The persecutions of Jewish people in Germany began in the Middle Ages. They worsened in the 14th and 15th centuries and spread. The lords did not intervene, seeing them as an opportunity to erase numerous debts owed to Jewish bankers. In 1416, 300 villagers of Riquewihr entered the Jewish quarter, Judenhof, and killed 28 persons. The Count of Ribeauvillé ordered an investigation. Forty inhabitants were sentenced to death, but only 16 were executed in Beblenheim. The Judenhof and the Jugenstrasse (Jews street) are still present in Riquewihr.