Nearly every German family in every German town contributed something to the two World Wars.
For many, it was their men.
For others, it was precious metal.
Church bells of all sizes await their fate in a bell cemetery in Wilten, Austria.
Failure to do so could attract up to a year in prison.
Besides pots, pans and statues, church bells all over the country began to disappear.
Churches were allowed to keep the insignificant bells, usually those smaller than 25 cm.
Also spared were bells used for signaling purposes on railways and ships.
Depending on their art-historical value, the bells were assigned to one of three categories.
Group A bells with little cultural value were melted immediately.
Bell cemetery in the Wilten district of Innsbruck, around 1917.
Only one bell was allowed per church, usually the lightest.
Bells from the 16th and 17th centuries and from the Middle Ages were generally spared.
They were called bell cemeteries orGlockenfriedhof.
Confiscated bells amass at Hamburg harbor.
Photo: Germanisches National Museum.
The ARG was involved in the return of bells only to the French and Soviet occupation zones.
Confiscated bells amass at Hamburg harbor.
The rest was handed over to the regional churches in the Federal Republic, which suffered particularly heavy losses.
Many communities hid their bells instead of handing them over to the Nazis.
These bells make news even today when they are unearthed or rediscovered.
References:# Karsten Packeiser,Kirchenglocken wurden zu todlichen Granaten,WELT#Glockenfriedhof - Wikipedia
