The Rattenfängerhaus — Rat Catcher's House — is the most elaborately decorated building in Hameln's old town, a masterpiece of Weser Renaissance style built in 1602. The style is distinctive: ornate stone facades with elaborate carvings, scrolled gables, and decorative friezes that are specific to the Weser Valley towns. The building is the undisputed architectural star of the old town.
The house is named for the Pied Piper legend — "Rattenfänger" means rat catcher — though it was not actually connected to the legend when built. The name was applied later, when the building became associated with the story of the piper who led Hameln's children away. Today the ground floor houses a restaurant; you can sit inside and look up at the carved interior. Osterstrasse 28.
The inscription on the exterior wall is the oldest written source for the Pied Piper legend, and its matter-of-fact tone — reporting a date, a number, and an outcome — suggests the author considered it historical fact rather than legend.