House Goldener Hirsch

Width at front: c. 3.40 metres
The Goldener Hirsch was built in 1596. In the mid17th century it was occupied by Michael Isaak Speyer, probably the founder of the prominent and very wealthy Frankfurt banking family Speyer. This would make the Goldener Hirsch the family home. Michael Isaak was clearly a wealthy and respected man. He held office within the Jewish community as one of the leaders, a post typically reserved for respected families. After his death in 1692 he appears to have left enough money for his widow Jüttle Oppenheim to live off the interest. The visitation lists for 1694 show that she divided the house after her husband's death with two other widows staying in Frankfurt as foreigners. After her death the house seems to have been remodelled again shortly before the great fire of 1711 and then occupied by her son Josef Michael. Later descendants of the Speyer family lived in other houses in the Judengasse. 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.