Bell Founding

The sound of pealing bells was closely linked to the everyday life of the people in many ways. Church bells called them to divine services and prayer, announced weddings and deaths (“Schiedungläuten”). They rang in the feast days and the end of work for the day, proclaimed the arrival of high-ranking guests, warned of upcoming storms, fire, and war, and summoned people to the theater on the market square. Regulations determined the sequence of tones for the respective occasion. At the time of the dissolution of the Damenstift (religious institution for ladies of rank) in Hall (1783) five bell ringers were in their service.[1]
The bell founding trade in the Tyrol is documented back to the middle of the 14th century. Innsbruck is one of the major casting sites of Austria.[2] Emperor Maximilian appointed Hans Selos of Füssen to the post of bell founder in Innsbruck in 1498. Peter Löffler (commonly known as Laiminger) (1468-1530) established a foundry for bells and ornamental casting towards the end of the 15th century in Büchsenhausen, which was carried on by his sons Gregor Löffler (1490-1565) and Alexander Löffler (†before 1543). Gregor Löffler worked at times with his sons Elias (†1610) and Hans Christoph (ca.1530-1595). The casting activities of the Löffler family ended with the son of the latter, Christoph (1568-1623). Peter Löffler, for example, supplied a bell in 1491 for Sterzing, Hans Christoph Löffler in 1585 for Deutschnofen. Quite a few of the bells by the Löffler family have survived to this day.[3]
Heinrich Reinhart (†1629) came to Innsbruck in 1595 and bought the Löffler workshop in 1614. In 1609, 1611 and 1620 he supplied one bell each for Wilten Abbey. His nephew Friedrich Reinhart (1604-1638) took over the operation, in which Bartlme Reinhart was still working in 1640. Bartlme Köttelath (Kettelath) the Elder (*1608) married the widow of Friedrich Reinhart in Büchsenhausen in 1641. Bartlme Köttelath the Younger, probably a son of the Elder, was successful with his complaint submitted in 1682 to the Tyrolean government because the municipality of Grins had ordered a bell from a bell founder in Kempten instead of from a local one. Matthias Köttelath (*1680), a son of Bartlme the Younger, provided a bell for St Georgenberg as had Bartlme the Elder. Franz Josef Köttelath (*1712, son of Matthias) worked from 1733 on as a founder in Büchsenhausen. Johann Paul Schellener, a son of the Bozen bell founder Georg Schellener (†1679), had his workshop in Innsbruck in the first decades of the 18th century. In 1734 he supplied two bells for St Georgenberg. In 1735 he carried out repairs on a bell for Wilten Abbey.[4] Georg Zach (*1672) may have been a journeyman of his. Stefan Zach worked in Innsbruck in the mid-18th century for, among others, Wilten Abbey in 1763. He was followed by his son Sebastian Zach (*ca.1740-1816) and his presumed grandson Josef Zach. Augustin Vital transferred his foundry in Büchsenhausen in 1774 to Simon Peter Miller (Müller) (*ca.1747-1804). His son Josef Georg Müller (*ca.1778-1854) was the last bell founder in Büchsenhausen. Father and son cast bells for, e.g. the parish church of Zirl.
Bell founders with resident status had lived in Brixen for centuries, such as Johann Löffler (†1577), Johann Weilander (†1588), Georg Walser (documentary evidence dated 1591), Adam Sterzer (†1633), and the Grassmayr family, who soon established business in Habichen and Wilten and still have a location in Innsbruck-Wilten. In Brixen the following Grassmayrs carried on the bell founding trade: Benedikt (†1688) with his sons Lukas (1632-1692) and Oswald, Georg (1661-1720) and his son Josef (1690-1765), Johann (mentioned in 1758 and 1763), Franz Anton (1763-1824) and his son Josef Alois (1805-1858), and Jakob (1802-1873). Bartlme Grassmayr (1670-1722) learned the trade in Brixen and moved at the end of the 17th century to Habichen. He was succeeded in Habichen by: his son Jakob (†ca.1742) and his grandson Bartlme the Younger (*1724), the latter’s sons Johann Nepomuk (1754-1822), Jakob and Konrad. Johann Grassmayr (1801-1883), one of Konrad’ssons, moved the operation from Habichen to Wilten in 1836. Johann’s nephew Josef (1839-1899) ran the enterprise there from 1870 on. The widow of Josef Grassmayr, Emma, carried on the business with her brothers Otto and Nikolaus Knitel. Around 1840 Jakob Anton Grassmayr of Feldkirch cast bells in Bozen, e.g. for Petersberg (1840), Deutschnofen (1843) and Lengmoos (1844).[5]
