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There
were three bells in our church, the oldest was first cast in
1447. When it cracked in 1746, the famous bell maker, Samuel
Scholtz of Breslau, was commissioned to recast it in 1747. This bell would eventually have an unusual destiny:
During
the Second World War, tens of thousands of bells were confiscated by the
Government. They were to be melted down and their valuable
metals used for the manufacture of munitions. Most of the bells
were shipped to Hamburg, where they were stored at the so-called bell
cemetary, located in the harbour. Here
they were catalogued and then sent away to be melted
down.
However, old bells from the 18th century and before were
spared.
After the war, these were given back to the communities where they came
from. The bells from the former Eastern territories of
Germany
found a home in
West German churches. For a long time, no one from our village knew the
fate of
our bell and whether or not it had survived. One source reported
that the bell
had been sent to Affaltersthal, but that couldn't be confirmed.
In the meantime, people in Bieberbach, Bavaria had tried to find
the origin of their bell which, after the war, had come from the bell cemetery
(Glockenfriedhof) in Hamburg. The inscription on the bell suggested that it may have come from a church in
Breslau. A search on the Internet by Hans Hofmann, led to my web site.
After reading my description, he had
no doubt that their bell had come from the church in
Paschkerwitz.
To find out more, he went to the Nationalmuseeum in Nürnberg which has
an extensive archive of bells. For each bell
which had been confiscated during the war there existed a file containing a description and photo.
The rediscovery of our bell was of special interest to Martin Hahn of
Erfurt. He had been present when the bell was dismantled in 1942. He
was one of the boys whose job it was to ring the bell during the week.
All boys were proud to be chosen for the job and to be entrusted with
the keys to the tower. Martin also remembers when he took some rags and
wound them around the clapper to play a trick on his successor.
What happened to the bell after the war is reported in the Evangelisches Zentralarchiv in Berlin: 'The
bell was sent away on January 4th, 1952 and arrived in Erding near
Munich on January 9th 1952. From there the bell was collected on April
21, 1952. '
Measurements of the bell: Height 80 cm, circumference 80 cm, height of the hanger 20 cm, weight 300 kg.
With many thanks to Mr. Hans Hofmann for providing pictures and information.
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