Bell foundry Grassmayr (Innsbruck)

Grassmayr Bell Foundry GmbH
legal form	Company with limited liability
founding	1599
Seat	Innsbruck Austria
management	Johannes Grassmayr
Number of employees	approx. 40 (2013)
sales	approx. € 3.1 million (2013)
Branch	foundry
Website	www.grassmayr.at

The Grassmayr bell foundry GmbH is an existing for more than 400 years bell foundry with headquarters in Innsbruck . The family business was once founded by Bartlmä Grassmayr in his father's yard, the "Heidenhaus" in Habichen, a hamlet in the municipality of Oetz . Today the company is one of the largest bell manufacturers in the world and has so far supplied bells to 100 countries .

history

Heidenhaus in Habichen - Bartlmä Grassmayr cast his first bell here

Today's bell foundry with museum in Leopoldstrasse

Bartlmä Grassmayr , son of a harbor foundry family, laid the foundation stone for the traditional Grassmayr company in 1599 with the casting of his first bells in the Heidenhaus in Habichen. It is probably the first bell foundry in Tyrol. On March 29, 1595, the Heidenhaus was acquired by his father, Hans Grassmayr from Lärchenhof in Tumpen , and initially used to cast harbors (expression for bell pots, i.e. forerunners of today's cooking pots), to be precise behind the house “in the old Stampfen ". When Bartlmä returned to Habichen after eight years of wandering, he cast his first bell in 1599. He made his first bell for his home community Habichen and was proud of it. During his wanderings he learned the art of bell with the Aachen bell founder Joan von Teer. Bartlma's profession thus became a calling. "SOLI DEO GLORIA - Everything depends on God's blessing", the first words in his hiking book.

Bartlma's son Johann Grassmayr († April 4, 1683 in Wilten ) was born on May 16, 1601 . Years later, he continued to run the company. He completed the bell-founder apprenticeship with his uncle Jakob Veit Grassmayr in Feldkirch and worked as a wandering bell-founder for a few years .

In 1633 the Habicher Heidenhaus was decorated with frescoes. It was still used for bell and metal casting for a good 200 years.

With the improvement of the traffic systems, the Ötztal company relocated its headquarters to Innsbruck- Wilten to the Straßfried residence in 1836. The foundry is still located there today. Further operations were opened in Feldkirch and Brixen (largest bell foundry in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy).

To this day, the specialist knowledge and the secret of each bell rib are guarded and are passed on from father to son. Johannes Grassmayr is the 14th generation to run the business.

Core concepts

The Grassmayr company attaches great importance to quality-oriented and market-leading specialization in niches whose support requires quality and good service. Right at the front is the bell area. In order to achieve an extremely high quality of a bell, all tones must harmonize with one another. The company is the market leader in Austria and has already supplied bells to over 100 countries. The smallest bell has a diameter of 4 cm, the largest of around 335 cm. Today's ovens hold a total of 37 tons of liquid bell food.

Grassmayr has also specialized in various techniques in the church tower area. Bell stalls, bell computers, chimes and church clocks are among the main products. Incidentally, the traditional lace catchers also belong to the special technical devices . These are particularly common in the European Alpine countries. The company also carries out maintenance and assembly.

It is also important to Grassmayr to preserve old treasures. Old historical yokes, bell stalls and tower clocks are not replaced by new ones, but carefully restored. The company has its own workshops for this: in the electrical, model and wood sectors.

In addition to bell casting, artificial casting is also part of the Grassmayr range. Bronze panels, reliefs, door handles , grave decorations , sculptures and special bronze pipes are made in connection with modern casting technology.

The company also operates a bell museum that has been awarded the “Austrian Museum Prize”.

Stencil with adobe bricks
Model of a finished bell shape
Finished bell
Church clock with bells
Art cast by Martinus Scheiber (1856–1939), Grassmayr 1979
Big bell of the Reformed Church in Hägendorf (Switzerland). Cast by Grassmayr in 2014 for the 75th anniversary of the church and installed by the Muff company.

