WELCOME – Bells are fascinating musical instruments. You'd like to find out more about the most multifaceted and very probably the oldest of man's musical instruments? Bells have survived 5000 years unscathed, or shall we say almost unscathed. Their significance, especially for Christianity, has repeatedly enabled them to emerge fortified from wars and revolutions. This inspired the poet Christian Morgenstern to have the bell say to the cannon: 'If the right my body should ring, your nearing death it will bring.'

And then whenever the right has rung bells, whenever the painful duel with the cannon and against intolerance has been won, and whenever they have been given the time to herald peace, bells have always shaped the lives of people in Europe. Times of prayer, work, and leisure have followed the rhythm of the bell. This order – as the Viennese art historian Friedrich Heer wrote – inspired Occidental cultures to great intellectual and artistic achievements.

I hope you find your visit to 'glocken-online.de' an interesting one.
 
Advisory Committee for 'Deutsche Glockenwesen'
Dr. Christoph Thiele, Chairman