Medieval Crime Museum

They got enough things to show, would probably take you a good hour or more depending on how fast you are going through the things. It was 6.50€ for students and I think around 9.50€ for adults. For a person who likes to know more about how things were back then it would be interesting. One great thing is that almost all the things in the museum has an english text so it is definitely tourist friendly. Some of the things are replicas and some of them are real. They have a huge collection of torture devices and things that are related to criminals back then. Would recommend it if you like these types of museums!

Very cool museum. 3 levels full of displays and descriptions offered in english as well.

In a town full of history, there is this very complete museum of medieval torture which has an amazing collection of old "law" books and explains with great detail and the help of objects how "justice" was applied at the middle age. The way out is well displayed, no worries, you won't get lost.

I went with my family, and it was more interesting than described as it included the entire history of law, justice, punishment, torture, etc.

Unique museum that's well done. Small, clean, and informative. It really puts the judicial system history into perspective.

We entered this museum near the closing time. So we didn't have much time in hand to explore the whole museum thoroughly. But whatever we saw there, it was an amazing experience. Because as a crime thriller movie and story geek, when I read and watch about the tortures and punishments of the mediaeval times, all of those are properly collected and preserved here. I wish we could have some more time. If you ever decide to visit Rothenburg, I suggest you to make time for visiting this museum if you're interested in these.

Great place for history lovers to spend few hours getting to know law and punishment history in the city through the ages.Very interesting exposition,great artifacts,loads of information. Really worth a visit.

The receptionist speaks good English. The place is well maintained and all article history is also written in English. They have clean toilets as well inside. The exit although is very confusing, they need to add more signs for exit.

This is a great stop for an hour or two while you are exploring Rothenburg! The admission is only 7€ for adults,l with reduced fees for others (3.50€ for students, 4€ for college students, 6€ for seniors & 17€ for families which includes 2 adults and children under 18). The museum houses an array of artifacts and replicas of torture decides and items used as punishment during medieval times. These items range from humiliating masks to torture chairs and finger presses, then up to a Iron Madden. There is also a lot to read and see on the justice system and rules that dictated crimes and punishments. All of it was very fascinating and there was a lot to learn. Some of our favorites were all the masks used to draw attention and humiliate an offended, such as one that whistled every time the wearer breathed, so everyone knew where they were. The plaques where in German with most having English translations below. Oh, and turns out you can bring your dog in as we found out with others walking around. They also have a great cafe after you are done in another building. This is a great stop for a hot chocolate or coffee and to try a mini schneeballen. Highly recommend adding this museum to your list while in Rothenberg!

We took a break from Christmas market and visited this museum right when it opened. It's €7/adult, collected at the door. You start in the basement and go down these steep and rather dim stairs. The lighting is a bit dim down there giving an overall eerie vibe to the place. I suppose that's intentional. Displays are well laid out and most of the plaques are in a German, English and Japanese. At the far end of the basement, there are stairs to get to the 2 floors above with more displays. The lighting is a bit better up there. There's a lot to look at so if you get tired, wooden benches are placed all around to take breaks. The WCs are also upstairs. Everything is informative and interesting. There's quite a bit of duplication. People have found so many ways to hurt each other throughout history. I also found it a bit depressing in contrast to the spirit of the Christmas market. Glad I went as it's a popular museum and recommended by friends who went but I won't be coming back.

This was a fun museum. It appears that many of the Items on display are just replicas but it's fun nonetheless. It was a good opportunity to get away from the weather which, when I was there, was snow/rain.

Oh, Kriminalmuseum. I am honored to be your first English review. To be honest, I was a bit bored in Rothenburg until I heard about the Kriminalmuseum. Let's just say I had a wicca phase in middle school and leave it at that. Does this museum compare to museums in all the major metropolitan cities with their well-curated art collections? Of course not. But for a smaller specialty museum, it did not disappoint. The woman working at the front desk was very friendly and after I paid for my ticket (be sure to get the student discount if you're a student) she directed me down the stairs. Now, you're supposed to take a certain path through the museum as the layout is a bit odd. Things are confusing as heck if you lose track of the arrows that guide you around. There is a restroom on the first floor near the front desk where you purchase your ticket. I don't know if there are other restrooms somewhere in the building but it took me a hell of a long time to find my way back to use the restroom and then find my way back to where I had been and then work my way through the exhibit when I realized that I had to run to meet my tour group. Some entrances and exits are blocked off so you'll follow the intended path but since that winds through the museum I feel like this is a design flaw in case there's ever an emergency. There aren't really guards so I don't know who you'd alert if you were on the third floor and suddenly had a heart attack. Anyway, the exhibits mostly consist of torture/shame devices and written materials. The torture and shame devices are quite disturbing, especially if you really think about them being used on someone. This makes the basement (which is kept dark) a bit creepy, though the plaques in the exhibits upstairs which help give context do not improve matters. Some of those devices just sent shivers up my spine. The plaques are either in German or English. I cannot read German but I found the English plaques to be mixed. Sometimes they were very informative and sometimes they just had the most basic information. The written materials are varied. There are books opened to pages with colorful pictures. There are official documents. And there is quite a bit of information on witches. I would have loved to spend more time here and do some research for a novel. There are also just some random items. There are numerous plaques depicting Justice in the stairway as well as pictures (presumably from books) of figures from medieval romances. There was a section on seals (insignia stamped into wax, not the animals) for no apparent reason. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit, and I only wish that I had had more time to fully explore the museum. If you're in Rothenburg, it's definitely worth a look and the entrance fee. I would say that the more interesting items are on the upper floors, so try and make your way through the basement and staircases a bit more quickly than I did. Also, try to not get lost.

This place is creeepyyy. It's also pretty fascinating. It's well worth a look around. Just be prepared to get a little squirmy confronted by the 8000 different ways humans invented to torture each other under the guise of justice. The witches and Martin Luther exhibit in their adjacent building (to the left upon exit) was equally creepy and fascinating, though I don't know how much longer that exhibit will be up. Also, if your tolerance for the eye-rolling ridiculousness and excessive disgustingness of the excuses men make to assault, harangue, torture, and murder women is low than this is definitely not a place for you. It's pretty...enraging.