City carillon (stadsbeiaard)

*Location:

   Halletoren (Belfort)
   Grote Markt
   Brugge (Bruges),
     West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
   LL: N 51.20824, E 3.22492

Site locator map
City locator maps and gazetteer page

*Carillonist:

   Wim Berteloot
   E: wim.berteloot/@/brugge DOTbe

   1913-49 Antoon Nauwelaerts
   1949-84 Eugeen Uten
   1984-2008 Aimé Lombaert
   2008-17 Frank Deleu

*Contact:

   (unknown)

*Schedule:

   Wed,Sat,Sun 1100 year-round;
   summer (15 Jun to 15 Sep) 9pm.

*Remarks:

   Chime of 1528 by Jacob Waghevens.
   Replaced in 1603 by Marc leSerre
   (Bergues), who extended it in 1631.
   Replaced in 1675 (1673?) by Melchior
   deHaze, who enlarged it in 1680;
   destroyed by lightning & fire
   in 1742.
   Carillon of 1743 by J. duMery; new drum
   & clock in 1748.  Michiels recast
   top 15; Horacantus/Eijsbouts replaced
   21 in 1969; all replaced again by
   Eijsbouts with precise matches to the
   Dumery bells.
   Tower contains 6-ton civil bell "Maria"
   or "Triomfklok" (M.de Haze, 1680)
   in lower belfry, rung on the King's
   birthday and other special occasions.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 47 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is G  in the bass octave
   Keyboard range:     C C   /    C G   
   Transposition is down 5 semitone(s), i.e., from C to G 
   There are two missing bass semitones
   The presence or absence of a practice console is unknown
   21 bells were recast or replaced in 2010
     by Eijsbouts    
   Prior history:
     In 1969, some bells were recast or replaced
       with bells made by Eijsbouts   
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
     In 1939, some bells were recast or replaced
       with bells made by Michiels    
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
     In 1748, the instrument was enlarged to 47 bells
       by the maker cited in Remarks above
       (26 bells were added in and/or remain from that work.)
       Keyboard range was:     C C   /    C G   
       Transposition was down 5 semitone(s), i.e., from C to G 
     In 1680, the instrument was enlarged to 39 bells
       by the maker cited in Remarks above
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
       Pitch of heaviest bell was unknown
     In 1672, the instrument was enlarged to 35 bells
       by the maker cited in Remarks above
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
     In 1631, the instrument was enlarged to 26 bells
       by the maker cited in Remarks above
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
     In 1603, the instrument was enlarged to 20 bells
       by the maker cited in Remarks above
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
     In 1528, the instrument was begun with 11 bells
       by the maker cited in Remarks above
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
   Auxiliary mechanisms: M     
   Tower details: 
     Height of console:                 73 meters above ground
     Height of lowest level of bells:   (unknown)
     Height of highest level of bells:  83 meters above ground
     Belfry openness:    %
   Year of latest technical information source is 2023

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

The carillonist's Webpage (Dutch/English, very long) has a section on this carillon, with photos (some clickable) and a brief description.  There is also an audio clip of the deHaze great bell.

City culture page about the carillon

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of miscellaneous bellfoundries, in this region and in the world.
Where the second phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of miscellaneous bellfoundries, in this region and in the world.
Where the third phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of miscellaneous bellfoundries, in this region and in the world.
Where the fourth phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the de Haze bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the fifth phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the de Haze bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the sixth phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of miscellaneous bellfoundries, in this region and in the world.
Where the seventh phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Michiels bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the eighth phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Eijsbouts bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Eijsbouts 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.

Where the bass bell of this carillon ranks among all great bells in Europe.

Index to all traditional carillons in BE.

Index to all tower bell instruments in BE/West-Vlaanderen.

   This page was built from the database on 14-Oct-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2023/08/20
   and on technical data last updated on 2023/08/20