The Cursed Burgrave of Loket
For centuries, a heavy lump of iron in a Bohemian castle was said to be a cruel lord, turned to metal as punishment for his sins.
What was reported
Loket Castle, above a bend in the Ohře river in western Bohemia, kept for centuries a large, strangely shaped piece of iron weighing about 100 kilograms. Local legend said it was a burgrave, a lord of the castle, who was so cruel or greedy that he was cursed and turned to iron. People called it the 'cursed burgrave'.
It was said that whenever it was taken away, it came back, and at one point it was thrown into the castle well to be rid of it.
Explanations offered
The lump is an iron meteorite, which probably fell nearby around the year 1400, and it was one of the first meteorites to be studied by scientists in the early 1800s. Most of it is now in a museum in Vienna, and a piece is displayed at the castle.
- When
- Fell around 1400
- Where
- Loket Castle, Karlovy Vary, Czechia
- Witnesses
- Bohemian legend, then scientists
- Status
- A real meteorite
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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