The Trumpet Call That Stops Mid-Note
Every hour, a trumpeter in a Polish church tower plays a short tune, and stops suddenly in the middle of a note. Legend says it's for a trumpeter killed mid-call.
What was reported
From the taller tower of St Mary's Basilica in Kraków, a trumpeter plays the Hejnał mariacki every hour, day and night, once in each direction. Each time, the melody breaks off abruptly before the end.
The legend says that in 1241, as Tatar raiders approached the city, a watchman on the tower sounded the alarm on his trumpet. An arrow struck him in the throat before he could finish, but the city was warned. The call has stopped at the same place ever since. Polish radio has broadcast it at noon since 1927.
Explanations offered
Historians say the legend was probably invented much later, and became popular through an American children's book in 1928. The call itself is centuries old, and the tradition of cutting it short is real.
- When
- Played every hour; legend of 1241
- Where
- St Mary's Basilica, Kraków, Poland
- Witnesses
- Everyone in Kraków's main square
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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