Pumhart von Steyr

Pumhart von Steyr
The Pumhart von Steyr in the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum at Vienna
Type	Cannon
Place of origin	Liezen, Styria, Holy Roman Empire
Service history
Used by	Habsburg
Production history
Designed	Early 15th century
Specifications
Weight	~ 8 t
Length	259 cm
Barrel length	144 cm
Diameter	76–88 cm (conical muzzle)
Shell weight	690 kg
Caliber	80 cm (ball diameter)
Maximum firing range	ca. 600 m

The Pumhart von Steyr is a medieval supergun from Styria, Austria, and the largest known wrought-iron bombard by caliber. It weighs around 8 tons and has a length of more than 2.5 meters. It was produced in the early 15th century and could fire, according to modern calculations, an 80 cm stone ball weighing 690 kg to a distance of roughly 600 m after being loaded with 15 kg of gunpowder and set at an elevation of 10°.

The bombard is today on display in one of the artillery halls of the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum at Vienna; it is accessible from March to October.

Besides the Pumhart von Steyr, a number of 15th-century European superguns are known to have been employed primarily in siege warfare, including the wrought-iron Mons Meg and Dulle Griet as well as the cast-bronze Faule Mette, Faule Grete and Grose Bochse.

See also

• List of the largest cannon by caliber

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons