House Sonne

Width at front: c. 2.80 metres

The Sonne was built in 1530. The site was previously occupied by a stall belonging to the Haus an der Pforte. The first inhabitants also came from the Haus an der Pforte, a daughter of the Cahn family and her husband Herts Zons. The Zons family was clearly very prosperous and highly respected. The son of Herts Zons, Mihel (died 1585) was praised as the "skilful helmsman of the community" and a "man of patience and modesty". At times the Sonne and its rear building housed up to five other families, including less prosperous individuals. The visitation lists for 1694 show for example two widows living alone without work or fixed occupation. The most famous occupant of the house was Dr. Josef Delmedigo, a Jewish doctor whose reputation extended beyond Frankfurt and who lived here from 1631 to 1642. 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.