Faule Mette

The Faule Mette (German for Lazy Mette, alluding to the lack of mobility and slow rate of fire of such super-sized cannon) or Faule Metze was a medieval supergun of the city of Brunswick, Germany.

Cast by the gunfounder Henning Bussenschutte on the central market square Kohlmarkt in 1411, it was fitted with a conically tapered muzzle (calibre of 67–80 cm) which allowed the use of projectiles of varying size. Thus, it could fire stone balls weighing between 322 and 423 kg with a gunpowder load ranging from 24 to 33 kg.

On 1 November 1717, the Faule Mette reportedly shot a 341 kg stone ball 2,442 m The cast-bronze cannon was melted down in 1787 and recast to several lighter field guns, having fired only twelve times in its history.

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