Index to porcelain tower chimes by Meissen

The state-owned porcelain factory in Meißen (Meissen), Sachsen (Saxony), Germany, has produced a number of tower chimes made of porcelain bells.  Almost all were installed at various places in Germany, though one was exported to Finland.  See the bottom of this page for contact information as well as additional historical notes on the origin and development of this company.

BREMEN - PM                   : GERMANY-BRD  19?? C  chime
   Porzeleinfabriek Meissen
DRESDEN                       : GERMANY-DDR  19?? E  non-trad
   Glockenspielpavilion
   Zwinger  [palace]
FELLBACH                      : GERMANY      ???? C  non-trad
   Rathaus courtyard
GMUNDEN                       : AUSTRIA      ???? C  non-trad
   Rathaus
HIRSCHBERG                    : GERMANY      ???? F  chime
   Rathaus

MEISSEN - F                   : GERMANY-DDR  1929 C  non-trad
   Frauenkirche
BREMEN - B                    : GERMANY      1930 C (non-trad)
   Haus des Glockenspiels
DRESDEN                       : GERMANY-DDR  1933 F  non-trad
   Glockenspielpavilion
   Zwinger  [palace]
MEISSEN - PF/H                : GERMANY      1938 C [non-trad]
   Porzelein-Fabrik/Hof
BREMEN - B                    : GERMANY      1954 C (non-trad)
   Haus des Glockenspiels
BAERENFELS                    : GERMANY-DDR  1955 C  non-trad
   Glocken des Friedens (Bells of Peace)
   Kurpark
LUENEBURG - R                 : GERMANY-BRD  1956 C  non-trad
   Rathausturm
MEISSEN - PF/S                : GERMANY      1960 C [non-trad]
   Porzelein-Fabrik/Schauhalle
SCHWARZENBERG - B             : GERMANY-DDR  1964*C  non-trad
   Brunnenlage
   * [made for a different location]
ZITTAU                        : GERMANY-DDR  1966 C  chime
   Freestanding structure
LEIPZIG                       : GERMANY-DDR  1970 C (non-trad)
   Mädler-Passage (indoors)
ULM - KA                      : GERMANY-BRD  1979 C  chime
   Kaufhaus Abt
FREIBERG                      : GERMANY-DDR  1986 C  chime
   Rathaus
PYHäSALMI - 1                 : FINLAND      1988 C  non-trad
   Vaskikello (Brassbellstore) Bell Museum
     (restaurant, indoors) 
   porcelain bells by Meissen (DDR) and Otto GmbH (BRD)
BREMEN - B                    : GERMANY      1992 C  non-trad
   Haus des Glockenspiels
SELB                          : GERMANY      1994 C  chime
   Rathaus
LEUTERSHAUSEN                 : GERMANY      1996 F  chime
   Rathaus
LEIPZIG                       : GERMANY      1997 C  non-trad
   Mädler-Passage (indoors)
HIRSCHBERG                    : GERMANY      2007 E  chime
   Rathaus
LEUTERSHAUSEN                 : GERMANY      2007 E  chime
   Rathaus

The Website of the Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen GmbH provdes contact information.

Historical Notes and Links:

The German Wikipedia article about Meissen porcelain and the Meissen factory has a detailed history, and refers to a separate article about porcelain glockenspiels; that discusses their origin and manufacture, and lists many present and former instruments.  It also identifies the following firms (all in Germany) that have been involved in their installation and service:

• Otto Buer Glocken - Uhrentechnik, Neustadt in Holstein   [bells and clocks]
• Turmuhrenbau Ferner, Niederau near Meißen   [tower clock works]
• Dürr GmbH & Co.KG, Rothenburg ob der Tauber   [a specialist company]
• Eduard Korfhage & Söhne GmbH & Co., Melle
• Bernhard Zachariä GmbH, Leipzig
• Martin Eckardt, Halle (Saale)   [church technology]
• Gerhard Vogel, Langenberg (Callenberg)   [tower clock ringing repairs]

Small porcelain bells were made as early as 1737  A carillon by Johann Joachim Kändler from 1739 is today in the porcelain collection of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden.  It is a cupboard or table chime with 52 bells.

it was not until 1929 that porcelain bells could be produced with a good sound and of a size for installation in a tower.  Although there have been occasional mentions of "tuning" porcelain bells, it appears that unlike bronze bells, porcelain bells are not tunable after manufacture, so they must be molded perfectly before being glazed and baked.

For an example of the sound of porcelain bells, see the page about the glockenspiel in the Lüneburg Rathaus.  It has an audio clip (1:58) with single-note melody followed by 2-part harmony and then 3-part harmony.

About 1950, a striking mechanism with four bells was placed in the show hall of the manufactory.  As of 2014, it was still there.

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This index page was created on 1-Aug-20 and last revised on 3-Aug-24.

Please send comments or questions about this page to csz_stl@swbell.net.