do with Margaret Thatcher as I thought it had for many years, and completely covered with sharp spikes on the inside, is perhaps one of the most petrifying things I have ever seen (you might be relieved to hear that there are no real records in evidence to suggest that they were ever used, and many believe they were built as a caution against certain crimes, or actually cobbled together for the sheer spectacle of them!)…
Take heart though, not everything here is as gruesome as you might imagine, especially given their history! Behold an ancient cloak of death – necessary to protect the identify of an ancient Executioner (who would also wear a mask to protect him from the curse of the person whose block he was knocking off!). Did you know that this business was a family affair, usually passed down from generation to generation? Imagine being born into that line of work! And although I am sure you might not agree if you were the one kneeling at the chopping block, I like to think that if my executioner turned up wearing this tasseled affair, I would at least go to my death laughing my head off – quite literally…
Don’t have nightmares, this place is truly worth a visit and packed full of historical facts and figures. I would perhaps not recommend a visit if you have really young children (although I am sure most of it would go over their heads!), but if you have them in the 8+ category, they will thank you for visiting, and I think you might enjoy it too….
Kriminalmuseum
D-91541 Rothenburg
Burggasse 3 – 5
Tel: (00 49 98 61) 53 59
e-mail: info@kriminalmuseum.rothenburg.de
I had been to Kriminal Museum too and I found it very interesting. People really had imagination in inventing (more or less) painful ways of punishing nasty people.
Didn’t they just! Not just physically painful, but mentally too – some of those masks… :D Thanks Urska! :)
This place looks really interesting and I think I would like it! The first image reminds me of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang haha Thanks for linking up to the #SundayTRaveler!
It could well have been used in that film seeing as a lot of it was filmed there! :) Thank you…
What an interesting museum and one we could have spent hours in. I think my kids would find this fascinating too. There was a similar exhibit on the Golden Lane in Prague but at a smaller scale. I’m glad it had some explanations and history lessons. I think I would have been laughing with you on that ancient cloak of death.
Thanks Mary, will keep an eye out for the Prague one! :)
Ugh I went to one of these museums back in Australia as a kid and it scared me for weeks! I couldn’t sleep!
Do not visit this one then! :D
This place is fascinating. Never even thought that such a museum exists. And what an awesome punishment for the nasty people – we should definitely consider reintroducing the masks back to the society :)
I think so too! Thank you Frank! :)
Interesting. I don’t know if I would enjoy this. I have way too an active imagination and feel only bad things will come of me visiting. That said, it does sound very interesting though and a good look into the not so nice parts of history.
I am not sure I could visit at night, but it was perfectly harmless on a sunny day! Thanks Adelina! :)
I think I could really get into this museum. It certainly makes standing in a corner or wearing a dunce hat not seem so terrible. No photos of the chastity belts? Did the kids ask why in the world someone would wear weighted swimtrunks? I don’t know if that Mr. Potato Head mask is sufficiently awful enough to discourage bad behavior in my kids. My teen once volunteered for detention — mixing cement — because he thought it sounded like fun. I confirmed with the teacher after hearing this that it was indeed voluntary and not his way of explaining detention to me.
Love the mixing cement detention! NO, no pics of the chastity belts, I didn’t want to attract the wrong kind of blog attention. And surprisingly, the children didn’t actually ask why anyone would need waited swimming trunks! :D Thanks Michele! :)
We really enjoyed our visit here last year and we could have spent much longer than we did here. While there is some of the gore and torture devices as you mentioned, much of the museum was just about the medieval criminal and legal history (from document seals to marriage laws) which we found very interesting. Surprised at how much there was to read in the little English explanations here.
A good mix of things for everyone! Thanks Jessica! :)
Oh I would love this! I’m morbidly fascinated by medieval forms of punishment. I think a mask of shame is a GREAT idea!
They should so bring it back shouldn’t they? Thanks Anna! :)
I can’t believe there was a Mr. Potato Head shaming mask! And remind me again why we stopped shaming people who gossip too much? A really fun museum, would love to visit it the next time I’m nearby.
You must Dave, I think it’s worth a visit! Thank you! :)
Fascinating! I do have a morbid sort of fascination with these types of places, starting with visits to some of the dungeons in English castles as a kid (I never grew up, I suppose). This looks really great, but I think my little guy needs to be a bit bigger so I can get all the reading done. Thanks for sharing!
