The Chiming of Frankfurt’s Church Bells
Ten churches and a total of 50 bells will ring out across Frankfurt on two Saturdays in spring to mark the Christian festivals of Easter and Pentecost.
Residents of Germany will be used to hearing church bells in their neighbourhoods calling worshippers to prayer. This special free event in central Frankfurt will be on an entirely different scale and is certainly worth taking time to appreciate in these holiday periods.
Historic churches
On Easter Saturday, and again on the last Saturday in May, the six bells of St. Paul’s Church (Paulskirche, Paulsplatz) will ring out, starting the sequence of city chimes. St. Paul’s has a fascinating history, having been the seat of the first National Assembly when the German state was founded in 1848.
The chimes of St. Paul’s will be followed by the four bells of St. Catherine’s (Katherinenkirche, Hauptwache), the largest Protestant church in Frankfurt. The ancient Catholic Church of Our Lady (Liebfrauenkirche, Liebfrauenberg) will also join in, along with the neo-Renaissance Church of St. Peter (Peterskirche, Bleichstraße) and the Dominican Monastery (Dominikanerkloster, Bonifaziusplatz).
A chorus of Frankfurt bells
These first five churches will be joined in sequence by St. Leonard’s on the Main River (Leonardskirche, Am Leonardstor), the Carmelite Monastery, home to the Archaeology Museum (Karmeliterkloster, Münzgasse), the medieval St. Nicholas’ Church (Alte Nikolaikirche, Römerberg) and the Three Kings’ Church (Dreikönigskirche, Dreikönigsstraße) on the south side of the River Main.
Finally, the nine bells of the magnificent Frankfurt Cathedral (Dom St. Bartholomäus, Domplatz) will join the chorus and bring the swelling tintinnabulation to a close.
Visiting the chiming of Frankfurt’s bells
All of the participating churches are centrally located, and well-served by trams and underground rail. Popular places to gather to listen are Paulsplatz, Hauptwache, Römerberg and the Iron Bridge over the River Main. The chimes start at 4.30 pm on each of the days, so take a seat at a pavement café, order coffee and cake, and delight in the glorious sounds of Frankfurt’s bells.