Significant bells

Country / City / Place	Name of the bell	Casting year	Nominal	diameter	Weight	Remarks
Romania - Bucharest	Andrew's bell	2016	c ⁰	335.5 cm	25,190 kg	The bell for the Cathedral of the People's Redemption , which was cast in November 2016, will be the largest in the cathedral at 3.3 meters high. At the same time, it will replace the St. Peter's Bell in Cologne Cathedral as the largest free-swinging church bell in the world.
Israel - Mount Tabor	Tabor Bell	2012	d ⁰	287.1 cm	15,684 kg	The bell was cast in the newly developed "Grassmayr-Mozart" rib. The wall thickness is 22 cm (see Pummerin : 21 tons, 314 cm diameter and 23 cm wall thickness). It was shipped from Trieste across the Adriatic to Israel. At the request of the monastery, the bell is rung on a cranked yoke and with a clapper .
A - Mösern	Peace bell of the alpine region	1997	it ⁰	254.0 cm	10,080 kg	It is a symbol of peace and cohesion in the Alpine region and was cast on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Working Group on Alpine Countries (ARGE ALP). It hangs out in the open above Mösern. With a net weight of 10,180 kg (with the fittings including the 500 kg clapper, it weighs up to 12,000 kg) it is the largest bell in North Tyrol, but not the largest swinging in a tower. Due to the rib chosen by Grassmayr at that time (the so-called Grassmayr rib, possibly a modified form of the Kurtz rib by the bell founder Kurtz from Stuttgart ), split partials due to an error in the casting form (deviation from rotational symmetry ), and the atypical suspension in the open air the bell has a very tinny, howling and clinking sound. Under Campanologen it is therefore also called Peace Bell of the nightmare called. A few years ago a hairline crack was discovered at the point where the clapper was touched, which resulted in the bell turning by about 45 °. The bell is regularly inspected by the Grassmayr company.
D - Schwarzach (Odenwald)	Mortar bell	2000	e ⁰	250.0 cm	9,820 kg	The mortar bell was donated by a private citizen to symbolically commemorate the relocation of a mortar collection. After the sonic setback when casting the Peace Bell in Mösern, the Pfundner rib acquired by Grassmayr was chosen and a significantly better sound result was achieved.
A - Innsbruck - Jesuit Church (Innsbruck)	Rifle bell	1959	e ⁰	248.0 cm	9,080 kg	For the 150th anniversary of the Tyrolean struggle for freedom , the rifle bell was donated by Innsbruck's rifle companies in 1959. It serves as a replacement for the largest bell of the monumental bells purchased in 1901 by the Italian bell founder Chiappani in the tones e ⁰ -gis ⁰ -h ⁰ -cis ¹ -e ¹ -fis ¹ -gis ¹ . It is considered the largest free-swinging church tower bell in Tyrol. With a diameter of almost 2.5 meters and a total weight of approx. 10 tons, it fills the entire tower room when the bell rings. It only sounds every Friday at 3 p.m. at the hour of Jesus' death and on major holidays. A special feature of this bell is the strongly protruding pure fourth sidelong a ⁰ , which makes the bell sound rather overtone and garish, but gives it an unmistakable character.
A - Feldkirch	Cat tower bell	1857	f ⁰	243.0 cm	8,573 kg	It is the largest bell in Vorarlberg and hangs in the Katzenturm in Feldkirch. It was cast by Josef Anton Grassmayr. It rings every Friday at 3 p.m. In 2010 a general renovation was carried out by the Perner bell foundry from Passau. Here was clapper catcher removed, installed a new clapper and the steel yoke replaced by a wooden yoke.
A - Innsbruck - St. Jakob Cathedral	Mariahilf or large parish bell	1846	ges ⁰	221.0 cm	6,342 kg	The Mariahilf bell hangs in the north tower of Innsbruck Cathedral St. Jakob and is the second largest historical bell in Tyrol.
I - Lana	Sacred Heart Bell 1	1996-2014	g ⁰	215.0 cm	6,248 kg	It is considered to be the largest church bell in South Tyrol. Because of the ribs, it had a full-bodied and long reverberant sound. Fifteen years after it was cast, several irreparable cracks were found on the bell wall, which made a new casting necessary.
