Diverse sundays
The ‘Clockmaker of Breda’ Joost Jongerius operates the carillon clockwork on several Sundays each year. After that, the atmospheric carillon melodies can be heard every quarter of an hour throughout the museum.
Tower model with working carillon
Stand face to face with a life-sized scale model of the Grote Kerk (Great Church). For centuries, the church has been the city’s landmark, but it has not always looked the same: in 1694, a major fire caused the tower to collapse. It was rebuilt, but not in its original form. Thanks to this special scale model, made about 25 years before the fire, we still have a clear idea of how the tower once looked.
What music was played on the many carillons in the Low Countries in the 17th and 18th centuries?
Relatively much is known about this. Programming carillons is a precise task: even today, creating 2.5 minutes of music for the Grote Toren takes an entire day. That is why melodies were written down in so-called ‘versteekboeken’ (carillon music books). Many of these can still be found in archives – unfortunately none from Breda, but from carillons in the region, such as Antwerp.
For the tower model, a repertoire was compiled from this historical collection with help from city carillonneur Paul Maassen, researcher Carl van Eyndhoven, and expert Arie Abbenes. After tuning the bells, the 17th- and 18th-century melodies now play, which were likely also heard from the Breda tower back then:
🎵 on the hour: bergamaske
🎵 quarter past: Bredaas biertje
🎵 on the half hour: Ik zag Cecilia komen
Practical information
- Dates:
Sunday, September 14
Sunday, October 26 - Time:
Joost Jongerius, clockmaker of Breda, will be present around 12:00.
As soon as he arrives, the carillon starts playing – usually shortly after noon.
The carillon plays a different melody every quarter hour and continues until at least 17:00. Costs:
You only pay the regular admission fee.