Big city heralds at Pentecost with a new sound

It is a popular listening experience in Frankfurt in the open air: the big city ringing. Before high church holidays, a total of 50 bells of several churches can be heard in a coordinated concept – the evening before the first Advent, on Christmas Eve, on Saturday before Easter Sunday and on Saturday before Pentecost. A new composition will be heard for the first time this Saturday.

Bells from ten downtown churches, including the Paulskirche, the Katharinenkirche in the main guard and the old Nikolaikirche on the Römerberg, are involved. Also included are the nine bells of the imperial cathedral – including the gloriosa, the city weighing almost 12,000 kilograms and best known.

More intensive experience

The new version of the large city ringing, which will be heard this Saturday between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m., comes from members of the Ensemble Modern, an international association of soloists based in Frankfurt, as the city reports. The sounds should be more experienced.

The version of the Ensemble Modern will in future be heard on Saturday before Pentecost, explains the city of Frankfurt. She bears the Latin title « Supra Urbem » (« Above the city »). The traditional version that goes back to the Mainz bell expert Paul Smets and dates from 1954 should continue to be the case on the other appointments.

To hear each bell individually

This Saturday the bells can be heard individually – from the highest to the deepest tones. « After about 15 minutes, the bells finally combine to become a familiar overall sound, » says the city’s announcement.

According to the city, the decision to organize a ringing for Christmas, Easter and Pentecost fell in 1856. The title « Big city ringing » was added later.