I - Lana	Sacred Heart Bell 2	since 2014	g ⁰	214.0 cm	6,205 kg	The new Sacred Heart Bell was cast on May 16, 2014. It was consecrated on June 28, 2014 by Abbot Bruno Platter .
Serbia - Belgrade - Temple of Saint Sava	-	2001	g ⁰	204.0 cm	6,128 kg	Together with 48 other bells, it forms one of the largest chimes in the Republic of Serbia.
A - Bregenz - Parish Church of St. Gebhard	St. Gebhard's bell	1964	as ⁰	196.0 cm	4,563 kg	Since 1958 the St. Gebhard Church has had a small bell in tone as ¹ by Grassmayr. After completion of the construction of the church, a four-part chime in the tones as ⁰ –c ¹ –es ¹ –f ^{1 was} purchased, whereby the big bell is valued as a valuable sound instrument. It was donated by the Bregenz master builder G. Hinteregger.
A - Lauterach	Hero bell	1932	a ⁰	186.9 cm	4,255 kg	The Heldenglocke is one of the few inter-war bells from Grassmayr and survived World War II unscathed with its sisters .
A - Innsbruck - Wilten Abbey	Resurrection bell	1996	as ⁰	189.0 cm	4,195 kg	The largest bell of Wilten Abbey is one of the most beautiful bells in the Innsbruck area. It only rings on major public holidays. Due to its size, it has to ring on a slightly cranked yoke, which is optimally concealed by a high ringing angle.
Serbia - Belgrade - Temple of Saint Sava	-	2001	a ⁰		3956 kg	Like all 49 bells in the cathedral, the second largest bell is a foundation. This bell was donated by St. Sava Church in Milwaukie.
A - Altach	Warrior bell	1962	a ⁰	186.0 cm	3,900 kg	This bell rings on a slightly cranked yoke.
I - Brixen (South Tyrol)	Sext bell	1838	a ⁰	185.7 cm	3,895 kg	The sixth bell was cast in Innsbruck in the "Oetztaler rib". Prince-Bishop Bernhard II Galura inaugurated it at the end of August 1838. The name "Sext" comes from the sixth tone, A, on the tone scale. With fittings, it weighs more than four tons.
I - St. Pauls (Eppan)	St. Paulsnerin	1701	b ⁰	183.6 cm to 187.0 cm	3,860 kg to 4,984 kg	The first St. Pauslnerin was cast in 1676. However, it had to be cast as early as 1701 (probably because of a casting defect). Georg Grassmayr, who personally came to Eppan to cast the bell, received the order for the new casting. The casting succeeded. Josef Weingartner calls it the “most famous and second largest in the country” (the big bell from Muri Gries Monastery is even heavier at 5,026 kg). The weight of the St. Paulsneress cannot be estimated exactly. It should weigh 4,984 kg and have a diameter of 1.87 m. To this day, the Paulsnerin is one of the largest baroque bells in South Tyrol and is famous for its excellent, beautiful sound.
A - Wattens - New Parish Church	Big bell	1958	a ⁰	186.0 cm	3,855 kg	It rings on a cranked yoke with a counterweight clapper.
A - St. Johann in Tirol	Mary and weather bell	1773	a ⁰	180.0 cm	3,800 kg	The big bell of the parish church of St. Johann in Tirol is one of the oldest baroque bells in Tyrol. It was cast by Wolfgang Bartlmä Grassmayr in Habichen near Oetz. The bell shares an interesting story. As a large bell, it survived both world wars, which is a rarity. According to one story, the diameter of the bell exceeded the width of the sound windows, so one would have to be broken open to lift the bell out of the tower. Since it was not certain at the time whether the tower windows would lead to the collapse of the upper half of the tower, the bell was left in the tower for the sake of simplicity, and so it was melted down into cannon and bullet material. After the end of the war, the following was written on the bell in chalk: "Maria Anna hoass i, all the weather woass i, all the weather drive away i and stay at St. Johann" . In 2010 the baroque clapper was replaced by a new but oversized clapper (weighing up to 400 kg due to a calculation error). This put considerable strain on the bell and threatened to jump. A short time later, Grassmayr exchanged the clapper again and installed one that was appropriate for the weight. In order to protect the bell because of its age, it only rings half as high as it used to.
