The History of
the First Carillons in Berlin and Potsdam
In
1701 the first Prussian King Frederick I. commanded
his court founder Johannes Jacobi to cast 37 bells for
a carillon. The architect then in charge of the Berlin
City Palace, Andreas Schlüter, was commanded to
rebuild its dilapidated Mint Tower and raise it to a
height of 98 meters. The project failed however and in
1713 the new king, Frederick William I., donated the
carillon to the Parochial church. Jacobi's bells were
judged to be of poor quality and were replaced in 1717
by a set of new ones cast by the Amsterdam founder Jan
Albert de Grave. In 1721 Frederick William I. ordered
an automatic chime of 35 bells from de Grave for the
new Garrison Church in Potsdam. In 1735 five large
bass bells were added to the set and they were
installed as a carillon in the second and much larger
Garrison Church.
Starting in 1797 the song "Üb' immer Treu' und
Redlichkeit" and the chorale "Priase to the Lord" were regularly
played by the automatic and came to symbolize
Potsdam.
The Berlin Parochial Church
The Potsdam Garrison Church
The
carillons of Berlin and Potsdam were played
regularly before and after the church services, on
the birthdays of the members of the royal family
and on special occasions such as the Russian Tsar
Alexander's visit to Berlin.The
carilloneurs of Berlin
and Potsdam
were
especially
active during
the 1920s and 1930s. In
Berlin Hans Siepert, Reinhold Graßnick and Wilhelm
Bender played additional concerts accompanied
by brass instruments
and
on Wednesdays, in the evenings while the tower
was lit up and for the Olympic Games in Berlin in
1936. The Potsdam carillonneur Otto Becker
performed every Thursday for the tourists and a
few records were made of his playing.
Richard Thiele, carillonneur of the Berlin
Parochial Church 1890 - 1902
Eugen Thiele, carillonneur
of the Berlin Parochial
Church
1903 - 1917
The
Second World War put an end to the concerts on the old
carillons in Berlin und Potsdam. In May 1944 the Parochial
Church was bombed
and only two bells survived well enough to be
reinstalled as a small peal in the ruins. The Potsdam
Garrison Church and its
carillon were
destroyed during the final weeks of the war and its
ruins were cleared away in 1968. In the coming years
the tower of the Berlin Parochial Church is scheduled
to be reconstructed and equipped with a new carillon
so that the once famed "Singing Clock" can once again
take its place in the centre Berlin. A copy of the
original Potsdam Garrison
Church is
also set to be built in the near future and will also
be crowned with a new carillon.