2-979-733 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Late Explosion at Mayence - St. Stephen's Church from the Site of the Powder Magazine, 1857. 'This old town, the nearest fortress on the frontier towards France, and the strongest hold of the German Bund, suffered on Wednesday, November 18, a most grievous calamity. At five minutes past three o'clock in the afternoon a tremendous explosion, with, a shock like an earthquake, made town, fortress, and surrounding country rock again. The powder-magazine in the south-west quarter, called the Kastrich of the town, near the Boniface battery, was in the air...the ancient Stephans-Kirche a windowless shell, with battered wall and broken roof...The beautiful glass of the cathedral is no more...It is impossible at present to state the loss of human life, especially as these things are hushed up here...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1857.