Elbogen (), also the ''Loket Iron'' (), is an

iron meteorite Iron meteorites, also called siderites or ferrous meteorites, are a type of meteorite that consist overwhelmingly of an iron–nickel alloy known as meteoric iron that usually consists of two mineral phases: kamacite and taenite. Most iron me ...

that fell in the village of

Loket Loket (; ) is a town in Sokolov District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,100 inhabitants. The town is known for the Loket Castle, a 12th-century Gothic castle. The historic town centre is well preserved and is pr ...

Karlovy Vary Region The Karlovy Vary Region () is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the westernmost part of the country. It is named after its capital Karlovy Vary. It is known for spas, which include Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně. ...

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

, about the year 1400. Also known during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

as the "bewitched burgrave" of Elbogen in connection to the story of a cursed count from Elbogen castle, it is the oldest of 15 recorded falls in the Czech Republic. It has not survived to our time in its original size, having been cut for scientific purposes and its pieces sent to museums all around the world.

Composition

Structure

Weighing about before being cut into pieces, the Elbogen meteorite has an

octahedrite Octahedrites are the most common Iron meteorite#Structural classification, structural class of iron meteorites. The structures occur because the meteoric iron has a certain nickel concentration that leads to the exsolution of kamacite out of tae ...

structure. Its dimensions were approximately and the mass was rounded and wedge-shaped. The whole surface is covered with dark gray

oxides An oxide () is a chemical compound containing at least one oxygen atom and one other element in its chemical formula. "Oxide" itself is the dianion (anion bearing a net charge of −2) of oxygen, an O2− ion with oxygen in the oxidation state o ...

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

, dull and without the signs of the original fusion crust. The iron must have been partially, if not completely, artificially heated or forged in an iron mill. The cut, etched surface of the meteorite shows a

Widmanstätten pattern Widmanstätten patterns (), also known as Thomson structures, are figures of long Phase (matter), phases of nickel–iron, found in the octahedrite shapes of iron meteorite crystals and some pallasites. Iron meteorites are very often formed ...

with tiny round

troilite Troilite () is a rare iron sulfide mineral with the simple formula of FeS. It is the iron-rich endmember of the pyrrhotite group. Pyrrhotite has the formula Fe(1−x)S (x = 0 to 0.2) which is iron deficient. As troilite lacks the iron deficiency ...

modules. The main mass of the meteorite is formed by

nickel Nickel is a chemical element; it has symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive, but large pieces are slo ...

alloys An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which in most cases at least one is a metallic element, although it is also sometimes used for mixtures of elements; herein only metallic alloys are described. Metallic alloys often have properties ...

Analysis

The Elbogen meteorite is not only one of the oldest recorded falls in history, but also the very iron that Alois von Widmanstätten used to discover the hidden internal structure of iron meteorites in 1808. Instead of etching the iron to reveal these structures, analytic model previously discovered by G. Thomson in 1804, he heated a slab of the iron in the flame of a

Bunsen burner A Bunsen burner, named after Robert Bunsen, is a kind of ambient air gas burner used as laboratory equipment; it produces a single open gas flame, and is used for heating, sterilization, and combustion. The gas can be natural gas (which is main ...

and so had the figures that would be later named after him revealed. In 1811, Mr. K. A. Neumann, a professor of chemistry at the technical institute in Prague had a small piece sent to him for chemical analysis and recognized it as being a piece of a meteorite.G. T. Prior
''Catalogue of Meteorites: With Special Reference to Those Represented in the British Museum Collection''
pg. 56, BiblioLife (2009), This was later confirmed by the German chemist von Klaproth and the physicist Dr.

Chladni Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni (, , ; 30 November 1756 – 3 April 1827) was a Germans, German physicist and musician. His most important work, for which he is sometimes labeled the father of acoustics, included research on Vibration, vib ...

. Later, the mass was divided into two uneven parts, of which the larger, weighing about was taken to the royal and imperial natural history museum in Vienna. The smaller piece, weighing about is still at the city hall in Loket. Elbogen is classified as a member of the IID chemical group of iron meteorites, a relatively uncommon group with <20 known members (see

s for more information). The chemical composition of the Elbogen meteorite is of 10.2% Ni, 74.5 ppm Ga, 87 ppm Ge, 14 ppm Ir.Monica M. Grady
''Catalogue of Meteorites''
pg. 185, Cambridge University Press 5th ed. (2000),

Superstition

Over the years many legends about the Elbogen meteorite have arisen. Some of them date back to the years 1350–1430, when Loket castle used to be the seat of the burgrave. It is said that one of them, perhaps Puta von Illburk, was cursed by an old woman, struck by lightning and transformed into this hard piece of iron.Fritz Heide
''Meteorites: messengers from space''
pg. 85, Springer 1st ed. (2004), According to another legend, this same margrave of Elbogen used to oppress and ill-treat his subjects with so much cruelty that after his death he was turned into an iron block, which could not even have been melted in the very hot blaze of a furnace. In those days, superstition also had that the Elbogen meteorite was fixed with chains in the dungeon of the Loket castle for fear that it would change weight over time, and even if thrown into the deep castle well that it would always reappear. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

the royal and imperial general

Johann von Werth Johann von Werth (1591 – 16 January 1652), also ''Jan von Werth'' or in French ''Jean de Werth'', was a German general of cavalry in the Thirty Years' War. Biography Werth was born in 1591 most likely at Büttgen in the Duchy of Jülich a ...

decided to try this out by having it thrown into the castle well. However, by the end of 1670 the water in the well was drawn off and the stone was pulled out and brought into the castle. In 1742, the French threw the rock back into the well and it stayed there until sometime in 1776 when it was once more recovered. Contrary to this story, historical resources explain the origin of the stone as being a meteorite of the size of a horse head.

Distribution

The meteorite was cut for scientific purposes in the 19th century and many of the pieces were sent to museums all over the world. The biggest piece of the meteorite is deposited in the

Naturhistorisches Museum The Natural History Museum Vienna () is a large natural history museum located in Vienna, Austria. The NHM Vienna is one of the largest museums and non-university research institutions in Austria and an important center of excellence for all matt ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, weighing roughly . *

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Notes

External links

* USG
The Meteoritic Society
International Society for Meteoritics and Planetary Science * IMC
Encyclopedia of Meteorites
Website * Metbas

Website {{Meteorites by name Meteorites found in the Czech Republic Iron meteorites Meteorite falls