Bells St. Patrokli, Soest

little english bell, end of 12th century



stormbell, 13th century



the bell of 1577 maintains slim form of predecessor.

the peal of st. patrokli made of eleven bells, hang in around 80-metre high tower, except smallest bell. peal 1 of greatest historic bell peals in state. oldest bells 2 english bells 12th , 13th centuries. 2 further bells 13th century, stormbell , stephen s bell (so called since 1991), work of master bellsmith hermann of lemgo. in 1469, john of dortmund produced sonorous mary s bell lowest note in peal centuries. in 1577 followed smaller bell cast rochus nelman. form, unusually skinny , narrow date cast, imitates earlier bell of 12th- or 13th-century date. precise co-ordination of these bells 1 remarkable , seems lucky accident, since casters of period took no particular account of possible dissonance other bells medieval practice ring each bell individually. fixed functions of individual bells demonstrated characteristic peal or particular inscriptions, can name occasions when bell rung. according traditional bell register of 15th century, full peal of bells occurred on rare occasions.

two further bells 1633 (patroklus bell) , 1720 (townsman schuster s bell), small medieval bell, destroyed in first world war.

in process of secularisation, ensemble broken , distributed amongst various local churches: nelman s bell went church of holy cross, stephen s bell st. albert great s. bells remaining in church supplemented after second world war 3 large cast-steel bells bochumer verein (de) strike tones of g, b und c.

the desire arose later regain old bells had been sold off , complement them new, more impressive bronze bells; motivated modern musical ideas desire historical preservation. result, 2 new bells took on names of patroklus bell , townsman schuster s bell. patroklus bell considered 1 of successful modern bells in westphalia. clean peal of existing bells 1 allowed supplementary tones assigned new bells. single cast-steel bell, charles borromeo bell retained , integrated peal, since appealing musical instrument in spite of metal composition. in process of reconstruction, bells received new clappers , massive yokes. finally, last few years smallest bell of all, in flèche above crossing, transformation bell, takes place of choir bell, destroyed in 1918. peal of soest s church counted among historically , musically significant bell ensembles in germany , beyond.