Great Bells of Germany

Here are listed 16 existing and former great bells of Germany, in descending order by weight.  The list includes qualifying bass bells of carillons, chimes, peals, etc., and is believed to include all bells heavier than 12000kg.

Not yet included are more than 100 other great bells between 4000 and 12000 kg.  Separately listed are other great bells of Europe (bearing the 65 sequence numbers which are not included below).

Following the list are some References to related information about the data found here.

nr.   City, County, Country - EquivalentWeight lbs

• "name", pitch, reported weight, maker, year
• Institution name and address
• Remarks
• Links:
  >
  

Bells in italics no longer exist.

• "Kaiserglocke" (Emperor's Bell), pitch?, c.27800 kg, Andreas Hamm, 1874
• Dom (Cathedral)
• Destroyed in 1918 for war munitions;
  afterwards recast from fragments (see below).
• Links:
  >
  > Where this bell lies in the total sequence of output of the miscellaneous bellfoundries.

2.   Köln (Cologne), Germany - 53350 lbs

• "Petersglocke", C, 24200 kg, Heinrich Ulrich (Apolda), 1923
• Dom (Cathedral)
• Replaces bell of 1874 (see above).
  Diameter 322 cm, height 440 cm (presumably with crown).
  Also reported as 35000 kg, 27000 kg or 24000 kg; or 350 cm.
  Sub-bourdon of a peal of 8 bells, two of which are also listed here (see #23 and #52).
• Links:
  > On the Cathedral Website (German and English), the Virtual Tour includes an entire section about the belfry and each of its bells.
  > Wikipedia image of this bell
  > Where this bell lies in the total sequence of output of the miscellaneous bellfoundries.

13.   Neustadt, Germany - ~30800 lbs

• "name"?, E-flat, 14000 kg, Bochumer Verein (Bochum), 1949
• Stiftskirche
• Diameter 321 cm; cast steel - the heaviest such ever made.
• Links:
  >
  > Where this bell lies in the total sequence of output of the miscellaneous bellfoundries.

18.   Frankfurt am Main, Germany - 26345 lbs

• "Gloriosa", E, 11950 kg, J. G. Grosse (Dresden), 1877
• Dom (Cathedral)
• Diameter 2585 mm
  Intended to be a copy of the "Gloriosa" of Erfurt (see #19)
• Links:
  >
  > Where this bell lies in the total sequence of output of the miscellaneous bellfoundries.

19.   Erfurt, Germany - 25240 lbs

• "Maria Gloriosa", F-, 11450 kg, Gerard van Wou, 1497
• Cathedral
• Diameter 2570 mm.   Swung electrically.
  Pitch sometimes reported as E, but by modern standards it is better described as slightly flat of F.
  Also "Susanna", 1852, 14000(?) kg
• Links:
  >
  > The sound of this bell is the subject of a harmonic analysis by Bill Hibbert, based on...
  > A recording of this bell, swinging
  > John Ketteringham's recording of this bell (a truncated version of the same)
  > Where this bell lies in the total sequence of output of the miscellaneous bellfoundries.

24.   Köln (Cologne), Germany - ~23150 lbs

• "Pretiosa" (Precious), G, c.10500 kg, Heinrich Brodermann & Christian Cloit, 1448
• Dom (Cathedral)
• Diameter 240 cm; was the largest bell in the western world when cast.
  Bourdon of a peal of 8 bells, two of which are also listed here (see #2 and #53).
• Links:
  > On the Cathedral Website (German and English), the Virtual Tour includes an entire section about the belfry and each of its bells.
  > Where this bell lies in the total sequence of output of the miscellaneous bellfoundries.

