*Location:

   OLV-Toren
   Ned.Herv.Kerk (Grote kerk)
   Kerkplein
   Meppel, Drenthe, Netherlands
   LL: N 52.69731, E 6.18974

Site locator map
City locator maps and gazetteer page

*Carillonist:

   Mannes Hofsink, stadsbeiaardier
   E: manneshofsink/@/zonnet DOTnl
      info/@/manneshofsink DOTnl

*Contact:

   Stichting Vrienden van de Grote of
     Maria Kerk (VGMK)
   Postbus 82
   7940 AB  Meppel
   E: Webform @
      www.grotekerkmeppel.nl/contact
   - or -
   Kerkelijk Bureau PGM
   Groenmarktstraat 2
   7941 KS  Meppel
   T: 0522/247452
   E: pgmeppel/@/kpnmail DOTnl

*Schedule:

   (unknown)

*Remarks:

   5 of the van Bergen bells are from
   the Hasselt carillon (1959).
   Only 9 remain from the original
   1948-9 carillon here.
   MIDI system with electromagnetic
   pistons added in 2010.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 47 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is G  in the middle octave
   Keyboard range:     C C   /    C --  
   Transposition is up  7 semitone(s), i.e., from C to G 
   There are two missing bass semitones
   The presence or absence of a practice console is unknown
   The instrument was enlarged in 1973
     with 33 bells made by Eijsbouts    
   Prior history:
     In 1949, the instrument was begun with 40 bells
       by vanBergen   
       (14 bells remain from that work.)
   Auxiliary mechanisms: E     
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 1974

The Website of the Friends of the Great- or Maria-church (in Dutch) opens with a photo of the tower, and has a page about it with more photos.

The Dutch Wikipedia article about the city mentions the church in several places, and has a photo of the tower.  The corresponding English-language article is barely more than a stub, but it does have a different photo of the tower.

The Website of the carillonist (in Dutch) mentions his position but does not describe the instrument. There is a page of photos about the carillon, but clicking the small photos does not produce the expected larger versions.

A peace carillon page has photos and additional information.

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the vanBergen bellfoundries, 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 Netherlands traditional carillons by pitch (weight).
Ranking among all Netherlands traditional carillons by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all Netherlands traditional carillons by year of completion.

Index to all traditional carillons in Netherlands.

Index to all peace carillons worldwide.

Index to all tower bell instruments in NL/Flevoland.

   This page was built from the database on 14-Oct-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2020/03/07
   and on technical data last updated on 1992/01/15