Maria Gloriosa

{{short description|Well-known bell of Erfurt Cathedral}}

File:Erfurt-Gloriosa.jpg

Image:Erfurt Bell.png or any well-tuned bell:John Alexander Fuller-Maitland (1910). [https://books.google.com/books?id=2-e2AAAAIAAJ&dq=%22strike+note%22+bell&pg=PA615 Grove's dictionary of music and musicians], p.615. The Macmillan Company. Strike note shown on C. Give's Erfurt bell on p.614. strike note on E, with hum note an octave below, minor third, fifth, octave or nominal, and major third and perfect fifth in the second octave.]]

Maria Gloriosa, or the Erfurt Bell, is a well-known bell of Erfurt Cathedral, cast by Geert van Wou in 1497. The world's largest medieval free-swinging bell,"[http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/erfurt-dom-cathedral.htm Erfurt Cathedral]", Sacred-Destinations.com. it is now swung electrically. It was welded in 1985 to repair a crack, then, in August 2004, the bell was re-fused due to another crack from 2001.

Diameter: {{convert|8|ft|5+3/4|in|mm|disp=sqbr}}, weight: 13 tons 15 cwts. [12555 kg], note: E [1497 standard]. Alternately: 2570mm, 11450 kg, note by today's standards: F−.{{cite web|url=http://gcna.org/data/DEGreatBells.html|title="Great Bells of Germany", GCNA.org |accessdate=2013-01-02 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110625150113/http://gcna.org/data/DEGreatBells.html |archivedate=June 25, 2011}} It is about 2 meters tall."[http://www.hibberts.co.uk/collect/erfurt.htm Erfurt Cathedral, Germany, (Gloriosa)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202115540/http://hibberts.co.uk/collect/erfurt.htm |date=2021-12-02 }}", The Sound of Bells.

As with any well-tuned bell the hum tone is near an octave below the strike tone, and all other notes are in tune including the minor third, fifth, octave, and major third and fifth in the second octave that may be heard in large bells.

Related Section:

Cologne Bell, also known as the great bell of Cologne Cathedral, is the second largest bell freely swinging bell. It was cast using metal from French guns.