On 3 April 1916 at 15:30 oclock eye witnesses reported a detonation like a clap of thunder and a cloud of smoke. This light and sound phenomenon was caused by a meteorite from outer space crashing onto the earth in a wooded area near Rommershausen. Based on the eye-witness accounts Alfred Wegener calculated the trajectory of the meteorite and its likely impact site. In recognition of its scientific relevance 300 Reichsmark were offered as a reward to the finder, and it was indeed eventually discovered near the calculated site. The forester Hupmann managed to locate it on 5 March 1917 in a wooded area near Rommershausen; a one-and-one-half meter deep impact crater contained the 63.28 kilograms heavy and 36 centimetres wide iron meteorite. It had been only slightly shattered by the impact and was almost completely preserved. Read more