In medieval times the so called
Judenherberge, a kind of Jewish community centre, was located on the site of
today's
Judentanzhaus, which was rebuilt in the 1950s. In the small garden in front of this building a
commemorative plaque acts as a reminder of the displacement and killing of Rothenburg's Jewish community
by the National Socialists in the years around 1940.
To the centre of the garden, which is named after the Jewish scholar Rabbi Meir ben Baruch, some Jewish
headstones were added in the 1970s. That's why it resembles a Jewish cemetery, but this isn't the case.
Around 1900 the headstones were taken from the former Jewish cemetery, now called Schrannenplatz, and put
to safety. Today they remind both tourists and citizens passing by of Rothenburg's Jewish community. The
translation of the Hebrew inscriptions as well as other headstones can be found at the RothenburgMuseum
in Rothenburg.
Weißer Turm and Judentanzhaus, detail of a watercolour painting by T. Alt, around 1900.
Photography from around 1950 showing the site in front of Weißer Turm; the destroyed Judentanzhaus can be seen in the background.
Source: Verein Alt-Rothenburg e. V., Rothenburg ob der Tauber 1945 - Zerstörung und Kriegsende,
Verlag des Vereins Alt-Rothenburg e. V., p. 16
