Rag bell
The rag bell (also called guard bell ) is the name of several bells that ring in the closing of the city gates or the curfew every evening : the revelers - the "rags" - were reminded of the late hour and asked to go home. The text "Prison stories of a former prisoner", first published in 1853, says:
- The "rag bell" has already conjured up the honorable and unrepentant citizens of the little town from the wine, beer and brandy banks or at least brought them to silence ...
In modern terms, however, the curfew started early. In Bernkastel or Trier about the rags bell tolled the evening at ten o'clock, in Sopron ( dt. Sopron, Hungary) the drinking guests were already even at eight o'clock from the taverns called.
In some places (e.g. Bernkastel-Kues, Merzig , Trier (parish church St. Gangolf) and Koblenz ( Liebfrauen )) the rag bell rings every evening at the traditional time, even if it is no longer relevant for the curfew. In Trier and Koblenz, however, the rag bell has acquired a new meaning because after it has rung, the striking mechanism of the tower clock is switched off overnight for reasons of noise protection, which was previously not common.
In other places bells also fulfilled the function of a "rag bell" under a different name. For example, the curfew and the closing of the city gates in Schaffhausen (Switzerland) were rung in by the “ Munotglöckchen ”, the tower bell of Munot Fortress .
The vernacular associates legends with some rag bells, for example in Ladenburg and Mosbach . A noble lady is said to have found her way home every night by ringing the familiar bells.
Individual rag bells
Existing or former rag bells are listed below (the year of casting in brackets). It becomes clear that bells with the same or a similar function also appear with other names:
- Amberg, Martinsbasilika : locking bell (ubz.)
- Bad Hersfeld, town church : Lambertus bell (1382), rings in the summer months (Easter to Michaelmas ) at 9 p.m. as a beer and wine bell
- Bernkastel, Michael Sturm: popularly known as pill bell known
- Grazer Uhrturm (around 1450): formerly the bell for poor sinners because it rang for executions; Even at this time, however, she also struck to close the city gates, and at the beginning and end of fairs; After moving to the clock tower in Graz in 1819, the bell has also been known as the rag bell since the 19th century , because from 1822 until the beginning of the 20th century it rang at closing time at 11 p.m. In 1852 it also replaced traditional cannon shots as a fire bell as a fire bell , until it was replaced by sirens in the early 20th century
- Greifswald, St. Marien (1981): The watchman or drinking bell is a replica of its cracked predecessor from 1569 in terms of both content and typography. It bears the inscription DE WACHTER KLOCKE BIN ICK NAMED, ALLEN FUCHTEN BRODERS WELL KNOWN, KROGER, WEN DU HOREST MINES LUTH, SO JACH DE GESTE TOM HUSE UTH.
- Koblenz , Liebfrauenkirche : one of the bells rings as a rag bell ; it replaced the Marienbell , which, according to the inscription, should also ring when the gate closes, but today only sounds on feast days and as a death bell; The Barbaraglocke , cast in 1962 - the third largest bell of the four-part ringing - still rings today, in memory of the closing of the city gates and the probably simultaneous tattoo, daily at 10 p.m. to ring out the day; then the bells of the church are silent until the early morning. The name rag bell for this ringing has been passed down orally.
- Constance , Schnetztor: (middle of the 15th century), also bell for poor sinners
- Kronach , city tower: also wine or sleeping bell . In the Second World War melted and 2010 replaced by a new bell
- Ladenburg, St. Gallus (15th century). The Lumpeglöckl rings every night at 11 p.m.
- Mainz, St. Quintin (around 1250)
- Merzig, St. Peter (1966)
- Mosbach : s Lumbeglöggle strikes every evening at "three-quarters eleven" and is reminiscent of the legend that this rag bell was said to have struck once to escort the lost Count Palatine Johanna from the forest back to the city.
- Rostock, St. Marien (1554): guard bell
- Rothenburg ob der Tauber, St. Jakob (1626): The second largest bell of the six-part peal from 1626/27 is called the Eins'gen night or gate bell .
- Sopron (German: Ödenburg, Hungary): Used as a rag bell from 1523
- Trier, St. Gangolf (1475)
- Überlinger Münster St. Nikolaus (1577), also late watch
- Wertheim, Stiftskirche (1787): evening or guard bell
- Wismar, St. Marien (1902): The guard bell had a previous bell from 1553.
- Wismar, St. Nikolai (1727): guard bell
Individual evidence
- ^ Joseph M. Hägele (originally 1853): Prison stories of a former prisoner. First part. The Project Gutenberg eBook. E-Book # 16278. Release Date: July 13, 2005 (accessed January 31, 2007).
- ^ Information from the Graz tourist information office (by e-mail) summarized by: Peter Laukhardt: Der Grazer Schloßberg. World Heritage Site in the Storm of Time. Verlag für Collectors , Graz, 2006, ISBN 3-85365-176-3 .