The Thunderstone of Ensisheim
Europe's oldest witnessed fall with the stone still preserved.
Shortly before noon on 7 November 1492, a stone of about 127 kg fell with a thunderous noise into a wheat field outside Ensisheim in Alsace. A boy saw it land, and villagers began breaking off pieces as souvenirs until the magistrate stopped them.
King Maximilian, soon to be Holy Roman Emperor, visited weeks later on his way to war with France, declared the stone a good omen and ordered it kept in the church. The poet Sebastian Brant wrote verses about it that were printed and spread across Europe.
Today the main mass, now about 55 kg after centuries of chipping, is displayed in the town's museum. It is an LL6 ordinary chondrite. Each June, Ensisheim hosts one of Europe's best-known meteorite fairs.
In the catalogue
- Ensisheim LL6, France, 1491 · 127 kg