Lost city of Rungholt, wiped off 650 years ago due to inhabitants’ sins, mapped for first time

The lost city of Rungholt, which was believed to have been drowned by the sea more than 650 years ago as a punishment for its inhabitants’ sins, has been mapped for the first time.

According to archaeological evidence, the city—which is known as the German Atlantis—is located off the coast of northern Germany. It was swallowed by the North Sea in a single night following a heavy storm.

Due to the several myths surrounding the city, many believed it to be nothing more than a figment of imagination. But the latest evidence has indicated that there was indeed such a city that existed till 1362.

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The archaeologists have uncovered the remains of this "northern Atlantis" in the UNESCO World Heritage Site Wadden Sea (approximately 392 km from North Sea).

The team from Christian-Albrecht University in Kiel found approximately 1.2 miles (1.9 km) of medieval mounds around an island now known as Südfall after mapping the site with a geophysical survey.

"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 apress release.

During the survey, they found a harbour, the foundations of a large church, and drainage systems.

The press release states that the researchers are working against the clock, as the conditions are becoming inimical to the remains.

"The medieval settlement remains are already heavily eroded and often only detectable as negative imprints," Hanna Hadler, who works at the Institute of Geography at Mainz University, said.

Myths abound

Local folklore claims that the city was punished due to the sins committed by its inhabitants, which included flaunting of wealth, drunkenness, and impiety, the Times reported.

It is believed that the abundance of wealth morally corrupted the inhabitants, and the decadence reached its peak around Christmas when a gang of young drunkards tried to force a priest to give a pig the last sacrament at a local inn.

Infuriated with the act, the cleric then went to the church and prayed and asked God to punish the young men. He left town the next day, and shortly after, the great storm hit that wiped Rungholt off the face of the Earth.

In medieval legends, the sound of its bell tower could be heard from the depths of the North Sea.

(With inputs from agencies)

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