The first bell founder of Bozen settled there in 1613: Hans Schellener (Schelener) the Elder (I) (†1651) of Petersberg had learned the “bell and gun casting” trade in Innsbruck; in 1637 he worked with Benedikt Grassmayr. Hans Schellener the Younger (II) (1619-ca.1664) took over the foundry of his late father in 1651. After his own death the city council transferred the foundry to his brother Georg Schellener (†1679) in 1665. In 1679 the bell founder journeyman Thomas Zwelfer (1650-1704) of Innsbruck was admitted as a master in Bozen on the condition that he marry the widow of Georg Schellener. Anton Zwelfer (†ca.1738) was permitted to live and establish himself as a bell founder in Bozen in 1716 against “marriage to the Calovi widow” and payment of “Incolat” (resident) taxes and licence fees. Simon Calovi (†1716), a native of Bozen, had taken up the work of a master in his native town in 1704. As Thomas Zwelfer’s successor, he recast the “Weinglocke”that had cracked in 1713 and cast a new “Ziegnglöggl” (“passing bell” rung as a parishioner lay dying) in 1714 for the Bozen parish church. In 1708 he made a bell for St Helena near Deutschnofen. The bell founder journeyman Joachim Michael Reis (†1760) of Brieg (Silesia) was admitted as a provisional resident in Bozen in 1740, a permanent one in 1741. He had learned his trade in Munich and Salzburg. His widow married the Nuremberg bell founder journeyman Georg Sebastian Gerstner (†ca.1774) in 1761, who was then granted permission to stay in Bozen as a resident and stucco molder and bell founder. After that Josef Reis (†ca.1788), a son of Joachim Michael Reis, took over the operation; the municpal council certified him as a master in 1775. Johann Michael Zach (†1830) of Gösting near Graz married the widow of Josef Reis in 1789 and was very productive in the Bozen region. His son Johann Zach carried on the foundry from 1830 on.[6]
A good two dozen bells by southern and northern Tyrolean bell founders Georg Schellener, Joachim Michael Reis and by the Grassmayr family have survived down to this day in the Val Müstair.[7]
Working in Trent since 1783 at the latest was the Chiappani family of bell founders. Its first representative was Bartolomeo Chiappani (1728-1804), working at first with Giuseppe Ruffini (ca.1721-1801), who ran a bell foundry in Rovereto, among other activities. The last family member to be active in making bells was Carlo Chiappani (1853-1928), who supplied bells for several European countries, India and America. In the Tyrol his bells used to sound in St Nikolaus in Eggen (1874), St Agatha in Deutschnofen (1885), among other places, and from the towers of the Jesuit church in Innsbruck, for which he made a bell weighing 9,906 kg in 1901. In 1911 he made six new bells for the parish church in Schwaz. Carlo Chiappani worked until 1915. After the destruction of his enterprise in the First World War he did not rebuild it but devoted himself to his private musical interests instead, not the least of which was composing.[8]
In Mühlen in the Tauferertal Sebastian Feichter (1760-1816) and his son Martin Feichter (1796-1871) as well as Karl Franz Feichter (1798-1854) worked on making bells. The Dengg family of bell founders had their operation in Jenbach for three generations, among them Johann Josef Dengg (1815-1859). A bell founder from Brixlegg named Johann Wolfgang Köchl is mentioned in 1729.[9]

