Weather chimes
Weather ringing is an apotropaic act mainly only practiced in the Alpine region today , which served to deter or drive storms away from villages or towns, while the storm ringing served as an alarm signal.
background
The superstition in this regard resulted from the view that the bells of a church were consecrated and for this reason the storm could be driven away by ringing. As soon as a storm front or storm cloud approached, the messenger had to ring the church tower bells. If, contrary to expectations, there was a storm, the clergyman had to step in front of the church with the monstrance and give the so-called “weather blessing” in all four directions. If the harvest was damaged, this could have a negative effect on the knife's income (“ New Year's present ”).
At the beginning of the 15th century, bell inscriptions began to be written in such a way that they were supposed to drive away evil spirits and demons. The cathedral in the Allerheiligen monastery of the then still free imperial city of Schaffhausen received the Schiller bell with a weight of 4.5 tons with the Latin inscription: Vivos voco in 1486 . Mortuos plango. Fulgura frango. ("I call the living. I mourn the dead. I break the lightning.") The following text names the founder of the bell, the abbot of the monastery, Konrad VI. Dettikofer (1466–1489), and the bell founder, Ludwig Peiger from Basel. In 1799 Friedrich Schiller adopted this motto, taken from the Economic Encyclopedia by Johann Georg Krünitz published in Brno in 1788 , for his song from the bell . Latin inscriptions appeared on many other bells to ward off freak weather. One of the rather rare German inscriptions can be found on the bell of the church of St. Leodegar in Friedingen, which was cast in 1670 . One of the last bells with a corresponding inscription is likely to be the bell that was cast in 1825 for the village of Höchenschwand . It bears the above-mentioned inscription between the webs: VIVOS VOCO MORTUOS PLANGO FULGURA FRANGO .
In parts of southern Germany , Austria (Alpine region) and South Tyrol , the tradition of the weather bell has been preserved to this day and also serves as an acoustic warning signal for the population of the impending danger. Either all the bells or only the largest bell in a parish church are rung for up to 30 minutes from the time it approaches until the storm leaves.
France
In the villages of the heights of the Cevennes , which is particularly in the winter storm-shattered heights - probably not until the 19th century - free-standing small bell towers ( clochers de tourmente ) were built, which probably also had an apotropaic significance, but also point the way to returning farm workers, shepherds and hikers should. (→ Saint-Julien-du-Tournel )
See also
literature
- Siegmund Ferdinand: From the Land of Faith Unity , Otto Wigand Publishing House, Leipzig, 1868
- Hugo Neugebauer: About the weather ringing and weather shooting in Tyrol . In: Der Schlern , 1921, pp. 340–341. (on-line)