MECHELEN - OLVD : BELGIUM

*Location:

   O.L.V.-over-de-Dijlekerk
   Onze-Lieve-Vrouwestraat
     at Gebroeders Verhagenstraat
   Mechelen (Malines, Mechlin),
     Antwerpen, Belgium
   LL: N 51.02316, E 4.47815

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*Player:

   Marc Knops
   Gasthuisveldstraat 19
   2800 Mechelen
   T: 015/20 10 07
   - and -
   Gustaaf Vander Weyden

*Contact:

   Dienst Toerisme
   Stadhuis
   Grote Markt
   2800 Mechelen
   T: 015/20 10 07

*Schedule:

   First & third Saturdays 1300

*Remarks:

   Original chime by Peter (III) vanden
   Gheyn.  In 1679, the church bought
   several old bells from St.Rombout's,
   making a total of 30, to which J.-B.
   Daems of Leuven added 2 in 1690.  Most
   were removed in 1798 to make cannon.
   Some were replaced by A.-L. vanden
   Gheyn (Leuven, 1819), A.-L.-J. van
   Aerschodt (Leuven, 1840) and P.-J.
   Segers (1842); all destroyed in WW II.
   A new peal of 5 (1 by M.Michiels Jr.,
   1947, + 4 by Horacantus/Eijsbouts,
   1962) forms basis for the carillon.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 50 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell (excluding sub-bourdon) is D# in the middle octave
   Transposition is up  5 semitone(s)
   Keyboard range:     --C   /(G )A#--  
   There are two missing bass semitones
   The whole instrument was installed in 1965
     with bells made by Petit & Fritsen (except for 5)
   Prior history:
     In 1690, the instrument was enlarged to 32 bells
       with bells made by the makers cited in Remarks above
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
     In 1599, the instrument was begun with 11 bells
       by vdGheyn     
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
   Year of latest technical information source is 1966

Additional information on the technical history of this instrument can be found in a database printout.

*Links:

Descriptive article (in Dutch, with tower photo) from the VBV (Vlaamse Beiaard Vereniging)

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Vanden Gheyn bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
(The second phase of this work being an assortment of mostly single or unidentified bells, it is not indexed.)
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Petit & Fritsen bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all Belgian traditional carillons by pitch (weight).
Ranking among all Belgian traditional carillons by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all Belgian traditional carillons by year of completion.

Index to all traditional carillons in BE.

Index to all tower bell instruments in BE/Antwerpen.

*Status:

   This page was built from the database on 25-Feb-08
   based on textual data last updated on 2008/02/19
   and on technical data last updated on 2008/02/19

Explanations of page format and keyboard range are available.

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