Fussnote

[1] August LINDNER, “Die Aufhebung der Klöster in Deutschtirol 1782-1787: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte Kaiser Joseph’s II.,” Zeitschrift des Ferdinandeums für Tirol und Vorarlberg 3rd series, no. 29 (1885) p. 280.
 
[2] Andreas WEISSENBÄCK and Josef PFUNDNER, Tönendes Erz: Die abendländische Glocke als Toninstrument und die historischen Glocken in Österreich, Graz, Cologne 1961, p. 165, 513.
 
[3]Andreas WEISSENBÄCK and Josef PFUNDNER, Tönendes Erz: Die abendländische Glocke als Toninstrument und die historischen Glocken in Österreich, Graz, Cologne 1961, p. 166ff.
Johanna GRITSCH, “Die Glocken Peter Löfflers,” Veröffentlichungen des Museum[s] Ferdinandeum 20/25 (1940/45, Innsbruck 1947), p. 55ff;
Konrad FISCHNALER, “Beiträge zur Geschichte der Pfarre Sterzing und des Pfarrkirchenbaues,” Zeitschrift des Ferdinandeums für Tirol und Vorarlberg 3rd series, no. 28 (1884) p. 136f;
Hans SIMMERLE, Kleine Musikgeschichte: Deutschnofen-Eggen-Petersberg, Auer [1975], p. 65;
Gertrud PFAUNDLER, Tirol-Lexikon: Ein Nachschlagewerk über Menschen und Orte des Bundeslandes Tirol, Rum 1983, p. 238 (article on “Gregor Löffler” includes a catalog of Löffler bells and their locations).
 
[4] Andreas WEISSENBÄCK and Josef PFUNDNER, Tönendes Erz: Die abendländische Glocke als Toninstrument und die historischen Glocken in Österreich, Graz, Cologne 1961, p. 169ff;
Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Vom Musikleben im Stift Wilten (Innsbruck),” Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch 72 (1988) p. 103;
Franz ZANGERL, “Tiroler Sprüche und Redensarten von der Glocke,” Tiroler Heimatblätter 26 (1951) p. 61;
Thomas NAUPP OSB, “Zur Geschichte der Glocken von St. Georgenberg-Fiecht seit dem dritten Brand von 1637,” 850 Jahre Benediktinerabtei St. Georgenberg-Fiecht 1138-1988 (Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktiner-Ordens und seiner Zweige, suppl. vol. 31), St. Ottilien 1988, p. 109ff;
Willi CHRISTANELL, “Die Bozner Glockengießer,” Der Schlern 5 (1924), p. 272.
 
[5] Andreas WEISSENBÄCK and Josef PFUNDNER, Tönendes Erz: Die abendländische Glocke als Toninstrument und die historischen Glocken in Österreich, Graz, Cologne 1961, p. 163ff, 230f;
Norbert PRANTL, Heimat Zirl: Ein Heimatbuch (Schlern-Schriften 212), Innsbruck 1960, p. 183;
Ludwig SCHÖNACH, “Brixen im Bilde kunstgewerblicher und künstlerischer Betätigung seiner Ahnen (XVI.-XIX. Jahrhundert) nach den kanonischen Büchern des Dekanalarchivs Brixen,” Der Sammler 3 (1909) p. 25f;
Hans SIMMERLE, Kleine Musikgeschichte: Deutschnofen-Eggen-Petersberg, Auer [1975], p. 65, 67f;
Willi CHRISTANELL, “Die Bozner Glockengießer,” Der Schlern 5 (1924) p. 276.
 
[6] Willi CHRISTANELL, “Die Bozner Glockengießer,” Der Schlern 5 (1924) p. 271ff;
C. INAMA, “Zum Aufsatze ‘Die Bozner Glockengießer’ [by Willi Christanell],” Der Schlern 6 (1925), p. 98;
Hans SIMMERLE, Kleine Musikgeschichte: Deutschnofen-Eggen-Petersberg, Auer [1975], p. 65;
Andreas WEISSENBÄCK and Josef PFUNDNER, Tönendes Erz: Die abendländische Glocke als Toninstrument und die historischen Glocken in Österreich, Graz, Cologne 1961, p. 229f.
 
[7] Hans-Peter SCHREICH, “Tiroler Glocken im Bündnerischen Münstertal,” Der Schlern 66 (1992) p. 570ff.
 
[8] Andreas WEISSENBÄCK and Josef PFUNDNER, Tönendes Erz: Die abendländische Glocke als Toninstrument und die historischen Glocken in Österreich, Graz, Cologne 1961, p. 130, 242;
Hans SIMMERLE, Kleine Musikgeschichte Deutschnofen - Eggen - Petersberg, Auer [1975], p. 65;
Hans STERNAD, “Aus der Geschichte 1850 bis 1980,” Stadtbuch Schwaz: Natur - Bergbau - Geschichte, ed. Erich Egg et al., Schwaz 1986, col. 284f;
Clemente LUNELLI, Dizionario dei Costruttori di strumenti musicali nel Trentino, Trento 1994, p. 43ff.
 
[9] Andreas WEISSENBÄCK and Josef PFUNDNER, Tönendes Erz: Die abendländische Glocke als Toninstrument und die historischen Glocken in Österreich, Graz, Cologne 1961, p. 130f, 136, 152, 173, 237.