Degraded European tower bell instruments

Some carillons or chimes in Europe have had bells or traditional playing mechanisms removed, but survive in that degraded condition.  The lists below identify those instruments, categorized according to their original (or maximum) size.  The nature of each degradation is given here, and in each case there is a link to the site data page which describes the instrument in its present state.

DOWN-GRADINGS:

Carillons which have lost their traditional mechanisms:

Częstochowa, Poland, Jasna Góra Monastery
A traditional carillon of 36 bells was installed here by Gonthier of Belgium in 1909, along with a traditional mechanical drum for automatic operation.  Lack of maintenance over subsequent decades has left both mechanisms in ruins, and the bells are now played only through an electric clock.

Offenburg, Germany, Altes Rathaus
A traditional carillon of 25 bells was installed here by Peter Schilling in 1989, and was played by hand for many years.  In 2009, the baton keyboard was partially dismantled, and an electro-pneumatic system was installed to drive the original mechanical transmission through the remains of that keyboard.  The bells are now playable only automatically or through a 5-octave electric keyboard.

Chimes which have lost their traditional mechanisms:

(Identification of instruments in this category has not yet been done.)

Return to Indexes to sites in Europe.

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This page was created on 2020/08/21 and last revised 2024/03/20.

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