If he had been right, today would have been 500 years since the end of the world. But the catastrophic prediction of the German Johannes Stoeffler did not come true, although it did cause panic among his contemporaries. The German clergyman, born in 1452, stood out for his mathematical, geographical, and also astronomical and astrological knowledge. That is, he enjoyed a great reputation as a wise man, which contributed to giving credibility to his announcement: a great flood would wipe out humanity on February 25, 1524.
Stoeffler came to this conclusion when he realized that a conjunction of all the planets known at that time and the sun would occur on this date. Furthermore, this would happen under the constellation of Pisces, a water sign and the last of the zodiac. It should be added that there was a belief that the World had been created coinciding with another great planetary conjunction under the sign of Aries, the first in the horoscope.
The prediction spread among the population, especially thanks to the printing press, and there were many who took measures to survive the arrival of the flood. The most notorious case was that of the German count von Iggleheim, who built a three-story ark for his family, in the image and likeness of Noah’s.
And the day came. As Stoeffler had announced, it started to rain and the population panicked. To the point that they attacked the count’s ark, and in his attempt to protect it, he ended up losing his life due to the injuries they caused.
But the rain didn’t get any worse. More like less. The predicted flood was no more than a light drizzle. As a result, Stoeffler’s reputation plummeted. Perhaps to make up for it, he announced another flood for four years, which also did not occur, which would put an end to the little credibility that he could still retain.
However, the figure of the German cleric had its scientific relevance. Among his achievements stands out the construction of a celestial globe for the Bishop of Constance, which can be seen in a museum in Nuremberg. He also devised an astronomical clock for the Münster Cathedral, designed Astronomical Tables and was one of those in charge of making a proposal for the revision of the calendar. Among the books he wrote, the one that explains the use and construction of the astrolabe is significant. His contribution to early science was recognized in contemporary times by naming a crater on the moon after him.
But Stoeffler’s catastrophic prediction was not an isolated case. During the first third of the 16th century, different announcements were made that predicted an imminent end of humanity. That same month of February 1524, some English scientists coincided with the German. Up to 20,000 people left London seeking refuge.
Another example, which ended much worse for its protagonists: the Anabaptist Thomas Müntzer died under torture and his followers were murdered after predicting for 1525, a year after Stoeffler, an end of the world that, luckily, did not come either.
