Bell appraiser

A bell expert is a person who, as an expert, deals with bells and chimes as well as with tower clocks and gives expert advice to the relevant committees. Bell experts are called in when restoring a bell, when purchasing new bells or for general assessment of the condition of bell towers.

Bell experts usually work on an interdisciplinary basis with preservationists , architects, structural engineers , building physicists , bell founders and technicians from other disciplines.

education

Theoretical training to become a bell expert is taught at the universities of church music in Halle, Heidelberg and Regensburg in modules, the content of which is usually offered within two years, usually in addition to church music studies. This part of the training ends with a written exam. The practical part of the training takes place under the guidance of an officially appointed bell expert as a mentor. The apprenticeship ends with an independent specialist work in the form of a tower report, which is then presented to the public in an oral examination.

Bell experts in the churches

Both the Protestant and the Catholic Church in Germany stipulate that a bell expert can be “officially” appointed as responsible by a higher authority for larger bell projects in the individual communities. Some regional churches or dioceses have set up full-time positions for this (often in conjunction with the organ expert ); In other regional churches, bell experts are generally freelance in addition to their main job and are appointed for a certain period of time.

Bell experts not only advise on technical issues, but also give advice on sensible local chime, develop concepts for bell music, adjust the chime to a neighboring chime, if necessary, and create arrangements for the clock to strike .

Web links

• [1] (PDF file; 55 kB)