On the north bank of the ancient Fleischbrücke bridge in Nuremberg stands a curious ornate arched doorway topped with a statue of a burly ox. It marks the site that was once the entrance to the city’s medieval meat market. From the early Middle Ages to the mid-20th century, meats of all kinds (including beef, mutton, pork, venison, horse, rabbit, hare, chicken, duck, and goose) could be purchased here by those citizens with enough money to afford them. Animals would often be dispatched in the market’s slaughterhouse and offal would…