A - Thaur	-	1947	a ⁰	182.0 cm	3,763 kg	It is one of the largest bells cast immediately after the Second World War and, together with the smaller bells in the tones c sharp ¹ –e ¹ –f sharp ¹ –a ^{1, represents} one of the largest bells in the Innsbruck area. In 2010 the masonry of the church tower fell into disrepair due to the high load during the bell ringing. The bell was completely refurbished by the Perner bell foundry from Passau . All the clapper bobbins were removed, and to ensure a slower ringing rhythm, the bells were provided with cranked yokes and counterbalanced clappers were installed. After two years, resentment arose in the parish and the population at the unusual ringing rhythm of the bells, so that the cranked yokes were exchanged for wooden yokes. Flying clapper replaced the counterweight clapper. To this day, the usual banging tradition with bobbin- catchers has been dispensed with . A corresponding counter-pendulum system such as in the neighboring parish Absam in the pilgrimage church could eliminate this problem.
A - Graz - Graz Cathedral	Redeemer Bell	1987	b ⁰	176.5 cm	3,534 kg	One of the largest bells in Styria .
A - Steinach am Brenner	Sacred Heart Bell	1946	a ⁰	175.0 cm	3,498 kg	This bell is one of the largest that was cast immediately after the Second World War , and the largest bell in the Wipptal .
A - Innsbruck - Wilten Basilica	-	1865	b ⁰	175.0 cm	3,133 kg
A - Innsbruck - Innsbruck Cathedral	Prime Bell	1961	b ⁰	172.0 cm	3,123 kg	It is the second largest bell in Innsbruck Cathedral and was cast in 1961. Their tone is a raised b ⁰ , which is sometimes also indicated as h ⁰ .
A - Brixen im Thale	Peace and weather bell	1948	h ⁰	167.0 cm	3,045 kg	The peace bell is considered to be the heaviest bell in the Brixental valley.
I - Cortina d'Ampezzo	-	1857	b ⁰	172.0 cm	3,047 kg	It is one of the largest and most valuable bells in Veneto.
A - Imst	The great "Annemarie"	1955	h ⁰	≈170.0 cm	2,840 kg	The Imst population did not give up hope of getting their big "Annemarie" back from the 1920s after the end of the war. When after ten years it seemed hopeless to come back and the wait was given up, Grassmayr was given the order to cast a new Annemarie. It is considered a very successful masterpiece. It is traditionally rung high and only sounds on major public holidays.
I - Tramin	Sankt Maria Anna (Great Weather Bell)	1726	c ¹	159.2 cm	2,750 kg	The big bell of Tramin has been ringing from the 83 meter high freestanding tower for more than 200 years. It was cast by Josef Grassmayr and is considered to be one of the most melodious bells in South Tyrol. It contains a very special inscription: My name is St. Maria Anna, I am beautiful, I know that, I will stay in the Traminer Tower, I will banish the bad weather.
A - Matrei in East Tyrol	Sacred Heart Bell	1949	h ⁰	≈165.0 cm	2,636 kg	The Sacred Heart Bell in Matrei in East Tyrol is one of the largest in the Lienz district and resounds from the approximately 85 meter high tower of the parish church. It is only rung on Fridays at 3 p.m. and on Sundays and public holidays.
A - Vomp - St. Georgenberg-Fiecht Abbey	-	1929	c ¹	≈150.0 cm	≈2,500 kg	One of the few remaining interwar bells.
Serbia - Belgrade - Temple of Saint Sava	-	2001	c ¹		2458 kg	The four free-swinging bells of the cathedral of St. Sava have the pitches: g ⁰ , a ⁰ , c ¹ , d ¹ , the carillion with 45 bells has the chromatic sequence from e ⁴ 4 to c ¹ (four and a half octaves).
I - Fiè allo Sciliar	-	1703	c ¹	154.1 cm	2,400 kg	One of the oldest bells in South Tyrol. A special feature is that the bell is rung particularly high (approx. 11.5 a.m.).
A - Zell am Ziller	St. Vitus bell	1744	of the ^1st	150.0 cm	≈2,000 kg	A melodious baroque bell. Josef Grassmayr from Brixen cast it. In 1946, four more bells were added. In 2011 she received a new clapper.
A - Vill	-	1750	it ¹	k. A.	k. A.	The big bell of Vill was cast by Wolfgang Bartlmä Grassmayr in 1750 and is one of the oldest baroque bells in Tyrol.
A - Lienz parish church	Christ the King bell	1949	b ⁰	165 cm	2,693 kg	The big bell of the Lienz parish church is part of a seven-part chime that is one of the largest in East Tyrol. It has a lace catcher and only sounds on the festive days.

