Hole prisons (Nuremberg)

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The medieval Nuremberg hole prisons are an institution of the museums of the city of Nuremberg and are located in the cellar vaults of the old Nuremberg town hall , near the Nuremberg main market .

Cell in the Nuremberg hole prisons
Thumb screw in the Nuremberg hole prisons

history

The imperial city of Nuremberg acquired the bread house of the Cistercian monastery Heilsbronn on the Salzmarkt in 1322 in order to build a town hall with a city court. This made it necessary to build an additional prison. The ground floor of the Gothic bread house was a "department store" and was divided into shop cells or bread rooms in the manner of a bazaar by wooden partition walls. In the course of the renovation work, the existing entrances in the surrounding wall were closed with sandstone blocks. The builders had the site level around the building raised to storey height (approx. Three meters). The former ground floor was converted into a cellar. Stone walls replaced the cell partition walls and supported the barrel vault.

Of the 21 rooms that were created in this way, 15 were converted into prison cells. They were used for custody in pre- trial detention until a judgment was made and its execution. The conditions of detention were horrific: inmates might have to spend several days in one of the two by two meter cells, tied up and in complete darkness . The equipment in the cells was sparse: wooden planks lined the floors, ceilings and walls; the furnishings consisted of a cot, bench and a bucket for emergency urgency with a board on it that also served as a table; in winter there was an additional heating basin. The prisoners themselves had to pay for food, lodging and any necessary medical care. The "Lochwirt" organized the supplies for the prisoners. Financially better off could buy better care. The poor were fed by charities or at the city's expense.

Some cells were reserved for a certain type of inmate: cell number 11 shows a red rooster, the symbol of arson , cell number 12 is marked with a black cat, which indicates slanderer .

In addition to the cells, the prison also contains a forge and the loch host's apartment. The torture chamber , called the “chapel” because of its size, gives a good picture of how the prisoners were tortured and interrogated at that time. The type and severity of the torture was determined by the city court. Except in exceptional cases (e.g. death row inmates), the dungeons were not used as a detention center; the prison towers were there for this purpose, e.g. B. the debt tower , the water tower and the Luginsland .

A well-known inmate in this prison was the sculptor Veit Stoss .

The medieval dungeon prisons can be visited as part of a guided tour. They still contain the almost unchanged complex of a large medieval remand prison.

literature

  • The hole prisons. Ed .: City of Nuremberg. Nuremberg 1992 ( DNB 921254067 )

See also

Web links

Commons : Hole Prisons Nuremberg  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 49 ° 27 '18.9 "  N , 11 ° 4' 38.2"  E