House Knoblauch

Width at front: unknown
The Knoblauch was built in 1551/52 by Männlin (or Mändlin). According to the historian Shlomo Ettlinger he came from Lauchenheim in the area of Württemberg. The Frankfurt paymaster's office apparently chose Knoblauch ("garlic) as the house name as a play on Männlin's town of origin ("leeksville"), and the house sign was a head of garlic. Mändlin was a highlyrespected rabbi, and he also ran a large cloth store outside the Judengasse and for years was a "master builder". Some of Mändlin's descendents lived in his house and subsequently adopted the name Knoblauch as their family name. However, over the years other families also lived in the house. 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.