In the Jewish Alley
Station 2
Located in the heart of the Jewish neighbourhood, right at the junction of major European trade routes, this building complex consists of almost a dozen buildings dating back to the 12th century. Until the 15th century, the individual houses were inhabited almost exclusively by Jewish men and women, who were engaged in various trades, particularly in money-lending and long-distance trade. The stone arch in the opposite wall was probably intended as an open sales vault by the family of Salman of Würzburg around 1300.
You are standing on a former alley which was closed off during the late Middle Ages and converted into a privately used courtyard. Following the expulsion of the Jews from Erfurt in the 1450s, the entire block of houses of the ‘Haus zum Paradies’ (today’s Tourist Information) was acquired by the wealthy Christian Kellner family, who had the large half-timbered storehouse built at the rear end of the courtyard in 1469.