I think around 7/8 is the perfect age! Thank you Ace! :)
This really made me laugh, but it’s actually kind of creepy. I had heard of the iron maiden, but didn’t realise it was actually maiden-shaped! Great museum!
I didn’t expect it to quite look like that either! Thanks Margherita! :)
How interesting, I am addicted to the Crime network so this place is right up my alley.
You would really like it then! Thanks SJ! :)
Oh my 9 year old would be in heaven! Thankyou for sharing your pics and great words. Bron
Thank you for commenting Bron! :)
Kids love stuff like this. I remember tying Rory to a bench in a old prison in Scotland and hitting him with a birch twig. Happy days! :-)))
They have those weighted swimming trunks in Ripley’s Believe it or Not. Walked quickly by…
Hahaha…. I am glad it’s not just our family that enjoys visits to such places! :D Thanks Trish! : )
In a truly ghoulish way this looks absolutely fascinating!
Thank you, it was… :D
Ohh that looks really interesting and yes that ion Maiden is very scary indeed. Mich x
Bit claustrophobic isn’t it? Thanks Michelle! :)
Anything historical is fascinating – including the less wholesome stuff! : )
Thanks Louisa, I think that’s what we all feel too! :D
Oh, that sounds fascinating! I love Europe’s gruesome, gory history and would really enjoy it here. And I laughed aloud at “weighted swimming trunks”.
Thank you Mandy! Yes, funny what you can come up with when you’re thinking on your feet! :D
will you pack it in now with he freaky little people thing!
No more scary little people coming up for a long time. Promise! :D
That looks like a really fascinating visit. My girls are a bit young and real scardey cats but maybe when they’re older.
I am sure they would enjoy it when they are a bit older! :D Thanks Rebecca!
Crikey, I’m not sure this is the place for me, but if it’s a subject that interests you then this looks like a fascinating and very educational museum! x
You wait a few years and you will be visiting all sorts of museums you never thought you would set foot in! :D xx
What a fascinating place, that first photo gave me the shivers – still can’t watch that part of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!
Creepy isn’t it? Thanks Mary! :)
We loved this museum and I even took some of the same photographs. Rothenburg is a great town to take visitors!
So beautiful isn’t it? Thanks Brooke! :)
Mmmmm, I am intrigued and repelled at the same time with the thought of visiting this place, it’s the same effect London Dungeons has on me and other eery sights. Without shadow of a doubt very interesting though
Completely interesting, just not at night with thunder and lightening going on perhaps! :D
ooh i’d love to see the child catchers carrier.
Just not the inside though right? Thanks Emma! :)
It looks like a fascinating visit for children as the 8+ age group are strangely fascinated by crime and punishment and gory and gruesome details. The iron maiden looks absolutely horrific, it would definitely work as a deterrent on me.
They get to an age where they just can’t get enough gruesome stuff whether it’s in the history context or the body! Something to look forward to for you there! Thanks Kirsty! :)
Oh my Lordy that was a fascinating tour!!!! That iron maiden looks really scary. I would have been punished every day for being a nagging wife and made to look like a potato head…. and seriously? That’s the reason why pretzels are salted? Well you learn something new everyday. X.
I love the history behind these things, fascinating isn’t it? Thank you S xx
Oooh looks quite scary! What an interesting place to visit though.
Thank you S! :)
I’ve been here! I love Rothenburg. Seeing all of the torture stuff made me feel like my life isn’t so bad nowadays!
Me too Brittany, me too! :D
Oh my gosh, some of those things are completely terrifying… I’d actually be quite interested to go there and see all that.
So much history there Steph, albeit quite goulish! :D Thank you :)
wow what a strange collection of artifacts!! BUt i would actually find it very interesting to see x
Thanks Jenny, it is both strange and interesting! :D x
Wow what a fascinating place and quite gruesome too. That cloak is hilarious and the Iron Maiden is amazing, I had never heard of that before.
I always wondered why the band were called that! Thanks Nikki! :)
Wow very interesting museum i must say! lots to learn!
Thanks Otilia! :)
What a fascinating museum and your great descriptions did make me laugh, embellished with fantastic photographs as ever. Makes me long to visit this town – no wonder it is such a tourist spot it seems to have something for everyone. x
Thank you! One day we will take you! xxx
It does looks like a very interesting place! xx
It is def. worth a visit when you do that trip! :) x