The Destruction of Church Bells in the Second World War

Grömitz, Germany

This bell, made in 1666,features mermaids, Poseidon, and creatures that appear to be Ophiotauri (part bull, part serpent). In coastal communities such as Grömitz, seafaring myths and legends were a common theme in bell decoration.

Schleswig Dom, Germany

The bell from Schleswig Dom was made in 1397, and removed from its tower in 1941. It was decorated with a simple vine pattern around the shoulder and bow of the bell.

Koppel, Germany

Hybrid mythical beasts were one of the most common forms of medieval and early modern symbolism. Mermaids, gryphons, and other fantastical creatures were used as illustrations of the central tenet of Christian doctrine -- that Christ was both human and divine. The series of mermaids that decorated a 1519 bell from Koppel can be read in this way.

Loppersum, Germany

This intricate decoration adorned a 1794 bell in the Gothic revival church at Loppersum.

Geilenkirchen, Germany

The bell in Geilenkirchen was made by an itinerant bell founder, Johannes Bourlet, in 1682. Bourlet travelled extensively in western Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands casting bells for communities large and small.He made over 200 bells before his death, near Bonn, in 1695.[1]

[1] https://www.baelen.be/loisirs/histoire/baelen-a-travers-les-ages/le-fondeur-de-cloches-johannes-bourlet 

Helden, Germany

The Stations of the Cross, or the depiction of events leading up to Christ's crucifixion, were a popular source of imagery in the early modern period. One of these Passion stories, when Christ was crowned with thorns (illustrated in the cast above), was used frequently during the Reformation, particularly in Lutheran churches. Protestants used this image to condemn the Pope, whose golden tiara became a symbol of the greed and corruption of the Catholic Church.

Hamburg, Germany

European church bells were processed primarily at the Norddeutsche Affinerie in Hamburg, one of the world's largest and most efficient smelters.The first German bells arrived in Hamburg on 12 December 1941.

A tragic postscript to the Nazi confiscation and destruction of European church bells is the loss of many of the remaining bells to bombing. Between 8% and 10% of all bells in Germany were left in their towers. Of these, 20% were destroyed by Allied bombs. Most often it was not the bombs themselves but the fires they started that destroyed bells: heat from these fires was so intense that bells melted, turned to ash, or were vaporized without a trace.

During intense Allied raids on Hamburg on 2 February 1945, the refineries and their storage yards were bombed. A ship loaded with 200 of the most valuable bells from the Hamburg refineries was sunk, and a direct hit on the quay sent bells flying: “some bells were hurled as far as 100 meters through the air, bells were hurled into the water of the harbour, other bells amazingly were hurled out of the water…."[1] In total, the damage to church bells by Allied military action was estimated at 2% of all bells in Belgium, 10% in the Netherlands, 1% in Austria, 5% in Germany, and 10% in Italy.

After 1945, Hamburg was in the British zone of occupied Germany. The British military government respected the Hague Convention clauses concerning bells, and refused to use German bells for war reparations. Despite this, French troops took 31 bells from a refinery at Regensburg in August 1945, and the Red Army transported an estimated 10,000 bells from repositories at Oranienburg to the Soviet Union.[2]

Another challenge was to repatriate bells confiscated from Occupied Europe to their countries of origin. Of the 50,000 church bells transported to Germany from the occupied territories, approximately 2,000 were discovered intact in Hamburg at the end of the war. Belgian and Dutch bell experts identified 785 Belgian bells and 300 Dutch bells. These, and French bells from Alsace and Lorraine, were the first to be repatriated. Of the 9,000 Czech bells brought to Hamburg, only one was recovered. Another eighteen Czech bells were discovered at Lünen and returned in July 1947.[3]

[1] Price, Campanology,28.

[2] Price, Campanology,27;National Archives (UK), FO 1050 1481.

[3] National Archives (UK), FO 942 263, FO 1057 152.

Poznan,Poland

These two casts depicting garlanded medallions were taken from a bell made in 1780. The casts were made by the Nazis to preserve a trace of "Germanic culture" from Wartheland, a region of western Poland that was annexed to Germany in 1939. German settlement in this area relied on the forced expulsion of Poles and Jews from the region. Along with German soldiers and settlers, the Nazi regime also sent German archaeologists, anthropologists and art historians to Wartheland to help claim that this territory was rightfully German. These casts are evidence of the cultural side of Nazi conquest in Eastern Europe.

Ath, Belgium

The False Carillon of Ath The original carillon in the church at Ath, in Belgium, was destroyed by fire in 1815. When locals learned that Belgian carillons would be exempt from confiscation by the German occupation authorities, they gathered the bells from surrounding communities into the bell-chamber at Ath to save them. An old tourist guidebook that described the carillon at Ath was presented as evidence to German officials, while a loudspeaker installed in the church tower played recorded carillon music.[1]

[1] Price, Campanology, 8.

