Index to carillons and chimes by Causard

The Causard/Sleger foundries, now closed, provided bells for various carillons and chimes throughout Europe, but primarily in Belgium. See the bottom of this page for additional historical notes on the origin and development of these bellfoundries, the various names used by them, and the various places where they operated. For the purposes of this index, the various foundries are treated as one, with occasional distinguishing notes.

Some links to pages about the history of these foundries can be found after the history.

For an explanation of what this index contains (and does NOT contain), and of the additional details on each entry, see the Bellfoundry Indexes Advice.

Causard, Tellin, Belgium, 1932-1970

AVERNAS-LE-BAUDUIN            : BELGIUM      1??? E  chime
   Église Notre-Dame de l'Assomption
LUXEMBOURG                    : LUXEMBOURG   1??? F  non-trad
   Cathedrale Notre Dame
   (Liebfrauenkirche)
PARIS - SC                    : FRANCE - 00  1??? C  non-trad
   Basilique du Sacré Coeur de Montmartre
TELLIN                        : BELGIUM      1??? C  chime
   Église St-Lambert

HALLE                         : BELGIUM      1892 F  trad
   O.L.V. Basiliek
   (was Hoofdkerk St.Martinus until 1946)
OUDENAARDE                    : BELGIUM      1894 I (trad)
   Ste.Walburgatoren (or St.Walburgis)
BRUSSELS - B                  : BELGIUM      1895 C [trad]
   City carillon (stadsbeiaard, #4)
   Broodhuis
AALST                         : BELGIUM      1896 I (trad)
   Stadhuis/Halle/Belfort
OOSTENDE                      : BELGIUM      1896 R (trad)
   Feest- en Cultuurpaleis
   (Stadhuis)
FREIBURG-IM-BREISGAU - RH     : GERMANY      1900 C  non-trad
   Neues Rathaus
   cast in Strasbourg
IZEGEM                        : BELGIUM      1921 I  trad
   Sint Hiloniuskerk
   (Sint-Tillo)
STRASBOURG                    : FRANCE - 67  1923 - [trad]
   Exposition Pasteur, 1923
OOSTENDE                      : BELGIUM      1925 C (trad)
   Feest- en Cultuurpaleis
   (Stadhuis)
BAPAUME                       : FRANCE - 62  1930 C  chime
   Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville
DINANT                        : BELGIUM      1930 C (trad)
   Collégiale Notre-Dame
   cast by Slegers-Causard
HARNES                        : FRANCE - 62  1933 C  chime
   Église Saint-Martin
LE CATEAU                     : FRANCE - 59  1933 C  non-trad
   Beffroi
   Hôtel de Ville
THUIN                         : BELGIUM      1936 F  trad
   Beffroi (Belfort)
OSLO - R                      : NORWAY       1949 F  trad
   Rådhus (City Hall) 
Maredsous                     : Belgium      1952 -  great
   "Elizabeth"
   Benedictine abbey church
   cast by Slegers-Causard (Tellin)
MORIALME                      : BELGIUM      1956 C  chime
   Église Saint-Martin
DIJON                         : FRANCE - 21  1961 I  trad
   Cathédral St.Bénigne

Historical Notes:

Several generations of the Causard/Slegers family (plus close relatives) operated foundries at six places in Belgium, France, Luxembourg and (between 1870-1918) Germany, as follows:

Tellin, Belgium (1832-1970) — An existing iron foundry at the Benedictine abbey of St.Hubert was taken over by Charles Causard (1804-1873), and bells were added to its product line. The most notable of the Causard foundries, it produced some 13,000 bells between 1832 and 1970.
Diekirch, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (1865-?) — This foundry was set up to be managed by Adrian Causard (1841-1900), third son of Charles; its date of closure is unknown, but it probably was not later than at Adrian's death, since he had no descendants.
Moulins, Belgium (1865-1895) — Previously an enterprise of the Perrin-Martin foundry, this was taken over by Hippolyte Causard (1836-1894), eldest son of Charles.
Anhée, Belgium (1884-1901) — This foundry was set up by Hippolyte Causard, and managed by him in parallel with the Moulins foundry.
Colmar, Germany/France (1871-1971) — Firmin Causard (1839-1897), second son of Charles. initially managed this foundry in partnership with Honoré Perrin-Martin. After the latter's death, he managed it in partnership with his brother Adrien.
Strasbourg, Germany/France (1892-?) — Firmin Causard took over an existing foundry from Jean-Louis Edel. There followed a period of intense collaboration between Colmar, Strasbourg and Tellin — what might be called the golden age of the Causards. It is not certain just when this foundry closed.

NOTE: The cities of Colmar and Strasbourg, both located in the Alsace region, were in Germany between 1870 and 1918.

Most of the carillon work was done at Tellin, but some was done at Colmar or Strasbourg. The specific foundry is noted in each case in the index above when it is known.

Following the deaths of Hippolyte, Firmin and Adrien Causard, ownership of the surviving foundries fell into the hands of Marie Causard, daughter of Hippolyte, and Sidonie Causard, daughter of Firmin. But because in those days women were not expected to be involved in business, the public faces of the Causard enterprise were Georges Slégers (husband of Marie Causard) and Odon Dury (husband of Sidonie Causard). Georges [II] Slégers (1907-1970), son of Marie and Georges [I] Slégers, was the last bellfounder in this dynasty. Upon his death, the Tellin foundry was closed.

An inventory of more than 17000 present and former bells in Belgium yields the following names and ranges of dates found:

    CAUSARD Adrien               1908
    CAUSARD Adrien et Firmin     1894
    CAUSARD Charles              1830-1841
    CAUSARD Colmar               1955
    CAUSARD FRERES               1844
    CAUSARD Hippolyte            1867-1903
    CAUSARD-SLEGERS              1717-1970

The year 1717 is clearly an error for the starting date of the appearance of the name Slegers on bells from these foundries, but since it (along with several other impossibly early entries for the same name) refers to a bell that was seized in 1943, there is no possibility of determining what was correct. Furthermore, the vast majority of Causard bells are listed under the last of those names. Together with the obvious fact that four of those names ought to be represented by more than a single year, this leads to the conclusion that many of those bells must have been recorded under a generic name rather than according to the actual name of the founder as inscribed on the bell.

Links:

A partial biographical genealogy of the Causard/Slégers family (in French) identifies over a dozen members who were important to the operation of the various foundries.
The same source presents a 9-page photo essay on the foundry as it remains today, a museum to its past. Unfortunately, the museum closed in 2013.

The French Wikipedia article on the museum of Tellin (1992-2013) places it in the old post building, near the foundry. The English Wikipedia article on the museum places it in the foundry building itself, and indicates that the latest owner of that building plans to reopen the museum. An associated Wikimedia Commons category has six photos.

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This index page was built from the database on 18-Feb-12 and last revised on 13-Sep-24.

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