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I. BELL FOUNDER. A GERMAN WORD, A POLISH GUILD

The name of the profession is a loanword that has passed through Polish mouths for so long that it has lost its original form. It derives from the German Rotgiesser – "red metal caster". The National Centre for Culture reconstructs the entire journey: rótgisarz, rutgiser, rodgisar, lodgisar, lódwisarz, finally ludwisarz. Contrary to common abbreviation, it does not mean "bell man", but rather a craftsman who casts in bronze, copper, and brass: from the same furnaces came cannon barrels and tomb plates.

The first manual was written by a monk: the Benedictine Theophilus Presbyter included the principles of bell making in his work Diversarum Artium Schedula around 1110. Monastic bell casting persisted until the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, then it was supplanted by secular craftsmen – and for a hundred years it was an itinerant profession: bell casters traveled from church to church and dug a pit for casting on site. In the 15th century, itinerancy declined, and permanent workshops were established in Przemyśl, Gdańsk, Kraków, Warsaw, Toruń, Lviv, and Vilnius.

Names are recorded because the bell founder signed their work on the bell's mantle: in Kraków, Oswald Baldtner (1569), in Toruń, Marcin Schmiel (1522), in Lviv, Jakub Skóra as early as 1341, in Warsaw, Benjamin Witweck (1715). Gdańsk had its own export brand – bells from the Beningh foundry from the 16th century.

The oldest surviving pieces are countable. In the Silver Bells Tower of Wawel Cathedral hangs a bell called Nowak or Herman, dated to around 1271. The oldest with a date written directly on the metal is Piotr from 1314 from the Dominican bell tower of St. James in Sandomierz: AD HONOREM SANCTI APOSTOLI PETRI FUSA SUM + ANNO DOMINI M CCC XIIII. The third is the Przedbor Bell from 1318 from Strzegom, followed by Urban from Biecz from 1382 and Jan from Sandomierz from 1389.

II. THE RIB. THE DRAWING THAT DETERMINES EVERYTHING

The work doesn't start with clay, but with the profile. The rib – a template cut according to a calculated cross-section – determines the diameter, height, and variable wall thickness at each level of the bell. This determines the tone. The Kawiński foundry describes it plainly: the greatest influence on the sound is the shape obtained by the proprietary template, and each bell foundry has its own, which it does not give away. Jan Felczyński's workshop developed the Royal Bells series rib in 2014, used for the "St. John Paul II" bell for Wawel.

Proportions have changed over the centuries and bells are dated by them. The oldest instruments are elongated: the ratio of height without the crown to the lower diameter is 1.2 and more. From the 14th century it drops to around 1, in the 18th to the range of 0.78–0.82, and from the 19th, the Gothic tradition returns. The walls of Wawel's Zygmunt bell range from 7 to 29 centimeters.

• Crown: four or six loops from which the bell hangs.
• Dome: the convex surface enclosing the body.
• Mantle: the side wall – here go inscriptions, friezes, and bas-reliefs.
• Soundbow: the thickest ring, also called the strike band. This is where the clapper strikes; the point of impact is called the bead.
• Mouth: the lower edge with the maximum diameter.
• Clapper: a freely suspended striker made of soft forged steel – a hard one would damage the soundbow. Its weight is about 4 percent of the bell's weight.
• Yoke: the main beam in a stationary mount, straight or cranked. A cranked one shifts the axis of rotation closer to the center of gravity, making it easier to swing the bell and putting less strain on the tower walls.

The clapper is the most dangerous element: too light, it won't produce the full sound; too heavy, it will crack the mantle; misaligned, it will chip the bell. The Zygmunt bell's clapper broke three times in the 19th century and once more on Christmas Eve 2000.

III. MOLD AND DECORATION. CORE, FALSE BELL, WAX

The technique is called the lost-wax method and has been carried out the same way for centuries. First, the core: a brick wall in the shape of a cone, covered with layers of clay. The shape is given by a template rotated around the core's axis – a primitive and unforgivingly precise tool. The surface of the core will become the inside of the bell; the core is dried and fired.

A second layer of clay is applied to the core with a brush, guided by the same template adjusted by the wall thickness. This is the false bell – a model that only serves to occupy the space of the future metal. It is covered with animal fat so that it can be separated later. Only now comes the decoration: letters are cast from wax in molds, images are hand-sculpted – Bogumiła Felczyńska does this in Taciszów – and attached to the false bell. Everything that is to be raised on the finished bell is raised in wax here.

The third layer is the cope: thinly mixed clay enveloping the false bell along with all the wax. After drying, it is lifted – the negative of all inscriptions and bas-reliefs has been imprinted on its inner side. The false bell is destroyed, and during the firing of the mold, the fat and wax melt completely away. The cope returns to the core, and a gap is left between them in the shape of the bell and of the thickness calculated from the rib.

