Tour · Norimberga · square
A Market Built on Murder - Hauptmarkt
Nuremberg's beloved Christmas market square was built on a mass grave. In December 1349, the city's entire Jewish quarter was razed after a pogrom that killed at least 562 people, clearing the land for the market and the church that still stand here today.
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Before the Lebkuchen stalls and the bright lights, before the Frauenkirche's clockwork facade and the Schöner Brunnen fountain, this entire area was a dense urban neighborhood: Nuremberg's Jewish quarter. In the wake of the Black Death, rumors blaming Jews for poisoning the wells swept across German-speaking Europe. Emperor Charles IV had already promised immunity to anyone who killed Jews in Nuremberg, effectively authorizing what was coming. On 5 December 1349, the pogrom began. At least 562 people were murdered, their homes burned and leveled, their property seized. Three years later, in 1352, construction began on the Frauenkirche, built directly on the foundation of the destroyed synagogue. The open market square that followed became one of Germany's most celebrated public spaces. The ground it stands on has never changed.
Fatti principali
- 562 people killed — At least 562 members of Nuremberg's Jewish community were killed in the pogrom of 5 December 1349; German historical sources place the toll close to 600.
- 1352 year — Construction of the Frauenkirche began in 1352, built directly on the ruins of the Jewish synagogue that was destroyed in the 1349 pogrom.
- 1349 year — Emperor Charles IV promised the city's leaders and regional nobles immunity for killing Jews in Nuremberg before the pogrom took place, providing official cover for the massacre.