Three Kings Bell (Cologne Cathedral)

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Epiphany bell - bell 4.
Front: striking mechanism for Angelus
Epiphany Bell

The three kings bell is bell 4 of the Cologne cathedral bells . It was cast by Carl Louis Hermann Große in Dresden in 1880 and is hung in the belfry of the south tower.

History and meaning

In the Middle Ages, the three-part voice shaped the loud peal. The third in the group of cathedral bells was and is the Dreikönigenbell , which was built in 1418, but had to be re-cast three times due to several cracks (1693, 1862, 1880). Their strike tone should always be retained. The foundry master Carl Louis Hermann Große hit this exactly (h 0 +5), but it was based on the result of an incorrect measurement of the strike tone of her predecessor from 1862, which made the strike tone a little too high ( cf.Speciosa : a 0 - 2). The three kings bell from 1863 was also called the blood or poor sinners bell or Juridica , as it rang for people who were sentenced to death.

The story of the last new casting by Carl Louis Hermann Große in Dresden reflects the difficulties between state and church in the Kulturkampf, just like the imperial bell . The following inscription was affixed to the new three-kings bell : "I am consecrated to the exalted kings, after the completion of the towers I was renewed." (See below: "PRAECLARIS REGIBUS SVM DICATA"). The bell was to be cast shortly after the keystone was laid and the completion ceremony on August 15, 1880. However, the emperor rescheduled the date for the festivities to October 15 without the cathedral chapter knowing about it and without being able to change the inscription. In addition, it was consecrated as the only one under the cathedral bells at its place of origin, Dresden, since the Archbishop of Cologne , who had the ordination right, had to live in exile.

Data

Musical

All notes in 16th notes. V = representative.

Nominal
(strike)
undertone Prim-V third Quint Decay duration
(undertone)
decay
running
h 0 +5 B +3 b 0 +1 d 1 +6 f sharp 1 +3 90 seconds stands

Technical

Weight lower
diameter
Knuckle thickness
(due to wear)
Rib construction suspension
3800 kg 1740 mm 135 (133) mm heavy Wooden yoke

inscription

Detail with decoration and inscription

Of all the cathedral bells, the three kings bell has the richest decorations in the form of reliefs, inscriptions and other decorative symbols.

◊ AVE MARIA GRATIA PLENA DOMINVS TECVM BENEDICTA TV IN MVLIERIBVS ET BENEDICTVS FRVCTVS VENTRIS TVI IESVS ◊ / ◊ CVIVS ​​INCVNABVLA CASPAR MELCHIOR BALTHASAR STELLA FVCE VENERATI SVNT. PETRVS FILIVM THE VIVI PROFESSVS EST. ◊ / ◊ FVSA A: MCCCCXVIII DISRVPTA PROCVRANTE HENRICO MERING PR (es) B (iter) O CANONICO MAGISTRO FABRICAE PER IOANNEM BOVRLET REFVSA A: MDCXXXXIII. ◊

PRAECLARIS REGIBVS SVM DICATA TVRRIBVS PERFECTIS RENOVATA (= 1880)

Four-line inscription under the chapter coat of arms:

DISRVPTA DENVO ET SVMPTIBUS FABRICAE ECCLESIAE METROPOLITANAE / PER JOSEPHVM BEDVWE AQUISGRANI REFVSA A: MDCCCLXII.

SVMPTIBUS FABRICAE ECCLESIAE METROPOLITANAE / IG GROSSE DRESDENAE ME REFVDIT A: D. MDCCCLXXX.

Two-line inscription under the elector's coat of arms:

IOSEPH CLEMENS ARCHIE (piscopus): COLL: (= Coloniensis) / S (acri). R (omani). I (mperii). P (ri) N (ceps): EL (ector): V. TR: (= utriusque) BAV (ariae): DVX. METALLVM SVPPLEVIT.

Translation: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, you are blessed among women, and blessed is the fruit of your body, Jesus, whom Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar adored and glorified in the form of the child and whom Peter publicly proclaimed as the Son of the living God. Cast in 1418, cracked and re-cast by Johannes Bourlet in 1693 at the instigation of the priest cathedral lord and cathedral curator Heinrich Mering .

I am consecrated to the exalted kings and renewed after the completion of the towers (= 1880).

Jumped again and re-cast by Joseph Beduwe in Aachen in 1862 at the expense of the Metropolitan Church's factory .

At the expense of the Metropolitan Church's factory, JG Grosse cast me anew in Dresden in 1880.

Joseph Clemens , Archbishop of Cologne, Elector of the Holy Roman Empire and Duke of Upper and Lower Bavaria, completed the metal.

Ringing order

The three kings bell rings on ordinary Sundays both for the change in the chapter office and a quarter of an hour before the Sunday Vespers. It also rings at 7:30 p.m. on the eve of a party. The bell for the Angel of the Lord is struck three times with three strikes each at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm and 7:30 pm; part of the inscription refers to the English greeting . At the masses on high feasts, the three kings bell sounds as the basis in the motif h 0 –d 1 –e 1 (“Te Deum motif”) .

literature

  • Jakob Schaeben: The cathedral bells and their chimes. In: Kölner Domblatt . Vol. 6/7, 1952, ISSN  0450-6413 , pp. 96-101.
  • Martin Seidler: The Cologne cathedral bells. = The Bells of the Cologne Cathedral. 2nd Edition. Verlag Kölner Dom, Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-922442-40-4 (documentation CD with extensive booklet).

Web links