The assembled mold is sealed, placed in the casting pit, and covered with earth. This is not folklore: the earth holds the mold under the pressure of several tons of liquid metal and slows down cooling. For the core of the "Vox Patris" bell, cast in 2017 at Metalodlew in Kraków with Jan Felczyński's Workshop and the Rduch company, nine thousand bricks were used.

Decoration is not an ornament attached to the technique – it is the same technique. Early bells had no inscriptions; the first appear in the 11th century in Latin, most often "O rex gloriae Christe veni cum pace". Polish language appears on bells in the 15th century, and the Renaissance adds secular elements: names of founders, casting dates, merchants' marks and names of bell founders, and maxims about the instrument's function, with the most famous "Vivos voco, mortuos plango, fulgura frango" – I call the living, I mourn the dead, I break the lightning.

Wawel's Zygmunt bell shows how densely such a mantle can be inscribed: at the top, a Latin foundation inscription with the date MDXX framed by a frieze of quatrefoils, below it a bas-relief of St. Sigismund of Burgundy in armor, on the sides the Eagle and the Pursuit, underneath the signature of Hans Behem; on the other side, St. Stanislaus with Piotrowin and the same signature. None of these elements are forged into the finished bronze.

IV. SMELTING. 78 PARTS COPPER, 22 PARTS TIN

The material is bell bronze, commonly known as bell metal – an alloy of copper and tin in proportions that are not negotiable. The Felczyński Bell Foundry in Taciszów specifies 78 percent copper and 22 percent tin; Kawiński and Waldemar Łania's workshop calculate the same. Jan Felczyński's workshop shows what deviation results in: of two 150-kilogram bells, the one with a 78:22 alloy sounds a clear E2, while the other – 75 percent copper, 10 tin, 6 zinc, 4 lead – has an immeasurable sound. Wawel's Zygmunt bell was cast differently: 80 percent copper, 20 tin.

The liquid metal is poured into the mold at a temperature exceeding 1100 degrees Celsius; for "Vox Patris," 1070 degrees were measured, and the pour lasted twelve minutes at a speed of 150 kilograms per second.

Then nothing happens – and this is the most important stage. The bell cools buried in the ground for two to several days; the Kruszewski foundry states three. The mold is single-use: it is broken, the casting is cleaned of clay and risers, ground, and polished. The last operation is fitting – connecting the crown to the yoke with steel clamps. When it fails, it's immediately visible: Licheń's "Józef" came out of the mold with a damaged crown, so it was attached with rods through holes in the dome, which destroyed the yoke and necessitated replacement in 2015.

"...Finally, on more than a hundred wagons, they carried enormous bells and all the treasure of Poland, behind them followed an countless crowd of distinguished men, with their hands bound in iron fetters..."

V. TUNING. WHY A BELL PLAYS A CHORD

A bell does not produce a single sound. The strike of the clapper deforms the circle into an ellipse, elastic forces change its axes, and the body vibrates at dozens of frequencies simultaneously – the Rduch workshop speaks of over fifty partial tones. Five are decisive for quality, and each is excited in a different place: the prime just above the soundbow, the upper octave at the edge, the lower octave along the entire height, the tierce in the lower part of the mantle, the quint above it.

The theoretical arrangement is simple and absolute. Counting from the upper octave (nominal): the lower octave two octaves lower, the prime one octave lower, the minor third a third above the prime, the perfect fifth a perfect fifth above the prime. The prime with the third and fifth must form a minor chord. The strike tone – the one we hear as "the sound of the bell" – does not exist as a separate vibration; it is an auditory sensation generated mainly by the upper octave, audible for only the first quarter of a second.

Tuning involves turning metal from the inside, on a lathe, in the form of rings at appropriate heights. Removing material in one place moves several tones at once, so tuning a single component in isolation is practically impossible. Hence the only hard rule of this craft: metal can only be removed, never added. A bell can be tuned down, never up – which is why it is cast with surplus mass, and an error in the rib is not a defect, but a sentence. Jan Felczyński's workshop is, according to its own declaration, the only foundry in Poland to subject instruments to external campanological examinations.

VI. FELCZYŃSKIS. 1808, KAŁUSZ. ONE NAME, THREE WORKSHOPS

Michał Felczyński founded the bell foundry in Kałusz near Lviv in 1808, and from that date, each of the three companies bearing this name is counted today. The branch in Przemyśl was established before the war – Maciej Felczyński Bell Foundry dates it to 1912 and attributes it to Ludwik, Wikipedia cautiously gives the 1920s.

