In the middle of Berlin's Tiergarten, the most beautiful bell sounds ring out daily from the Carillon. The word carillon comes from French and means "chimes".
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Carillon Tiergarten
The Carillon is a 42 meter high bell tower in the Tiergarten. In the Berlin Carillon hang 68 bells with a total weight of 48 tons and a range of 5 1/2 full chromatic octaves. The largest bell weighs 7.8 tons.
The Berlin Carillon was built by the Koninklijke Eijsbouts foundry to the specifications of Jeffrey Bossin and is one of the largest instruments of its kind in Europe. A keyboard is used to move the small and large bells and make them ring. The "carillonneur" sits in a booth between the bells and plays with his feet and clenched fists. The mechanical action allows the carillonneur to play in a nuanced manner with all the dynamic gradations between loud and soft.
The carillon in Berlin-Tiergarten is played live on high holidays and every Sunday from the beginning of May to the end of September at 4 pm and in December at 2 pm. Changing programs of specially composed carillon music are heard, as well as classical music, folk songs and popular melodies.
Carillon dates 2023
Sunday concerts from May 7 to September 17 at 4 p.m.
Holiday concerts:
At 4 p.m.: Easter Sundays and Mondays April 9 and 10; Monday, May 1; Pentecost Sundays and Mondays, May 28 and 29; and Unity Day, Tuesday, Oct. 3.
At 2 p.m.: Advent Sundays Dec. 3, 10 and 17 and Christmas holidays, Monday, Dec. 25 and Tuesday, Dec. 26.
Programs of classical works, popular carols, carillon pieces and music appropriate to each holiday. Jeffrey Bossin, carillonneur, Berlin, plays.
Guest Concerts
- Sunday, May 14 at 4 p.m. Adrien Parret, Miribel, France, plays.
- Sunday, August at 4 pm. Abel Chaves and Jeffrey Bossin, Berlin, play.
The Automatik plays three short programmed pieces each day at 12 and 6 p.m. appropriate to the season and holidays.
From 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., the automaton plays a short recognition motif. At 12 o'clock, it plays a recognition melody.
Three short pieces follow at 12 and 6 pm. The recognition motif and melody, songs and pieces were composed or edited by Carillonneur Jeffrey Bossin and programmed on the computer. The melodies differ from the known versions because the automatic system cannot repeat the lower tones faster and such have to be replaced by other tones.
Music free of charge and outside in the park in any weather.
Additional information
Carillon in Berlin-Tiergarten, John-Foster-Dulles-/Ecke Große Querallee. Transportation: Buses 100 and M85, U-Bahn Bundestag, S-Bhf. Unter den Linden and Hauptbahnhof.
Educational Services
We do apologize that the following information is currently only available in German.
