The bewitched burgrave of Elbogen
A cruel lord turned to iron: the legend of a meteorite kept in a castle town.
Key facts
- People and tradition
- Bohemia (now the Czech Republic)
- Region
- Europe
- When
- Known since about 1400
The story
The town of Loket, called Elbogen in German, sits in a loop of the river Ohře beneath a medieval castle. For centuries the town kept a heavy, rounded mass of iron, about 107 kg, which local people called the bewitched burgrave.
Legend says it was once the cruel lord of the castle. In one version he was cursed and struck by lightning, turning him to iron; in another his wickedness turned his body to iron when he died. The mass was said to be chained in the castle. According to the town's tradition, soldiers threw it into the castle well in the 17th century to test the legend, and it was later hauled out; it was thrown in again in the 18th century and again recovered.
What science says
In 1811 the iron was analysed and shown to be a meteorite: a nickel-iron alloy with about 10 per cent nickel. Elbogen is now classed as an iron meteorite of the rare group IID. It was cut in the 19th century, and the largest piece is in a museum in Vienna, while a smaller part is still kept in Loket.
Did you know?
Elbogen is the oldest of the recorded meteorites of the Czech Republic.
Pieces of it are held in museums around the world.