Index to carillons and chimes by Bochumer Verein

The Bochumer Verein foundry, now closed, provided bells for various carillons and chimes throughout the world.  See the bottom of this page for additional historical notes on the origin and development of this bellfoundry.

For an explanation of what this index contains (and does NOT contain), and of the additional details on each entry, see the Bellfoundry Indexes Advice.


Bochumer Verein, Bochum, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

BOCHUM - W                    : GERMANY      19??*C  non-trad
   Bell tower
   Westpark
   * made for a different site
CAPE PALMAS                   : LIBERIA      19?? C  non-trad
   Church Tower
MAINZ - CK                    : GERMANY-BRD  19?? C  non-trad
   Christuskirche
MUENSTER-IN-W. - U            : GERMANY-BRD  19?? C  non-trad
   Universitätsturm
POVOA DE VARZIM               : PORTUGAL     19?? C  non-trad
   Heart of Jesus Church
STERKRADE                     : GERMANY-BRD  19?? C  non-trad
   Hochhaus Clock Tower
   (Stadtmittehaus)
CLAUSTHAL-ZELLERFELD/Z        : GERMANY-BRD  19?? C  chime
   Former post office building

Bochum                        : Germany      1867 -  great
   Town Hall plaza
BOCHUM - R                    : GERMANY-BRD  1929 C (non-trad)
   Rathaus
Berlin                        : Germany      1936 -  great
   Olympic Stadium
Neustadt an der Weinstraße    : Germany      1949 -  great/peal(1)
   Stiftskirche  [bass bell]
Neustadt an der Weinstraße    : Germany      1949 -  great/peal(2)
   Stiftskirche  [second bell]
BOCHUM - R                    : GERMANY-BRD  1951 C  non-trad
   Rathaus
PADERBORN - D                 : GERMANY-BRD  2017 -  great
   Dom
CLAUSTHAL-ZELLERFELD/C        : GERMANY-BRD  1956 C  non-trad
   Campanile
   Clausthal Univ. of Technology
   (was Bergakademie)
Berlin                        : Germany      1961 -  great
   Olympic Stadium

Historical Notes:

The "Bochumer Verein für Bergbau und Gußstahlfabrikation" (Bochum Association for Mining and Cast Steel Fabrication) was a somewhat local group of industrial facilities.  Formed in 1854, it was the successor to the Gußstahlfabrik [Cast steel factory] Mayer und Kühne, and was commonly called simply the Bochumer Verein.  From 1926 to 1951, it was part of Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG (commonly called the Stahlverein), a nationwide association of similar industrial facilities.  Like its English competitor of the day, Naylor-Vickers, it was not primarily a bellfoundry; cast steel bells were a small but not insignificant part of its output.

German-language illustrated history of the Bochumer Verein

The Wikipedia article about Bochum asserts that bells were the first cast steel product of the Bochumer Verein.

An article (in German) about the long-time foundry director, Aloys Heuvers, has photos of the 1936 Olympic Bell and a monumental bell that was cast in 1948 for the Paulskirche in Frankfurt (but rejected as unmusical).  The weight of the Paulskirche bell has not yet been discovered, so it is not listed as a great bell.

Long article (in German) about cast steel bells from Bochum.  Unfortunately the English version of the city Website does not include a translation of this article.  An included timeline shows that in 1850, Jacob Mayer, founder of the steel company "Bochumer Verein", invented a steel casting process.

Another article (also in German) reports that the first cast steel bell was exhibited at the Paris World's Fair in 1867.

Although this firm was producing cast steel bells in the mid-19th century, such bells were not made into chimes (glockenspiele) until well into the 20th century.  (By contrast, Naylor-Vickers made a chime in 1860, though that was their only one).  The total production of the Bochumer Verein over the course of nearly a century was over 20,000 bells.


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This index page was built from the database on 11-Oct-12 and last revised on 7-Mar-24.

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