Museum Judengasse Frankfurt

Museum Judengasse, Frankfurt is one of the significant museums of the city. This relatively small museum is actually an annexe of the Jewish Museum of Frankfurt. Your trip to the museum will enable you learn about the history of the Jewish ghetto of the city. In fact the name of the museum is reflective of the theme of the museum, Judengasse in German means Jew’s Lane. The primary onus of the museum is to focus on the inhabitants, the houses, and life in the ghetto down through the centuries.
The history of Jewish population in Frankfurt is tumultuous and painful. The Jewish community of the city was forced to lead their life in Frankfurt’s Judengasse for more than 400 years.

Frankfurt’s Judengasse was situated just outside the city walls in the East End of the city of Frankfurt and was located in close proximity to the Konstablerwache. The ghetto was about 330 m long, 3-4 meters wide, and boasted of three town gates. All the gates used to be locked at night and locking of gates meant that the entire, the Jewish population was essentially locked in. When the ghetto was first established, 15 families initially lived in the ghetto, but then, the number of the families soon increased to 3000 in the 16th century.

Things changed rapidly at the end of the 19th century, when the ghetto was torn down, forcing the inhabitants of the ghetto to shift to the East End. In place of the ghetto a new synagogue was opened in 1882 and by 1945 the entire area was in ruins. Later on after several transformations, the area was finally turned into an administrative center. Today Museum Judengasse is the only place in Frankfurt, where you will find exhibits and information related to the Jewish ghetto. The museum houses 5 foundations of the houses of ghetto and an extensive collection of items and exhibits, which reflect the history of Frankfurt’s Judengasse.