September 1939 closed both plants within a day: the Soviets took Kalush on September 19, and the Germans took Przemyśl on September 20. The last owner of Kalush, Jan Felczyński, with his sons – Wacław, Ludwik, Jerzy, and Tadeusz – fled from the front to Przemyśl. The foundry was reactivated there in 1945, and the authorities nationalized it in 1955. Eugeniusz Felczyński opened a new company in 1957, followed by his widow Waleria and son Janusz, and since 2005, Janusz with his son Maciej. Of Jan's sons, Tadeusz learned the craft best, and it was he who started the plant in Taciszów near Gliwice; after him, the workshop was taken over by his son Zbigniew.

• Felczyński Bell Foundry, Taciszów – Zbigniew Felczyński, Jan's grandson. The largest instrument cast here is "Heart of Łódź" for the Łódź Archcathedral (2011), alongside "Copernicus" for the co-cathedral in Olsztyn (2013) and sets for the Holy Cross Basilica in Warsaw.
• Jan Felczyński Bell Foundry Workshop, Przemyśl – run by Jan's great-grandson, Piotr Olszewski. From here came "St. John Paul II" for Wawel Cathedral (2014), "Mieszko and Dobrawa" for Lednica (2015) and "Independence" (2018).
• Janusz and Maciej Felczyński Bell Foundry, Przemyśl – declares over ten thousand bells and over two hundred consecrated by John Paul II. Its work is the Licheń "Joseph," at the time of its creation the largest bell ever cast in Poland.

In 2015, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage entered the traditional bell-founding technique used in Taciszów onto the national list of intangible cultural heritage. The only bell museum in Poland operates in Przemyśl, and most of its collections are products of the Felczyński bell foundries there.

VII. REQUISITIONS. WHERE DID POLISH BELLS DISAPPEAR TO?

Bronze is a raw material for armaments, and that is why centuries of craftsmanship disappeared from Polish towers. On March 1, 1917, Prussian authorities introduced the Ordinance on the Confiscation of Bronze Bells for War Purposes, dividing them into three groups: A with no possibility of return, B with return in strictly defined cases, C requiring certification of historical value. The questionnaire submitted to the authorities listed the bell's name, year of production, inscriptions, crown, ornaments, founder and foundry, as well as its main and secondary tones. The rules were observed: bells made before 1770 were not taken.

The Second World War abolished exceptions. By order of March 15, 1940, Hermann Göring introduced four categories: A – all bells up to 1800, straight to be melted down; B and C – historic bells from the 17th and 18th centuries and medieval ones, awaiting the depletion of category A; D – those decided by him personally. Numbers were assigned by district Chambers of Crafts, so the origin of each bell was documented. They were transported to the port of Hamburg, to a square known as the bell graveyard.

• Scale of melting: it is estimated that around 42,600 bells from German territories were melted down, plus a significant number from occupied territories.
• Transports from the General Government: in forty transports between October 12, 1943, and August 22, 1944, 430,443 kilograms of bells were removed.
• Polish losses: an estimated eight thousand requisitioned bells; Przystanek Historia reports no less than 7.5 thousand from the area of the Second Polish Republic remaining within postwar Poland's borders and almost 1.2 thousand from the Western Territories.
• What returned: the 1947 list of losses included 1,500 exported bells, 999 were recovered. There were about two thousand from Poland in Hamburg, and after the war, about ten thousand not yet transported to foundries remained in the square.
• Irreversible losses: according to Jerzy Gołos and Agnieszka Kasprzak-Miller, 695 historic bells from Polish territories should not have been melted down at all.

At the parish level: between 1941–1943, the Germans took over 160 bells from 80 parishes in the Kielce diocese alone, including about 43 historic ones. Gnojno lost five at once – from 1559, 1631, 1711, 1745, and 1879. Returns are measured in decades: "Florian" from 1778, requisitioned in 1942, returned to Czaniec only in 2023, after 81 years.

VIII. THE LARGEST. POLISH RECORDS TABLE

The compilation based on Stefan Gierlotka's "Bells" (Katowice 2013) begins with Mary Mother of God from Stary Licheń: 14.7 tons, 2.88 meters diameter, 1999 – cast in Italy. Second is Licheń's Joseph, 11.6 tons and 2.62 meters from 2002, strike tone E, a work of Janusz Felczyński's Przemyśl foundry. Next are Warsaw's Władysław (10 tons, 2001), Kraków's Zygmunt (9.6 tons of bell body, 1520), Częstochowa's Maria (8.2 tons, 1912), Gdańsk's Gratia Dei (7.8 tons, 1979), Przemyśl's John the Baptist (7.5 tons, 1936), and Toruń's Tuba Dei (7.23 tons, 1500).

