3rd Bell Symposium ECC-ProBell®

September 20 – 21, 2022 in Kempten (Allgäu - Germany)

Bells: Acoustic cultural assets and technically challenging instruments

four years after the last ECC-ProBell symposium with about 160 bell experts, the 3rd bell symposium will take place in Kempten in autumn 2022.

The sound of bells has been known in Europe since the early Middle Ages and has influenced European cultural history ever since. To this day, bells and their sound continue to fascinate people, largely regardless of their religious orientation. It is therefore a just concern to have bells and the sound of bells permanently recognised and protected as intangible cultural assets.

In order for bells to be able to sound, complex and technically demanding problems have to be solved – especially when ringing bells –, which not only affect the quality of the sound, but also stress and damage to the bell as well as to all subordinate components, including the bell tower.

The 3rd Bell Symposium would like to address the questions of how the precious cultural asset of bells and the sound of bells can be promoted in the long term and permanently perceived as part of our European culture. In addition, it intends to look at how, at the same time, good technical and scientific action can be taken to protect bells and protect them from damage as well as their sound quality can be made to sound.

The symposium sees itself as an impetus for exchange and discussions between bell experts from all over Europe for a sustainable, preserving handling of bells, in view of diverse ringing techniques and different cultural perspectives on bells and sound aesthetics.