Bells in Munich

Thirteen bells were blessed at the Cathedral of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in Munich on Sunday, 1 December, then hoisted into the bell tower.

When the construction of the bell tower commenced in 1999, it was unclear when it would become possible to purchase bells for it: it was known that the bell tower itself would consume all available funds. But when the bell tower was erected, even before plasterwork began, the rector of the church, Protopriest Nikolai Artemoff, was told that a bequeathment recently left by a deceased parishioner was specifically designated for the acquisition of bells. The Parish Council ordered the bells from Russia, despite the possible complications if compared to buying them within Germany itself, where a business relationship had already been established with the renowned company by the name of Bachert Heilbronn, which had crafted bells for the church in Stuttgart. Fr. Nikolai traveled to Russia and explored their options. He settled on the foundry of the Brothers Shuvalov in Romanov-Borisoglebsk (in the city of Tutaev, Yaroslav oblast').

After much preparation, the bells were finally prepared for the Munich cathedral. The largest of these, the Blagovestnik, weighs 100 puds, or 1760 kgs, 1 1/2 meters in height and width. It depicts four icons: the Savior Not-Made-by-Hands, and the Kazan' Mother of God, St. Nicholas and Patriarch Tikhon. Inscribed are the place and time of the pouring of the 12 bells by the Shuvalov brothers, the servants of God Boris and Evdokius.

Additional large bells will depict the New Martyrs Metropolitans Vladimir of Kiev, Benjamin and Joseph of Petrograd, Peter of Krutitsa and Kyrill of Kazan, as well as St. Nicholas the Tsar-Martyr. The polyeleos bell weighs 830 kgs., and is 110 cm in height. Two slavoslovniy bells weigh 530 and 420 kgs. Four podzvonniy bells, from 220 to 52 kgs, and four zazvonniy bells weigh from 28 to 8 kgs. For the upper tier of the bell tower, an additional slavoslovniy bell was poured (320 kg., 95 cm), which are not part of the set. These are meant for minor ringing below, when there is no zvonar', or bellringer.

Finally, on 6 November, 2002, all 13 bells arrived in Munich and that same day were unloaded. The small bells were nestled inside the larger ones, like Russian dolls, so the churchyard had four large wooden "paskha-molds," upon which the designation and weight of each bell was inscribed, out of the top which the crowns of the bells could be seen. Only on the very day of the consecration were the wooden enclosures removed. On 28 November, the Parish Council still did not know if all the preparatory work would be completed, and whether a crane would be on hand. But the Council members insisted not only that the blessing be performed on a Sunday, but that Archbishop Mark and Protopriest Nikolai be present.

In December, only two such dates were scheduled: the 1st and the 28th. Since the bell-ringer Vladimir Degyaryev from Yaroslav was due to come to Munich by December 26th for the Orthodox Conference, it was hoped to have a fully-functional bell tower ready for him, and so the blessing had to take place on 1 December. The plan was that the very same day, all the bells could be hoisted and hung properly.
With God's help and thanks to the labors of Monk George, from the Monastery of St. Job of Pochaev (Munich), along with Valerii Yurchenko, the armature for holding the bells was in place on time on 1 December. The consecration of the bells was an unforgettable celebration for the Munich flock and all its participants, many of whom--including government officials--learned of the imminent event only days earlier. On Sunday, after Divine liturgy, Archbishop Mark, along with Protopriest Nikolai Artemoff, stavrophore Protopriest Slobodan Milunovich, as representative of Bishop Constantine of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Hieromonk Nikon, Priest Nikolai Shibalkoff and Priest George Seide, Protodeacon Georg Kobro and Deacon Alexander Koval, consecrated the bells on a scaffold before the church. The Blagovestnik already stood above the platform with its clapper in place.

The service began with the psalms of glorification, the verses of which were inscribed on the bells. After the prayers of consecration and the sprinkling of them with holy water from all sides, including the inside, it was time to strike the bell three times, after which they were to be raised by the crane into the bell tower. The crane operator was a Russian Orthodox Christian, servant of God Paul. The choir was led by V.V. Tsiolkovich.

The winter sun was cool. The choir and its director showed endurance, since the rite of raising the bells took a long time, and it was cold. But in contrast to the steady rain of the preceding and subsequent day, the worshipers were graced with a bright blue sky, taken as a blessing from God.

For technical reasons, it was impossible to raise the Blagovestnik. It was once again lowered to the ground, and it took four men to remove its clapper. The second bell was then blessed and lifted into place. By the time the Blagovestnik could finally be lifted, it was close to 5 o'clock. The difficulty lay in the fact that the space between the columns of the bell tower left only a half-centimeter on either side of the bell, and it still had to be strapped to winches and lifted up to the highest steel beam and fastened...

When all the bells were blessed, but not yet raised, the parish invited the guests to the trapeza for a reception, at which there were greetings read by official guests: Protopriest Slobodan Milunovich of the Serbian Church, the representative of the local Evangelical bishop, the representative of the mayor of Munich and a representative of the Federated Republic of Germany, as well as the Consul General of the Russian Federation. Representatives of the local Roman Catholic and Evangelical churches were present, and greetings and good will were expressed by representatives of Cardinal F. Wetter. The "Friends of International Partnerships," an organization which strives to develop ties between cities and regions of different countries with Bavaria, gave a congratulatory speech. The blessing of the bells was covered with color photographs in the press: Suddeutsche Zeitung, Munchner Merkur, Tageszeitung.
This celebration of Russian Orthodoxy in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, will remain in many hearts forever.