32.   Berlin, Germany - 21280 lbs

• "Freedom Bell", E, 190 cwt, Gillett & Johnston, 1950
• Schöneberg Rathaus (City Hall)
  John-F.-Kennedy-Platz
  10825 Berlin-Schöneberg
  GPS N 52d39.13m, E 13d20.62m
  Building open M-F, 10am-5pm, Apr-Oct, free
  Tel. 030 7877070 or 75600
• Cast at 218 cwt; reduced to 190 cwt by tuning; hung for swinging by dual electric motors, and rung daily.
  This bell, "a gift of the Americans from the year 1950 for moral support to Berlin's citizens in their resistance to the Communist threat", travelled through the USA and England to raise funds before installation here, the seat of government for the western part of the divided city of Berlin for half a century.
• Links:
  > photo of the bell
  > 3 photos of the bell after recent rehanging; the third was taken while the bell was in flight.
  > A photo of bell being lifted from its casting pit accompanies a story on the origins of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty.
  > A brief article about the bell has a small photo of it being hoisted into (or out of) a transAtlantic ship.
  > A photo of the tower from a private tour album.
  > An article from the Hoover Institution Archives, with photo
  > A dynamic city map of Berlin shows the location of the Rathaus
  > A small replica was given to President Kennedy in 1961.
  > A BBC article on President Kennedy's visit to Berlin in 1963 reports that this bell was tolled after his famous speech.
  > Radio Free Europe used this bell as its logo for more than half a century.
  > An MP3 soundtrack supposedly records this bell (with much background noise); but the pitch is wrong (B-flat instead of E).
  > A 2004 local article on the history of the Gillett & Johnston bellfoundry is accompanied by a photo of a bell which is incorrectly identified as the Freedeom Bell; but the decoration is wrong for that.
  > Where this bell lies in the total sequence of output of the Gillett & Johnston bellfoundry.

35.   Köln (Cologne), Germany - ~21100 lbs

• "name"?, E, 9600 kg, Eijsbouts, 1990
• Kunibertkirche
• The first great Dutch-made swinging bell for Germany, and the largest bell ever cast in the Low Countries (until 2006).
  Diameter 247 cm.
• Links:
  >
  > Where this bell lies in the total sequence of output of the Eijsbouts bellfoundry.

46.   Berlin, Germany - 17240 lbs

• F, 7820 kg, Eijsbouts, 1987
• Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Kongresshalle)
• Bass bell of a 68-bell carillon.
  (The #2, #3 and #4 bells of this carillon also qualify as great bells, and are listed below.)
  Diameter 2372 mm.
• Links:
  > (See the site data page for the carillon, linked above.)

48.   Hamburg, , Germany - 16627 lbs

• "Millennium bell", F, 7542 kg, Bachert, 2000
• "Hamburger Michel" tower (St.Michaelis)
• Remarks
• Links:
  > The ProBell Project will be making measurements of this bell in September 2006.
  

58.   Berlin, Germany - 14462 lbs

• F#, 6560 kg, Eijsbouts, 1987
• Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Kongresshalle)
• #2 bell of a 68-bell carillon
  Diameter 2235 mm.
• Links:
  > (See the site data page for the carillon, linked above.)

61.   Herrenberg, Germany - 14043 lbs

• F, 6370 kg, Mark (Brocksheid), 2000
• Glockenmuseum
• Intended to replace a 1953 Eijsbouts bell which had cracked in use (see #54); this first attempt did not harmonize with the rest of the bells, and was then given to the museum.
• Links:
  > (See the entry for the successful replacement, #50.)

64.   Köln, Germany - 13590 lbs

• "Johannes Paul II", pitch?, 6165 kg, Hans-Göran Hüesker (Gescher), 2005
• Katholische Pfarrgemeinde St Aposteln
• Mounted on a stand at ground level; diameter 220 cm.
• Links:
  > A page about this bell with two photos (and two more pages of photos), all in Spanish.
  > Where this bell lies in the total sequence of output of the miscellaneous bellfoundries.

69.   Köln (Cologne), Germany - ~12345 lbs

• "Speciosa", A, c.5600 kg, Johannes (Hoerken) de Vechel, 1449
• Dom (Cathedral)
• Third of a peal of 8 bells; the heavier two are listed above (see #2 and #23).
• Links:
  > On the Cathedral Website (German and English), the Virtual Tour includes an entire section about the belfry and each of its bells.
  > Where this bell lies in the total sequence of output of the miscellaneous bellfoundries.

74.   Berlin, Germany - 11993 lbs

• G, 5440 kg, Eijsbouts, 1987
• Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Kongresshalle)
• #3 bell of a 68-bell carillon
• Links:
  > (See the site data page for the carillon, linked above.)

80.   Berlin, Germany - 9832 lbs

• G#, 4460 kg, Eijsbouts, 1987
• Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Kongresshalle)
• #4 bell of a 68-bell carillon.
• Links:
  > (See the site data page for the carillon, linked above.)

References:

John Ketteringham's collection of recordings of notable bells

Return to the Great Bells index page.

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This page was created 2006/04/19, and last revised 2008/04/03.

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