Medieval Crime Museum

The picturesque town of Rothenburg is well-known for being home to the Kriminalmuseum, or Crime Museum, better known as the "Torture Museum" amongst Americans who lived there, for its prolific display of instruments of torture and punishment.

Here are a few shots we took while we toured the museum:

Todd and I arrive at the museum:

Don't you love the old buildings and cobblestone streets?

And are immediately shackled:

These criminals sure look cheerful!

Instruments of torture immediately greeted us as we entered the museum:

Wouldn't want to sit in this thing for too long!

I couldn't even begin to remember what these things did, but they don't look pleasant!

The sign says it all!

There were even plenty of old books describing how to mete out justice. The old script made it difficult to read, but you know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? In this case, it definitely transcends all language barriers, as well:

There was the classic iron maiden, with its outer wooden casing worn from age, though you can see a drawing of what it used to look like, right behind it:

Physical torture wasn't the only form of punishment. Some of my favorite displays entailed punishment by public shaming. Like these masks, meant to be worn for infractions such as gossiping too much, lying, cheating, falling asleep in church, etc..

If you're a baker, you'd better not be caught swindling your customers (by selling them bread that is too light), else you'll face a public dunking in one of these as punishment:

 And if you're a quarrelsome married couple? Here's what's in store for you:

Is it me, or is this one of the more horrific forms of torture available?

The museum also had several miniature scenes depicting medieval life, from the town square to a private home to a school house. There, you could observe tiny replicas of punishments actually being enacted. See how many punishments/shamings you can spot in this picture:

Click to Enlarge

Our visit to the museum was quite enlightening. It's somewhat horrifying to see what instruments of pain and torture the human mind was capable of devising in those days. I like to think we've evolved since those darker days, but sadly, there are many still out there inflicting pain on others. The instruments may have changed, but human nature has not.

I'm posting every day in October as part of the 31-Day Writing Challenge. Click here to read more about it and to see the rest of my posts this month!