I WROTE EVERYTHING THE SUNDAY CLOCK… SO YOU DON’T HEAR IN VAIN WHAT BELLS CAN TEACH… (Excerpts from the inscription on the Sunday bell) Today’s St. John’s Church in Lüneburg, the town’s main church, probably dates back to a wooden baptismal church from the time of Charlemagne. The town developed differently, however – St. John’s today stands quite far from the actual centre, market and town hall, but in terms of urban development it harmonises wonderfully with the large square “Am Sande”. After one or more stone church buildings, the current church was built from 1289 onwards as a three-aisled hall church using brick, the material commonly used in the region. From 1365 to 1463, two more naves and side choirs with galleries, known here as “lectors”, were added. An impressively wide church space was created. The mighty tower was first mentioned in 1319. Damaged by lightning and fire, it was rebuilt after 1406. Its inclination of 1.30 meters to the south and 2.20 meters to the west is worth mentioning. At 108.71 meters, it is the second highest church tower in Lower Saxony and one of the highest medieval towers in Germany. The church's furnishings, which were still lavish even after the Reformation, were severely decimated by purifying sales in the 19th and 20th centuries - but overall St. Johannis (and Georg) still offers a vivid picture of earlier, religious life, before and after the Reformation. Brief information on this can be found in the photos in the article. St. Johannis has a highly significant chime, which is a relative rarity with its 7 historic bells. The largest of the historical bells, the Apostle Bell, cast in 1436 by the Bremen bell founder Gherd Klinghe, weighs 4860 kg and is Klinghe's largest surviving bell. It is one of the largest and most magnificent surviving bells from the Middle Ages. The addition of three new bells in 2013/14, combined with exemplary renovation of the bell system, not only restored a stock of bells that had been lost due to decimation in the two world wars and before, but St. Johannis was given a peal of convincing sound that is appropriate to the size and importance of the church. The full peal has already been featured in several posts on YouTube, and the post by user "ANGELUSGLOCKE" offers probably the best visual look at the peal, which can be found at: • Lüneburg [D.-LG] - The bells of the ev... This post is dedicated to the smaller partial peal for Sundays. It is supported by the Sunday bell made by the Lüneburg founder Johann Christian Ziegener in 1718, the ringing of which can also be heard before the main service. Its earliest predecessor dates back to 1410, and at least two previous bells are known. Its enormous weight for a baroque bell may be due to the use of material from a previous bell. Its lavish decoration is completed by two depictions of the church's patron saint John the Baptist - despite all reformatory efforts. Some may complain that only three of the eight ringing bells can be heard on Sundays, and in the well-known "Te Deum motif". However, the use of the Sunday bell is documented by its inscription and history, and the two larger bells serve as festival bells. However, due to their enormous weight, the 3 bells that can be heard emit a truly solemn, sonorous and also sufficient ringing for Sundays - in keeping with the historical circumstances. At the very end, the two clock bells (c'' from 1600 and cis' from 1516) can still be heard. Ringing data (according to PHILIPP): Sunday bell cis' -3, 1604 mm, 2704 kg Test bell e' -2, 1354 mm, 1723 kg Baptism bell fis' -2, 1223 mm, 1411 kg More in the photos in the article. Photos: May 21, 2023 All photos of our own provenance. Sources/literature used: CHRISTOPH WIESENFELDT: The Apostle Bell from 1436/The historical ringing of St. John's Church in Lüneburg. Church council of St. Johannis (ed.), Lüneburg 2011. MARTIN VOIGT: The St. Johannis Church in Lüneburg. The narrative treasure of medieval churches. Deutscher Kunstverlag Berlin Munich. Berlin 2012. ANDREAS PHILIPP: The bells of St. Johannis in Lüneburg. Ringing of the month of September 2014 on the website of the German Bell Museum e. V. in Gescher, consulted on November 3rd, 2023: http://glockenmuseum.de/wp-content/up... ALBERT ZASADA: On the extensions and liturgical use of historical ringing. In: Yearbook for Bell Research, 33rd-34th volume 2021/2022. German Bell Museum e. V. Gescher 2022. ERNST STRASSER: The St. Johannis Church in Lüneburg (Church Guide) Issue 190 of the series “Great Architectural Monuments”, 5th edition. Deutscher Kunstverlag Munich Berlin 1971.