The lost city of Rungholt, which was believed to have been submerged in the sea more than 650 years ago as a punishment for its inhabitants’ sins, has been mapped for the first time. The metropolis, also known as the German Atlantis, is said to be situated off the shore of northern Germany, according to archaeological evidence. After a severe storm, it was engulfed by the North Sea in a single night. Many people thought the city to be nothing more than a fabrication of their imagination because of the numerous tales that surrounded it. But the most recent information suggests that such a city did exist and endure until 1362.
Archaeologists have discovered the remnants of this “northern Atlantis” in the Wadden Sea, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is located about 392 kilometres from the North Sea. After surveying the location with a geophysical survey, the team from Christian-Albrecht University in Kiel discovered around 1.2 miles (1.9 km) of mediaeval mounds surrounding an island now known as Südfall.
“Settlement remains hidden under the mudflats are first localised and mapped over a wide area using various geophysical methods such as magnetic gradiometry, electromagnetic induction, and seismic,” Dennis Wilken, a geophysicist at Kiel University, said of the research in a press release.
Folklore in the area holds that the city was punished for the faults of its citizens, including their ostentation of wealth, intoxication, and impiety
They discovered a harbour, a sizable church’s foundations, and drainage systems while doing the survey. According to the press release, the researchers are racing against time because the surroundings are starting to harm the remains. Hanna Hadler, a researcher at the Institute of Geography at Mainz University, noted that the mediaeval settlement remnants had already undergone significant erosion and were frequently only discernible as negative imprints.
Folklore in the area holds that the city was punished for the faults of its citizens, including their ostentation of wealth, intoxication, and impiety, according to the Times. A mob of young drunks attempted to force a priest to administer the final rites to a pig at a nearby inn around Christmas, which is when it is said that the excess of luxury morally corrupted the locals. Furious about the behaviour, the clergyman went to church, prayed, and begged God to punish the young men. The day after he left town, the huge storm that would eventually sweep Rungholt from the face of the planet struck. In medieval legends, the sound of its bell tower could be heard from the depths of the North Sea.