Rathaus-Glockenspiel, Munich, Germany.
The clock with 43 bells, which is triggered by six different reels according to season, plays daily at 11 and 12 o’clock and from March to October at 5 o’clock. The actual gears are located under the tower helmet and can be played individually with a keyboard. The smallest of the bells weighs 10 kg and has a diameter of 18 cm, the largest weighs 1300 kg with a diameter of 125 cm, the total weight of the bells is 7000 kg.
The nave, which houses the clock chimes, is covered in copper. The 32 figures refer to motifs from the history and legend of Munich. The kinematic arrangement was developed in 1899 by Christian Reithmann. In the upper portion of the nave, a “tournament” is staged, which was originally held in the Marienplatz in 1568 for the marriage of Duke William V and Renata of Lorraine. Heroes, jesters, cheering fans, pagans, and standard carrieres lined the tournament field on which Bavarians and Lorraineers challenged their strengths through medieval games. The fact that the white-blue Bavaria won over the black-yellow of Lorraine can only be interpreted symbolically. In the lower floor, the “Schäfflertanz” is displayed, which reminisces on the plague from 1515 to 1517. When no one dared to leave their homes, in fear of the plague, the Schäffler, with their dancing and playing of music, were supposed to lure the frightened citizens back into the streets and therefore back “into life”.
There is also a two-minute variant in the late evening, at 9 pm, where spotlights illuminate the two side bay windows. In the left window is the night watchman, who emerges and does his rounds, He wears a cloak, an carries a horn and a lantern, and his dog follows behind him. The bells accompany this by playing The night watch from Richard Wagner’s Opera “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”. After a short pause, the cradle song of Johannes Brahms plays, and in the right nave tower, the “Münchner Kindl” marches to the left, flowed by the guardian angel (peace angel)(which is based on “a citizen’s child with a guardian angel” from Ignaz Günther which is in the Munich Bürgersaal of the Marian congregation), after both return to the tower, the light goes out. The Night watchman and the guardian angel have laid the Munich child to rest, and Munich embraces the night.
The idea of integrating a clock chime into the tower of the New Town Hall goes back to Georg von Hauberrisser. The costs were substantial, the 43 bells costed 154,000 Goldmarks alone, in which 32,000 marks was donated by the furniture and antique dealer Karl Rosipal in 1904 for the centennial. This donation, however came with repercussions: Karl Rosipal, who died in 1924, was of Jewish origin, and in 1933/34 the donation was refunded to the family, since it was presumed that it was no longer desired to have Jewish participation in a German clock chime at the time. In 1908, the clock chime was completed, but was officially operational on 18 February 1909, due to the unsatisfactory sound of the bells. Since then, the figures and the clockwork sound every day at eleven. The soundings at 12 and 5 pm have only existed since the Olympic Games in 1972. Between 1944 and 1952 its operation was limited, not because it had been destroyed in the war, but considerable repairs were necessary.
In the course of the repairs to the tower façade in 2006-2007, the bells were removed, cleaned and repaired. The bell holder was equipped with a suspension made of stainless steel, and other important parts were replaced including the springs and cables. The total renovation cost was 750,000 Euro, which was for the most part donations from the citizens of Munich (660,000 Euro), the German Foundation for the Protection of Historical Monuments donated an additional 100,000 Euro. The bells were re-installed, revised, and tuned in time for the 850th birthday of the city of Munich in 2008.
The bells each play four melodies, which change monthly between a total of six different melodies.
