House at the gate

Width at front: c. 3.40 metres
As its house name ("house at the gate") suggests, the Haus an der Pforte stood directly by the northern gate of the Judengasse on the Konstablerwache. It was one of the oldest houses in the Judengasse, built in 1472, ten years after the creation of the ghetto. Almost throughout its entire existence of over 300 years the house was occupied by the Cahn family. The family name Cahn, or Cohen, comes from the designation of one of the tribes of Israel, specifically the tribe of priests. The lasting link between the Cahn family and its house was unusual in the Judengasse. Mostly, there was frequent turnover in the occupants and families in the individual houses. The Cahn family also increased and branched over time and built further houses directly by the family house for its members. In the great fires in the Judengasse in 1711, 1721 and 1796 the house was destroyed three times. It was rebuilt after the first two fires, but after the 1796 fire it was decided to redevelop the entire northern end of the Judengasse on spacious lines, in the course of which the house disappeared finally.