History of the big bell of Innsbruck Cathedral

The Mariahilf Bell in Innsbruck Cathedral is one of the most important bells of historicism in Austria.

Votive picture of the imperial bell in the Liebfrauenkirche in Kitzbühel

The big bell of Innsbruck Cathedral has a special history. After Innsbruck was largely spared the danger of cholera in 1836/37, the citizens of Innsbruck decided, out of gratitude, to have a particularly large bell cast for the cathedral - at that time still the parish church. This bell was cast by Johann Grassmayr on December 1st, 1840. With a weight of about 112 ctn (corresponds to 6,272 kg) and a diameter of 213 cm, it sounded on a slightly raised g ⁰ . In order to achieve a particularly powerful sound, a clapper that was much too heavy was mounted. Due to this excessive use, the bell cracked after a few years on July 25, 1844. The following year, the bell was removed from the tower and it was decided to cast it around.

This time, Grassmayr's fiercest competitor Josef Georg Miller received the order for the new casting, which took place on August 29, 1845. However, the preparations for the casting and the casting itself were not without problems. When the casting was finished, a brick fell on the still hot bell, leaving a large dent on the hood next to the crown. In addition, due to a mistake in the production of the shape, the bell's strike tone was about a semitone too high, g sharp ⁰ instead of g ⁰ . The Innsbruckers were not satisfied with this result and rejected the bell. Miller had to pay the parish the price for the metal made available and also to hand over the models specially made for the bells. He then tried to sell the bell elsewhere.

One year later, Johann Grassmayr was again commissioned to manufacture the large parish bell. The casting took place on June 14, 1846, but this time too there was a mishap: too little metal flowed into the mold, which was not completely filled. Grassmayr had to start all over again. After six weeks the time had finally come: on August 1st, 1846, the big bell was successfully cast. It still rings from the north tower of the cathedral and is one of the largest bells of historicism in Austria and one of the largest bells in Tyrol .

In the meantime, Miller was still trying to sell the rejected bell, contenting himself with the pure material value as the price. Finally, builder Sebastian Schweinester from Kitzbühel became aware of this bell. He managed to convince his home community to purchase it and initiated a fundraising campaign for it. Even Mayor Josef Traunsteiner personally went from house to house to collect. In 1847 the bell was actually acquired and brought to Kitzbühel, where it still rings from the tower of the Liebfrauenkirche today . It is considered to be the most beautiful bell in Tyrol. It was only given its name Imperial Bell during the First World War , as a special decree of the Emperor spared it from being handed over for war purposes.

It is remarkable that Grassmayr's big Innsbruck cathedral bell and Miller's imperial bell in Kitzbühel are confusingly similar. Both have the same bells and almost the same inscriptions, because Grassmayr used the same models as Miller. Weight and size are also almost the same: at 6,374 kg, the imperial bell is 32 kg heavier, while the cathedral bell, at 221 cm, has a 6 cm larger diameter.

Others

In September 2018, the damaged bell with nominal g ¹ in Innsbruck Cathedral is to be replaced by a new bell from the Grassmayr bell foundry. This has a weight of 777 kilograms and a diameter of 107 centimeters.

Web links

Commons : Grassmayr Glockengießerei - collection of images, videos and audio files

Grassmayr bell foundry
Entry on Grassmayr bell foundry (Innsbruck) in the Austria Forum (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c The history of the Grassmayr bell foundry . Grassmayr. 2013.

↑ Record fallen - the world's largest free-swinging bell will no longer be in Cologne in future on www.wamsiedler.de from April 13, 2017; accessed on April 15, 2017.

↑ Largest Grassmayr bell cast with 15 tons

↑ Mösern Peace Bell

↑ https://hramsvetogsave.rs/O-Hramu/Zanimljive-celine/49-Zvona-u-Hramu-Svetog-Save

^ Jörg Wernisch: Bell customer of Austria . Journal-Verlag, Lienz 2006.

↑ From the history of Kitzbühel. (PDF; 1.4 MB) (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 6, 2013 ; Retrieved June 7, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.

↑ orf.at: Innsbruck Cathedral gets a new bell . Article dated September 17, 2018, accessed September 18, 2018.

47.256172 11.398219Coordinates: 47 ° 15 '22.2 " N , 11 ° 23' 53.6" E

[Grassmayr-1] The history of the Grassmayr bell foundry . Grassmayr. 2013.