Uelitz, Germany

An early 14th century bell from Uelitz, in Pomerania, was decorated with a Madonna and Child, and a cat-faced angel.This may be an example of the incorporation of pagan influences in Christian art, or the Christianization of pagan forms. The relatively late conversion of Pomeranians to Christianity in the 12th century was a long and challenging mission, which may account for the perseverance of pagan imagery in Christian art in the region.

Prillwitz, Germany

This bell, from 1523, was decorated with amulets representing an angel playing a harp, and a winged cow. Bells were decorated to enhance their power. They were sanctified and blessed, and were believed to possess supernatural properties and the power to ward off evil. Their decorations deepened their magic.

Ritzerow, Germany

Created in 1510, this bell from Ritzerow was marked with a symbol that perhaps represents the cross intertwined with the tree of life.

Kettwig, Germany

This bell from Kettwig was created in 1437 and removed from its tower in 1941. It depicted a knight (possibly Saint George) slaying a dragon.

Girbelsrath, Germany

This 1450 bell from Rhineland also featured images of a knight slaying a dragon. An inscription on the reverse of the cast reads "Joh. Vugle".

Boppard, Germany

This cast was taken from a 1502 bell that hung in the Carmelite convent at Boppard in the Rhineland. The convent was built in the late 13th / early 14th centuries, making it one of the oldest Carmelite convents in Germany.

The bell was adorned with a donor image - a likeness of the bell's sponsor, who was probably a relative of a nun at the convent. Donor images are common in convent iconography.

Lich, Germany

This cast was taken from a bell in Lich, made in 1400. It depicts Christ on the cross.

Wertheim, Germany

Green Men have long captivated public and academic interest. Scholars have been debating their meaning since the 1930s when Lady Raglan, one of the first to propose an explanation, identified them as references to a pagan figure "variously known as ... Jack-in-the-Green, Robin Hood, the King of May, and the Garland, who is the central figure in May Day celebrations throughout northern and Central Europe."[1] Lady Raglan claimed that by the 15th century, this influence formed an important part of religious life. Other interpretations suggest rebirth, renewal, and regeneration. Green Men have been associated with Dionysus, and the unity of humanity and the natural world.[2]

[1] Lady Raglan, "The Green Man in Church Architecture" Folklore, 50:1 (March 1939): 45-57.

[2] Tina Negus, "Medieval Foliate Heads: A Photographic Study of Green Men and Green Beasts in Britain" Folklore, 114:2 (August 2003):247-261.

Sinsheim, Germany

Green Men, or "foliate heads" decorated bells from a number of communities in the province of Baden. Most Green Men occur in church architecture from the high Middle Ages, but they persisted beyond that. This bell from Sinsheim was cast in 1750.

Obersontheim, Germany

This bell was cast in 1715, perhaps by Johann Melchior Fenk whose name is inscribed on the back of the plaster cast made in 1940. The bell was decorated with Green Men, floral motifs, and the Holy Trinity.

Regensburg, Germany

This representation of the Crucifixion adorned a 1595 bell from Regensburg in Bavaria.

Untersanding, Germany

These casts were taken from a bell made in Bavaria in 1606, and depict the Evangelists: St. Mark, St. Luke, St. John and St. Matthew. These four casts also present an intriguing combination of religious and political imagery. The four Evangelists appear alongside a double-headed eagle (symbol of the Holy Roman Empire), a palatine lion (part of the Bavarian coat of arms) and a gryphon (a common symbol for families and municipalities in central and northern Europe).In the medieval and early modern periods, symbols and images carried -- and were intended to carry -- multiple meanings and interpretations.

Siegertsbrunn, Germany

This depiction of the Crucifixion comes from a 1770 bell from Siegertsbrunn in Bavaria, cast by Franz Jacob Daller.

Mösthinsdorf, Germany

These 17 casts are from an early 14th century bell from the parish church in the hamlet of Mösthinsdorf in Saxony. The casts depict several scratchy symbols over and over: the cross, alpha and omega, and the Christogram. The cross, representing Christ, has been a symbol of Christianity since the fifth century. Alpha and omega (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet] represent God, the beginning and end of all things. The Christogram is formed by the Greek letters chi and rho, the first two letters of Christ's name.Early Christians adopted this monogram as a sign of their faith. The symbols are surrounded by mandorla, a round or oval shape that suggests the Holy Spirit. Seeing the casts together gives us their full meaning: the Holy Trinity. They also give us a glimpse of religious devotion in a tiny community in the early 14th century: residents in such a small village could not afford elaborate decoration for their bell, but they chose to decorate with the most simple but powerful invocation of divine protection.

Jacobsdorf, Germany

These simple engravings of the cross and various versions of Christogram decorated a bell made in 1300 in Jacobsdorf, near Berlin.