On This Day In History: Ensisheim Meteorite Fell To Earth – On Nov 7, 1492

AncientPages.com - On November 7, 1492, the Ensisheim meteorite was observed to fall in a wheat field outside the walled town of Ensisheim in then Alsace, Further Austria (now France).

It was a stony, triangular-shaped meteorite weighing 127 kilograms. The object can still be seen in Ensisheim's Museum, the sixteenth-century Musée de la Régence.

Ensisheim woodcut . Image via Dr. Martin Horejsi/ http://www.meteorite-times.com/

Upon impact, the meteorite created a 1-meter (3 ft 3 in) deep hole. Its fall through the Earth's atmosphere was witnessed at a distance of up to 150 kilometers from where it eventually landed.

People living in neighboring areas gathered at the location to raise the meteorite from its impact hole. They began removing pieces of the meteorite, considered a sign of good luck from God. Many of the fragments later ended up in museums around the world.

Ensisheim meteorite in the town's museum. Image: Konrad Andrä - Sternwarte Singen e.V - CC BY-SA 2.0 de

According to sources, King Maximilian of Austria heard of the stone falling from the sky and decided to look at it. At the time, he was engaged in local battles with the French and believed that the fall was a sign from God, predicting his upcoming military victories.

After removing a piece of meteorite for himself, Maximilian declared that the remains should be kept in the church forever.

The stone remained in the parish church until the French revolution. Later, it was placed in a museum in nearby Colmar by French revolutionaries.  French scientists also removed some pieces of the meteorite for further study.

The Thunderstone of Ensisheim. Image via Planetary Meteorites. de

The meteorite was returned to the church but had lost much of its mass by this time. Eventually, the remaining specimen, a rounded gray mass weighing only 55 kg, can be seen today at Ensisheim resting in an elegant case in the middle of the main hall of the Regency Palace built in 1535 by the emperor Ferdinand of Austria.

The Ensisheim meteorite is the oldest meteorite whose fall is dated precisely.

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