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There is little evidence of the cultic veneration of meteorites in Europe during
the last 1,500 years. The guiding influence of Christianity condemned all pagan rituals and
beliefs during the Middle Ages, leaving only traces of preceding religions and customs. Even
today meteors are regarded as omens in some rural regions in Germany, France, and Italy. Some
people believe, for example, that seing a shooting star is a good omen - they literally wish
upon a star, and they are convinced that this wish comes true if they don't voice it loud. |
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The Middle Ages, and the Fall of Ensisheim
It is also reported that meteors, and meteorite falls were often regarded as bad omens and signs
during the Middle Ages, and that most people made a cross, saying "Amen", "God guide
it", or something similar to avert bad luck. Obviously, meteors and meteorites were - like all
other so-called "supernatural phenomena" - met with mixed feelings in the Middle Ages.
This ambiguity is well-documented for one of the most famous European falls. On November 7, 1492 -
the very year when Christoph Columbus reached the shores of the New World - a huge triangular stone
landed with much noise in a wheat field outside the small town of Ensisheim, Alsace, then still
belonging to Germany, and the Holy Roman Empire.
A young boy who had witnessed the fall led a crowd of curious people to the place where a black
stone lay in a meter-deep hole. After they had pulled it out, people began chipping off pieces of
the rock as good-luck talismans, until they were stopped by the town magistrate. Immediately, he
had the unusual stone transported to his residence in an effort to protect it and his careless
citizens.
The whole affair attracted very much public attention, causing Emperor Maximilian to visit
Ensisheim 15 days after the fall to hold court over the "Thunderstone of Ensisheim" and
to determine the meaning of the occurence. After some consideration, he decided to take the fall
as a good omen in his ongoing wars with France and the Turks. However, he ordered that the stone
had to be preserved in the local church - fixed to the wall with iron chains to prevent it from
either wandering around at night or departing in the same violent manner by which it had arrived.
Today, the remaining main mass of this most historic meteorite fall can still be seen in the
Regency Palace of Ensisheim. It resides there in a small museum, and it regularly serves as the
centerpiece of the annual Ensisheim Meteorite Show which is organized by the St. Georges
Confraternity of the Ensisheim Meteorite Guardians. If you ever come to attend the Ensisheim
Meteorite Show be sure to also pay a visit to the famous "Thunderstone of Ensisheim" -
you won't regret it. After all those years it is still as fresh as if it fell just yesterday. |
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The Ensisheim Meteorite Fall, 1492
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The Thunderstone of Ensisheim
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