*Location:

   Französischer Dom
   (French dome)
   Gendarmenmarkt
   Markgrafenstraße at Französische Straße
   Berlin, Germany
   LL: N 52.51439, E 13.39222

Site locator map
City locator maps and gazetteer page

*Carillonist:

   (none appointed)

*Contact:

   Französischer Dom
   Gendarmenmarkt 5
   10117 Berlin

*Schedule:

   Autoplay (middle 2 octaves)
   Mon-Sat 1000-1800 on the hour,
   also Sun 0900,0925,1055;
   no manual play scheduled.
   Tower open to paying visitors daily.

*Remarks:

   4 basses cast in Apolda, 54 cast by
   Feingusswerk Pößneck, Neustadt a.d.Orla,
   and last 2 from Waren; hung inside the
   dome on a suspended frame; 8 mids
   below playing cabin; bass variously
   reported as 5.7, 5.8 or 6 tonnes.
   Renovation in 2006 removed 41 bells
   for tuning or replacement.
   Sound egress panels at base of dome are
   now closed.
   After installation of an autoplay
   system by Otto-Buer in 2022, only the
   middle three octaves (CC37/CC13) are
   playable; bass and treble keys are
   dropped in both manual and pedal.
   Not a cathedral; tower is not owned by
   the connected French Protestant church.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 60 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is G# in the bass octave
   Keyboard range:     G G   /    G C 29
   Transposition is up  1 semitone(s), i.e., from C to C#
   There is one missing bass semitone
   The presence or absence of a practice console is unknown
   18 bells were recast or replaced in 2006
     by the maker cited in Remarks above
   Prior history:
     In 1987, the complete instrument of 60 bells was installed
       with bells made by the maker cited in Remarks above
       (42 bells remain from that work.)
   Auxiliary mechanisms: E     
   Tower details: 
     Height of console:                 48 meters above ground
     Height of lowest level of bells:   47 meters above ground
     Height of highest level of bells:  52 meters above ground
     Belfry openness:   0%  [indoors]
   Year of latest technical information source is 2009

Facebook video (1:04) of a tune being played automatically by electro-pneumatic system installed by Otto-Buer Glocken- Uhrentechnik; shows keys moving; but some treble and bass keys are dropped in the manual and pedal, so perhaps only about three octaves (C-C) are now usable.

The DGV page about this carillon has photos of the building and bells, but details are incomplete.

A tourism Website about the tower and related facilities has a page about the carillon, with more photos of this unusual instrument and a link to a set of Spotify playlists.

A Waymarking page for these bells has 4 photos of the building.

Old photo of the 8 bass bells, seen from the viewing gallery just below.

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Schilling bellfoundries, in this region and in the world.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of miscellaneous bellfoundries, in this region and in the world.

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

Index to all traditional carillons in Germany.

Index to all tower bell instruments in Germany/Berlin.

   This page was built from the database on 14-Oct-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2024/02/09
   and on technical data last updated on 2024/02/09