Medieval Crime Museum

The Medieval Crime Museum in Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a German legal museum offering an insight into the history of law over the past 1,000 years. Visitors can follow the evolution of the judicial system from the High Middle Ages to the 19th century. The Medieval Crime Museum is currently home to some 50,000 items relating to the history of law in Germany and Europe, making it one of the most significant museums dedicated to the law in the whole country. Displays at the museum shed light on medieval criminal proceedings, featuring instruments of torture and tools used for execution and corporal punishment alongside a number of drawings. The civil policy orders reveal how even the most private spheres of people's lives were controlled by regulations on clothing, marriage and baptism. A number of themes relating to the history of the judicial system are covered, including robbers, commerce and craft trades, women, children and animals. Martin Luther's relationship with witches is even put under the spotlight.