Past and present
During the First Battle of Ypres in October-November 1914, the medieval town of Ypres was devastated by German bombing. On 22 November, the impressive cloth hall and the belfry came under fire and were destroyed. The bells of the two carillons in the belfry, an historical instrument and a new one from 1909, fell to the ground.
After the war, the cloth hall and the belfry were reconstructed on the basis of the original plans. In 1934, Marcel Michiels Jr (Doornik) delivered a new carillon, which was hung in the tower lantern. The building and the carillon survived the Second World War. Since the tuning of the bells was not satisfactory, the Petit & Fritsen bell foundry from Aarle-Rixtel as asked to improve the instrument. The renovated carillon was completed in 1963, the year the town celebrated its millennium. It was placed in the corpus of the belfry.
The reconstructed cloth hall and belfry are iconic monuments of the Great War. Since 1998, the cloth hall has housed the famous museum In Flanders Fields. During many memorial events in Ypres, melodies of the carillon alternate with the sound of bagpipes and trumpets, referring to the innumerable British soldiers who lie in Flanders fields.
Facts and figures
Number of bells | 49 |
Total weight of the bells | 11,892 kg |
Weight of the bourdon | 2494 kg |
Pitch of bourdon | c1, connected to B flat on the keyboard |
Bell-founders | 27 Marcel Michiels Jr (1934), 22 Petit & Fritsen (1963) |
Manual playing system | mechanical baton-type keyboard |
Automatic playing system | Quarter chimes on MIDI system with pneumatic pistons |
Carillonneur | Ludo Geloen |
Regular recitals | Saturdays from 3 to 4 pm |
Summer concerts | every year on various dates |
Accessibility of the tower | during opening hours of In Flanders Fields Museum |
Significant inscription
Moge ik voortaan in vrede beieren
(From now on, I may chime in peace)
Inscription on bell n° 4