In 1922-1924 Ludwig Roselius built the Bremen – Amerika – Bank with architects Eduard Scotland and Alfred Runge. The bank was headquartered in two renovated warehouses. Today the building is the archive and administration for Böttcherstraße GmbH, the film-music-theatre Atlantis as well as other offices and stores. The carillon, for which this building is mostly known, was dedicated in May of 1934. It consisted of 30 Meißener Porcelain bells which were blue on the outside with gold-plated insides.The second carillon was installed in 1954, after 23 bells were destroyed during the World War II. The new carillon with the new white bells was installed in the old copper setting which could be restored to its original form.During a performance in 1960 one of the bells disconnected and fell on the floor. And even though no one was hurt in this incident, not a single porcelain bell could have been restored. During this time it was almost impossible to order another “Meißener” bell and the city had to wait several years for a replacement. Once it arrived, unfortunately it did not match the rest sound-wise.Four different tunes were played three times a day: “Auf Matrosen, die Anker gelichtet” (get up sailors and lift the anchors) – Über Bremen fiel ein Regen,(rain over Bremen) Wiegenlied an der Küste (cradle song on the coast) and An der Weser, (at the Weser), which is the Weser-River song. The composer Ludwig Roselius was related to the coffee merchant by the same name. One year after shutting the carillon down and performing extensive restoration work the carillon resumed operation in 1991. This third carillon, by Turmuhrenbau Ferner (tower clock manufacturer) in Meißen, was computer supported and could be programmed through a keyboard. In the beginning of 2009 a new electronic control system (Turmuhrenbau Ferner) was installed, which enables the operation of the carillon Glockenspiel via remote control and it can be connected to musical instruments via radio to store new tunes. The performances of the carillon des Glockenspiels are scheduled as follows: (the carillon automatically shuts down during freezing temperatures):January 1st – March 31st at 12:00 PM, 3:00 PM and 06:00 PMApril 1st –December 31st every full hour between 12:00 PM and 06:00 PM
Photo Böttcherstraße4 by -Xocolatl is licensed under public domain