Mysterious incident in the Paulskirche: bells tinkle for an hour!
Has a new "crime scene" been filmed?
Created: 06/09/2022, 19:31
By: Andreas Thieme
Mesner Tran (49) and Roman Rückner (53) tested the ringing of the bells in St. Paul's Church yesterday © SIGI JANTZ
The residents of Ludwigvorstadt know the gentle sound of the church bells: Every quarter of an hour, the venerable St. Paul sounds from a height of 97 meters - normally.
Because yesterday morning, from 11 a.m., there was suddenly an unusual, constant ringing that didn't want to stop.
Munich - Lord's sacrament, many thought: what was going on in the Pauls church?
The tz asked the parish association in Westend: "Don't worry, it wasn't a defect," says head of administration Oliver Schulze Nahrup.
Rumors quickly spread that it was a professional media production.
Was the new crime scene filmed on the Theresienwiese?
"No, not even that," laughs Schulze Nahrup.
The answer is much simpler: "An amateur musician recorded the sound of our bells."
How did this come about?
"To be honest, I don't know either," smiles the head of administration.
"A curious idea." It comes from Roman Rückner (53) - the amateur musician was yesterday, so to speak, the bell ringer of St. Paul.
"I love the sound and want to bring it closer to people," says the Munich native.
He has already recorded around 3500 different tones - for each of them he climbed the bell towers of the whole city.
Munich: Church bells ring for an hour - amateur musicians record the tones
There are almost 300 steps up to the “top” of St. Paul: No problem for Rückner.
“Yesterday I rang the entire range of tones there.” And so kept the neighborhood busy for about an hour – the ringing didn't stop until around 12 noon.
When 12 o'clock struck, Rückner was even still standing next to the large Hosanna bell, which weighs six tons.
The mysterious incident happened yesterday in St. Paul's Church on Theresienwiese © Archive
A heavenly hobby!
"Hosanna is one of the biggest bells in Munich," says Rückner.
His favorite tone?
“E zero or G zero are special.
Munich is the big city with the most small octave bells,” says the amateur musician.
In the bell tower he seems inspired: "Munich is the Eldorado for bell lovers." In 1995 he began to record the church tones, which he has since archived on CDs.
In earthly life, Rückner is a commercial artist.
But he has also been a sacristan for 34 years and is responsible for up to five parishes.
"And as a Protestant," he laughs and reveals: "Three years ago I converted to the Catholic faith." That was with Pastor Schiessler. "After all these years: It was really about time."