Today is Pentecost and one of the four new bells rang at 9.15 a.m.
Because of a problem with statics/stability only one bell gave us its sound. Next week this problem with the bell frame will be eliminated and we hope the following Sunday all bells will be ringing.

The catholic church of Glauchau got 4 new bells today.
Bishop Reinelt performed the consecration of the bells 6.30 p.m.

Priest Sander is very happy about it.

The bells were manufactured by Bell Foundry Perner Passau.

Feel free to take a look at my web-gallery!

PS: Today (may,15th) we sent an article to the newspaper of Lynchburg, VA:

Four new bells ringing for Glauchau

Last Friday (May 8th) was a special day not only for church-goers in Glauchau. The Catholic church of St. Mary’s got its four new bells. Bishop Reinelt from the archdiocese of Dresden/Meissen held the service to consecrate the new bells in the presence of Priest Sander and many excited Glauchau citizens .
Priest Sander, who visited Lynchburg in 2004, was particularly excited. He and a bus-load of  parishoners had been present when the bell was cast in a sand mold in Passau, Bavaria, earlier in March this year. Two weeks later the eagerly awaited phone call came that the casting had been successful. The Foundry Perner, which was did the work, has a 400-year old history in this craft.
But it will not be until Pentecost (end of May) when the four new bells can be heard. First the breathtaking job of lifting the bells up with the help of a 70-ton crane plus the reconstruction of the belfry (wooden frame inside the bell tower) have to be accomplished, which will take the next few weeks. The weight of the bells ranges from 0.9 tons for the smallest “Holy Spirit” to 1.65 tons for the largest “St Mary’s”.
The funding of the project has been largely provided by the parish members themselves with € 45,000 ($70,000) from donations and equity capital as well as city funding of € 81,000 ($145,000) plus diocese participation of  € 20,000 ($30,000).
The bell tower itself is a landmark of Glauchau, as it is free-standing with a height of about 30 meters. The church of St.Mary’s is relatively young for churches in Germany as it only dates back to 1956 when the inflow of resettlers from Silesia after the war urged Glauchau to find a bigger place to practice their Catholic faith. But nonetheless the 900 congregation members and their Priest Michael Sander are proud of having received these new heavenly chimes.
The first Lynchburg residents to hear the sound of the four free-swinging bells will be the 10 students visiting Glauchau in June chaperoned by Regina Weeks. We look forward to their coming.

Jens Elbers

chairman „Friends of Lynchburg“

Photos: Thomas Schreiter

assistant chairman „Friends of Lynchburg”

Based on an article in „Freie Presse“, Glauchau from May 8th 2009