Miller bell foundry

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The Miller bell foundry was a bell foundry at Gänsbühel in Hötting near Innsbruck, which was owned by the Miller family between 1774 and 1854. This foundry, called Büchsenhausen , was founded by Peter Löffler around 1500 . The famous foundry dynasties Löffler (Peter, Gregor, Hans Christof) and Reinhart (Johann Heinrich and Friedrich) worked here. Josef Georg Miller was the last owner, after his death in 1854 the foundry was closed.

owner

  • Simon Peter Miller (* approx. 1746 in Innsbruck ; † February 17, 1804 ibid) learned bell casting from Martin Feltl in Graz and married his daughter Maria on February 8, 1774. In 1774 he acquired the existing foundry in Büchsenhausen and led it to flourish again. As the first bell caster in Innsbruck, he used a baroque rib that he had probably taken over from Feltl. Only a few examples of his bells, which are characterized by very good sound quality and rich baroque decorations, have survived.
  • Josef Georg Miller (* 1778 in Hötting ; † December 9, 1854 ), son of Simon Peter Miller, took over the foundry after his death in 1804. He is one of the most important foundries of the 19th century in Austria and also cast a lot. Like his father's, his bells have good to excellent sound quality and are richly decorated. His most famous work is the imperial bell in Kitzbühel , which is considered to be the most beautiful bell in Tyrol. Otherwise only a few small bells remain from him. Josef Georg Miller was unmarried. With his death, the Miller family died out, and at the same time, bell casting in Büchsenhausen ended.

Works

The few remaining bells from the Miller foundry include the following important works:

From Simon Peter Miller:

  • Parish church of Mils near Hall : robber's bell , cast in 1795. Its strike note is d 1 , its diameter is 145 cm. This bell took its unusual name from its predecessor, which was destroyed in a fire in the church in 1791. It is based on the following legend: the founder of this old bell is said not only to have been a bell founder in Volderwald , but also a mugger . When he was finally caught and sentenced to death, he asked for the favor of casting one last bell, which he was granted. The bell was a masterpiece, but its first chiming sounded for the execution of the master. However, there is no historical evidence of this occurrence, as this old bell is no longer original.

From Josef Georg Miller:

  • Liebfrauenkirche von Kitzbühel: Imperial bell , cast in 1845 as a casting around the cracked large bell of Innsbruck Cathedral (at that time still the parish church). Its strike sound is G sharp 0 , its weight is 6,374 kg, and its diameter is 215 cm. This bell also has a special history : it was originally intended for the Innsbruck Cathedral, but was not accepted because of a blemish - a dent on the hood caused by a falling brick. In addition, due to a mistake in the manufacture of the shape, the strike tone of the bell was about a half tone higher than required. 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, 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. In 1847 the bell was actually purchased for 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. Incidentally , it is confusingly similar to the Innsbruck cathedral bell, which was ultimately cast by Johann Grassmayr . 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.

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