For many it is one of the very special Christmas traditions: The great city ringing on Christmas Eve. This is when many people gather on the Römerberg to listen to the concert of the 50 church bells. But unfortunately, like last year, the bells of the city center churches must remain silent at Christmas 2021: Instead of a live ringing, there is the Great City Ringing again only online.
The reason for the renewed cancellation are of course the still far too high infection figures. According to the assessment of the city of Frankfurt am Main, the risk of infection with the coronavirus is too high, even if the whole thing takes place outside, because on Christmas Eve, as experience shows, very many people flock to the Great City Ringing in the city center and the distance rules can therefore not be observed.
"It is a great pity that the bells will have to remain silent on 24 December this year," says Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann. "However, because of the continuing high numbers of infections, we must not take any risks - health comes first. We are nevertheless making it possible to get in the mood for Christmas to the sound of the bells and are making the city bells available online. However, like many other Frankfurt residents, I hope that the traditional city ringing will return next year."
"On Christmas Eve, the bells ring in a time of peace and joyful reflection," emphasizes City Treasurer Bastian Bergerhoff, the department head responsible for the dotation churches. "In this year, which has once again brought great burdens and deprivations, it is especially important to draw new strength on Christmas days. One of the ways we do that is by maintaining cherished traditions. The town bell is definitely one of them - even if it can only be heard online this year. When we all hear it together on the traditional date of 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., we at least have a virtual community experience."
An audio file will be made available online in time for Christmas Eve on the City of Frankfurt's homepage at frankfurt.de. The link is also shared on Facebook and Twitter. The online offer exists only in the environment of the four days in the year, on which the city ringing can also be heard live - after all, the bell concert should be a special experience at the high festivals of the church year. In addition to Christmas Eve, the other dates are on Holy Saturday and the Saturdays before Pentecost and before the first of Advent.
What makes the Great City Ringing so special is that the sound of the 50 bells is carefully coordinated. The present composition was developed by Professor Paul Smets of Mainz back in 1954 by order of the Magistrate of the City of Frankfurt am Main. Included are the bells of the ten inner city churches owned by the city: Paulskirche, Katharinenkirche, Liebfrauenkirche, Peterskirche, Heiliggeistkirche (Dominican Monastery), St. Leonhard, Carmelite Monastery, Alte Nikolaikirche, Dreikönigskirche and Dom St. Bartholomew.
