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,[3] 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: 8 feet 5+3⁄4 inches [2,584 mm], weight: 13 tons 15
cwts. [12555 kg], note: E [1497 standard].[1] Alternately: 2570mm, 11450 kg, note by today's standards: F−.[4] It is about 2 meters tall.[5]
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.