Walbeck bell
The Walbeck bell is one of the oldest church bells in Germany that has been preserved until modern times. In a report from the 20th century it was described as the oldest bell in Germany.
layout
The bell is a Theophilus bell cast from bronze in the shape of a beehive . The bell wall is almost equally thick from the edge to the hood, with the exception of the striking ring. In the hood there are two triangular pits, so-called sound holes ( foramina ), which are intended to reinforce the secondary tone of the bell, which contributes significantly to the fullness of the main tone.
The bell is 68 cm high and has a diameter of 50 cm. Her weight was given as 210 pounds. Above the actual body of the sound there is a crown made up of a central tube and side tubes. In the area of the crown, seams are still detectable, which suggests a two-part mold. The surface of the bell is rough. The usual smoothing with a sandstone therefore apparently did not take place.
The top and shoulder of the bell are each adorned with two beads. A 3.5 cm wide collar bears a clockwise and wedge-shaped inscription. The inscription indicates the consecration of the bell to the Holy Trinity after an initial cross in capitals . It is WALBECK ANNO M. IN HONOREM SCE TRINITATIS AMENEN (German: Walbeck in the year 1000. In honor of the Holy Trinity in eternity). The interpretation of the inscription is not easy, especially with regard to the last word, and was often wrongly read as AERE or ETERNITATE .
Dating
According to the inscription, the bell could have been cast as early as 1000. A date to the early 11th century actually seems likely. A report by Thietmar von Merseburg shows that the collegiate church of St. Mariae virginis et Pancratii in Walbeck burned down in 1011 and that the bells were also destroyed. It is assumed that it will be rebuilt soon in the first half of the 11th century. The Walbeck bell must have belonged to this new acquisition. As an indication of this very early development, the form of the fonts is also given. In particular, the spelling of the letter M indicates that there are similarities to the spelling of the Lullus bell , which was donated in Hersfeld between 1036 and 1059 . The external appearance also shows clear similarities to other bells from the middle of the 11th century. A date based on a comparison with a bell from Iggensbach dated to the year 1144 comes to a later date of origin. Ultimately, however, an emergence in the second quarter of the 11th century appears likely.
history
The church bell was initially in the Walbeck monastery in the local collegiate church of Our Lady ( St. Mariae virginis et Pancratii ). After the abolition of the monastery, the royal authorities gave the bell to the Saint Eustachius and Agathe Church in Diesdorf near Magdeburg . Here it was mainly used as a school bell . The first scientific mention of the bell's cultural and historical significance dates back to 1842.
Since the tone of the bell did not harmonize with that of the other two larger bells in Diesdorf, it was sold to the Provincial Museum Halle in 1885 and probably actually brought to Halle in 1886 (other source 1888).
In 1915 the re-profiling of the museum to the State Museum of Prehistory began . The bells that no longer match the shape of the museum should therefore be handed in. Theodor Demmler from the Berlin Bodemuseum expressed interest in acquiring the Walbeck bell, among other things. A purchase was initially not made. The director of the Provinzialmuseum, Hans Hahne , urged Wilhelm von Bode to carry out the sale in a correspondence in the summer of 1917 . The background was presumably that if the purchase was not made, it was feared that it would be melted down for armaments purposes. It is assumed that the purchase took place in 1917 after the governor had approved the sale of bells . However, it was initially transported to Berlin, probably not because of the difficult situation of the First World War in 1918. It was not until 1923, when the Halle provincial curator Max Ohle had been pressing for a move since 1921, that the transport to Berlin took place.
In a press report from 1933 it was announced that the bell could no longer be found during an inventory carried out in the provincial museum in Halle and that its whereabouts were unknown. A meltdown is discussed in this report, but is considered unlikely, as its high cultural and historical value was evident due to its unusual shape.
In fact, the bell was in the depot of the Berlin Bode Museum (inventory no. AE 511), where it survived the chaos of the Second World War . The bell has probably not yet been shown in any public exhibition.
literature
- Franz Huschenbett: Bells farewell celebration in the church of Diesdorf , Halle (Saale) 1917.
- Franz Huschenbett: Das Heimatbuch von Diesdorf , Magdeburg 1934.
- Frank Matthias Kammel : The bells of the Berlin sculpture collection, in yearbook Prussian cultural possession 33, 1996.
- Olaf Meister : Ringing treasure in the church tower , in Magdeburger Volksstimme from May 4, 2006.