KIRCHHEIM unter Teck (D), Martinskirche, Geläutepräsentation (Turmaufnahme)

This is a tower photograph of the bells of the Protestant St. Martin's Church in Kirchheim unter Teck. Kirchheim unter Teck is a town in the Swabian district of Esslingen, located approximately 25 km southeast of Stuttgart, and has about 42,000 inhabitants. The town's main church is the Protestant St. Martin's Church. It was first mentioned in the 10th century and expanded into a three-aisled Romanesque basilica around 1220. In the 15th century, the church was rebuilt into a timber-roofed Gothic hall church. During the church fire of 1690, some of the church furnishings were destroyed and subsequently replaced. The church bells also fell victim to the fire of 1690. Just one year later, St. Martin's Church received a new, impressive set of eight bells, cast locally in Kirchheim by the Rosier brothers, itinerant bell founders from Lorraine. Today, only three of these bells remain. The rest of the peal presumably fell victim to the First World War. During the Second World War, only the middle of the remaining bells, as well as the bells recast after the First World War, were removed for melting down. The largest and smallest bells were allowed to remain. The middle Rosier bell was the only bell to return undamaged after the war. In 1943, the small bell, also known as the "little bell," cracked and was taken to the Kurtz bell foundry in Stuttgart for repair in 1946. However, the repair was refused, and a recasting was proposed instead. The bell was eventually sold to the parish of Heimsheim. In 1952, the Kurtz bell foundry in Stuttgart cast five new bells for St. Martin's Church to complete the festive, seven-bell peal, complementing the two remaining Rosier bells. Two of these bells were also named after their respective donors. The prayer bell was donated by the Ficker couple, and the baptismal bell by the brothers Hermann and Ernst Schöllkopf. In 1956, it was discovered that the small bell was still unusable at the Kurtz foundry. The town of Kirchheim eventually bought the bell back and sent it to Lachenmeyer in Nördlingen in 1961 for repair and welding. After the bell was successfully repaired there, it was initially given as a gift from the town of Kirchheim to the newly consecrated St. Matthew's Church in Lindorf. However, just a few weeks later, a bell exchange took place. The arraignment bell of St. Martin's Church, cast by Kurtz and of the same pitch, was given to Lindorf. In return, St. Martin's Church received the small bell back, which has been ringing in its original bell chamber ever since. The six large bells hang in the main bell chamber, while the smallest bell is located in the tower lantern above the watchman's apartment. This creates an impressive ensemble of bells with very good sound quality. The Kurtz bells complement the very resonant and pure-sounding Rosier bells perfectly. The large Dominika bell, in particular, forms an impressive foundation despite its slight rib and low striking angle; its lavish and delicate ornamentation is also noteworthy. The only major drawback is the clapper of bell number 4, which strikes noticeably too high, giving it a very tinny sound, even though it could normally sound no worse than the other bells. ... BELL DATA: Bell 1: Dominica, C, Claudius Johannes & Nicolas Rosier/Kirchheim 1691, 2300 kg, diameter = 1540 mm Bell 2: Fickerglocke/Prayer Bell, E-flat, Heinrich Kurtz/Stuttgart 1952, 1360 kg, diameter = 1300 mm Bell 3: Kreuzglocke (Cross Bell), F, Heinrich Kurtz/Stuttgart 1952, 950 kg, diameter = 1150 mm Bell 4: großer Beller (Great Bell), G, Claudius Johannes & Nicolas Rosier/Kirchheim 1691, 630 kg, diameter = 1000 mm Bell 5: Schöllkopfglocke/Baptismal Bell, B-flat, Heinrich Kurtz/Stuttgart 1952, 420 kg d= 860 mm Bell 6: Small Bell, C", Claudius Johannes & Nicolas Rosier/Kirchheim 1691, 240 kg, d= 730 mm Bell 7: Lord's Prayer Bell, E-flat", Heinrich Kurtz/Stuttgart 1952, 174 kg, d= 650 mm VIDEO SCHEDULE: 0:00 Intro 0:15 Slideshow with modern Kurtz plenum E-flat, F, B-flat, E-flat 4:30 Individual Bells 4:40 Bell 7 E-flat 7:05 Bell 6 C 8:58 Bell 5 B-flat 10:35 Bell 4 G 12:18 Bell 3 F 14:05 Bell 2 E-flat 16:08 Bell 1 c' 18:25 Historical plenary bells c' g' c" 22:05 Full peal c' es' f' g' b' c" es" This recording was made separately. My sincere thanks to everyone involved for making the recordings possible and for the successful, eventful day! Another recording can be seen on the @Glockenfampf channel.