Diamonds are forever in the German city of Nördlingen, because around 72,000 tons of diamonds are embedded in the walls of almost all of its buildings.
The jewels were created by an asteroid that crashed into Earth 15 million years ago and can be seen with the naked eye.
However, locals did not notice the dazzling phenomenon until the 1960s, when two American geologists, Eugene Shoemaker and Edward Chao, arrived in town.
Although the almost perfectly circular town (so fairy-tale-like that it appeared in the 1971 version of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory) appears to fill an entire crater, Nördlingen actually lies within the 26 km (16 mi) wide Nördlinger Ries crater – the town’s circular shape is purely coincidental.
The inhabitants of Nördlingen had assumed that the Nördlinger Ries crater was the result of a volcanic eruption, but Shoemaker and Chao suspected that the crater had been caused by an asteroid colliding with Earth.
Nördlingen lies within the 26 km (16 mi) wide asteroid crater Nördlinger Ries. Embedded in the walls of almost all of its buildings are around 72,000 tons of diamonds.
The Nördlingen jewels were created by an asteroid that crashed into Earth 15 million years ago and can be seen with the naked eye.
As soon as they visited the church and saw that the walls were dotted with clusters of tiny diamonds, they knew their theory was correct.
Believed to have been travelling at 25 kilometres per second around 15 million years ago, the 1km-wide asteroid struck Earth with such force that it created the Nördlinger Ries crater.
And bubbles of carbon inside the rock transformed into tiny diamonds under the pressure and heat of the explosion.
The people of Nördlingen are not going to be rich. Although diamonds help keep the town shining, they have no economic value.
Dr. Stefan Hölzl, geologist and director of the RiesKrater Museum in Nördlingen, said: The BBCThere are a few places in the world where this type of asteroid impact material has been used to build buildings, but nowhere near this amount. Here it was used to build the entire city.
It is believed that the St. George’s Church in Nördlingen alone contains gems worth a total of 5,000 carats.
Hölzl said NASA astronauts on the Apollo 14 and Apollo 16 space missions even visited Nördlingen before their expeditions to the Moon to learn about the types of rocks they might encounter in space.
However, the inhabitants of Nördlingen are not going to be rich. Although diamonds help keep the town shining, they have no economic value.
