The Loket meteorite is one of the oldest meteorites in the world whose fall has been documented in detail. It is also the largest preserved meteorite on our territory.
According to historical sources, the iron meteorite fell in 1400 (some say as late as 1422) in the courtyard of Loket Castle. Its impact weight was about 107 kg and it had the size and shape of a "horse's head" (size about 50 x 30 x 20 cm). However, it seems that its final weight was larger than stated.
The meteorite lay for centuries in the cellar of the town hall in Loket and sometimes even in the castle itself. Very little information about its origin has survived, as the town archives have burned down several times since then. During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), the citizens of Loket threw the meteorite into the castle's 40-metre deep well for fear of being taken away by Swedish troops. It was not until 1670 that the well was exhausted and the stone was recovered.
In 1742, soldiers of the French army again threw the meteorite into the castle well and waited to see if it would return to its original place. Not surprisingly, they waited quite a while J. The meteorite lay at the bottom of the well for 34 years until the well dried up in 1776. Then it was pulled out and deposited in the Loket Town Hall. It was only after that time that chemistry professor K. A. Neumann discovered that it was a meteorite.
In the past, the Loket meteorite was attributed with magical powers and many legends were created, here is probably the most famous one:
The Margrave of Vohburg had the worst reputation among the purgraves who ruled Loket. He forced the people into hard labour and had no mercy on the poor or the sick. And he was equally harsh in exacting tribute from his subjects. Those who could not pay on time were mercilessly captured by the lord's dredges, taken to the castle and thrown into a dark prison carved in the rock.
At that time, a poor woman lived in a small cottage on the banks of the Ohara River, and she had to pay a considerable debt to the purgrave. The man had separated and died, and she herself was afflicted with an illness from which she could hardly recover. She was left only with hungry children, an empty cottage and eyes to weep. And so she hoped only for God's help and for the mercy of the margrave, who would perhaps be pleased when she told him of her misfortune...
It was a Sunday in August, a hot, sultry day, when she went to Loket to pray in the chapel and ask the margrave for mercy. She entered the castle with the child in her arms, wiping the sweat from her brow, for she was exhausted by illness and misery. And as she passed by the great hall of the palace, the purgrave ascended the bay window, and looked lordly on the people who were prostrating themselves before him. And the woman took courage, and fell down in the dust before the purgrave, and made her supplication to him.
He listened to her casually and waved his hand dismissively: "Don't waste words, you must pay, or you will be thrown into prison!" Then the woman began to wail in a heartrending voice, and to beg him to have mercy on her, the unhappy woman, for the mercy of God. And when even then his heart was not moved, the prisoner, in despair, threatened the purgrave, and cried out in a voice that moved him, "For thou hast a heart of stone, let the whole of thee be turned to stone!"
At that moment a black cloud descended over the castle. The thunder roared until the whole mountain was shaken, and lightning struck the bay window on which the Purgrave stood. The people going into the church fell to the ground, afraid that the end of the world was coming, and with it the day of judgment. After a while it cleared, the cloud dispersed, and there was no sign of the storm. Only under the bay window of the palace was smoke, reeking of sulphur, and at the bottom of a hole in the ground was a large, hot stone.
"The purgatory was enchanted in stone!" cried the people in dismay, and, crossing themselves, hastened to the church to thank God for delivering them from their cruel master.
In the 19th century, the Loket meteorite was split into several parts and in Loket today you can find a copy of it and a piece weighing about 14 kg. The largest piece, weighing about 80 kg, has been in a museum in Vienna since 1812, which is where my piece comes from. Other pieces are in the Sokolov Museum, the National Museum in Prague and in museums in Germany, Austria, Great Britain, Sweden, the USA and India.
The cutting of the meteorite, which was not at all easy at that time (the meteorite was heated in the smelter out of curiosity), attracted the attention of the famous German poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe, who liked to visit Loket and its surroundings repeatedly. In a letter from 1819 he wrote to his friend: "There is a very remarkable remnant of meteoric iron in Loket. It is an eternal pity that such a precious natural product is cut to pieces, as if one were to cut up a large diamond to share it, or, according to the judgment of a charlatan, as if the cut child were still an infant.
