We decided to visit one of Rothenburg's museums while we waited for the Night Watchman's Tour. Our dear friend Alina had told us about the museum and said it was one of her favorite places in Rothenburg. After visiting, we became a little skeptical of our friend and her taste for amusement! After all, it was a torture museum!!
Outside the museum we had a little fun. After touring the museum, these photos weren't quite as funny!
Below is the torture table with which to stretch a person to death!
This is a chart with just a few of the methods of punishment for criminals.
If it's not too odd to say I had a favorite, well, this one might have been it. It's a wooden yoke for quarreling people. The heads go in the big holes and the wrists of both hands go in the small holes. People are put in there until they solve their argument. I was thinking my mom could have used one of those for her children! Maybe she could have use several of them! I wonder if they had one for multiple heads and fists!
Oooh, this was another favorite! This was a mask worn by someone convicted of gossip! The big eyes and ears are to symbolize one who hears and sees everything and the long tongue symbolizes one who tells everything. There were several different kinds of these masks. I imagine our society would gossip a little less if there were an actual punishment for it!
This was an actually chastity belt. A man could force his wife to wear it while he was away on business. Aside from the fact there probably wasn't a lot of trust in the relationship in the first place, I was just looking at that thing wondering how I'd even go to the bathroom!! That heart and decorative slit in the metal don't look like they'd get the job done!
So this is just a glimpse of one small room of the torture museum. There were four levels and several rooms this size, telling stories and displaying artifacts from the time when torture was a more normal aspect of life.
I had to take a picture of this for my husband! Apparently the "Coffee Smeller" would be rewarded for tattling on a person who had been drinking coffee! Because all coffee was roasted before brewing, offenders were easily detected! However, if you were rich or reputable, you could continue drinking the darkness! I have an on-again, off-again relationship with coffee. Unfortunately, if there were punishment today, I'd be convicted. I've been enjoying my morning cup of goodness:)
Although there really were some interesting things about the museum, it's not a place I'd like to revisit! We left feeling kind of down. Seeing picture after picture of someone being tortured just doesn't make a person feel all happy inside! I guess I'm glad we went and I'm glad we have different methods of punishment these days, but we were very glad to leave the building!! Favorite experience in Rothenburg?? Not so much.
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