Zygmunt requires clarification, as two numbers are in circulation, and both are true. The bell body itself weighs 9650 kilograms; the entire assembly – with the clapper, yoke, bearings, and swing frame with ropes – weighs 12,600 kilograms, including the 365-kilogram clapper. The bell body diameter is 242 centimeters, height with crown 241, strike tone G. It was cast in 1520 by Hans Behem of Nuremberg for 3000 gold pieces; on July 9, 1521, it was hung in the tower, and on July 13, Kraków heard it for the first time. To this day, a team of eight to twelve people rings it manually. On August 6, 2025, it did not ring despite the archbishop's decision because too few bell ringers showed up – the only such case in its history.

However, the absolute record was not set for Poland, but for Brazil: "Vox Patris," the world's largest swinging bell, weighs 55 tons with a diameter of 4.5 meters, and its clapper with mounting is six meters long and weighs about two tons. The first casting attempt in November 2016 failed, the second – in the summer of 2017 – succeeded. The alloy was the same as always: 78 percent copper, 22 percent tin.

What does Nowrocky look for in a bell foundry? A rule that cannot be circumvented. There are no corrections in a bell: you cannot add tin after pouring, you cannot add metal after cooling, you cannot engrave an inscription on a finished bell. Everything must be calculated before lighting the furnace. We look for this discipline in every craft from this archive – and we demand it from our own products.

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FAQ & AEO

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (AI KNOWLEDGE BASE)

// QUESTION 01 · FIRE MANUFACTORIES & STONEWARE

What are bells cast from and in what proportion?

From bell bronze, also known as gunmetal – an alloy of copper and tin. Polish bell foundries consistently report a proportion of 78 percent copper to 22 percent tin: this is the ratio used by Felczyński Bell Foundry in Taciszów, Jan Felczyński Bell Foundry Workshop in Przemyśl, Marek Kawiński's foundry, and Waldemar Łania's workshop. Copper provides ductility and a structural base, tin provides hardness and resonance. Additives of lead, zinc, or scrap metal spoil the sound – the Przemyśl workshop describes a comparison of two 150-kilogram bells, where a specimen with an alloy of 75 percent copper, 10 percent tin, 6 percent zinc, and 4 percent lead produced an immeasurable sound. Historical alloys were sometimes slightly different: analysis of the Wawel Zygmunt indicates 80 percent copper and 20 percent tin. The metal is poured into the mold at a temperature exceeding 1100°C.

// QUESTION 02 · FIRE MANUFACTORIES & STONEWARE

How is a bell casting mold constructed?

It consists of three parts. The core is built from brick and clay in a conical shape, and its final profile is given by a template called a rib, rotated around the core's axis. A false bell—a layer of clay corresponding to the future metal thickness—is molded onto the core and covered with animal fat. Letters and ornaments made of wax are placed on the false bell. The whole is then covered with successive layers of clay forming the cope, or the mold's outer casing. After drying and firing, the fat and wax melt away, the cope is lifted, and the false bell is destroyed. Once the cope and core are reassembled, an empty bell-shaped space is created, into which liquid bronze is poured. The mold is single-use—it is broken after casting.

// QUESTION 03 · FIRE MANUFACTORIES & STONEWARE

Why does a bell produce several tones at once, and how is it tuned?

Because it has a varied side profile and variable wall thickness, when struck by the clapper, it vibrates at several dozen frequencies simultaneously—over fifty partials are mentioned. Five of these determine the quality: the lower octave (hum), prime, tierce, quint, and upper octave (nominal). Theoretically, the lower octave is two octaves below the nominal, the prime one octave below it, the minor tierce a minor third above the prime, the quint a perfect fifth above the prime; the prime with the tierce and quint form a minor chord. The strike tone is not a separate vibration but an auditory impression generated mainly by the upper octave, audible for the first quarter of a second. Tuning is done by machining metal from the inside in the form of rings at specific heights. Metal cannot be added, so a bell can only be tuned downwards—and usually, one component cannot be altered without affecting the others.

// QUESTION 04 · FIRE MANUFACTORIES & STONEWARE

Who are the Felczyńskis, and how many companies with this name exist today?

They are a family of bell founders whose tradition began in 1808 when Michał Felczyński established a bell foundry in Kałusz near Lviv. A branch in Przemyśl was founded before the Second World War—Maciej Felczyński Bell Foundry states 1912, Wikipedia the 1920s. In September 1939, the Soviets closed Kałusz (September 19), and the Germans Przemyśl (September 20). The last owner from Kałusz, Jan Felczyński, with his sons, took refuge in Przemyśl; his son Tadeusz started a workshop in Taciszów near Gliwice. Today, three companies operate: Felczyński Bell Foundry in Taciszów (Zbigniew Felczyński, Tadeusz's son), Jan Felczyński Bell Foundry in Przemyśl (run by Jan's great-grandson, Piotr Olszewski), and Janusz and Maciej Felczyński Bell Foundry in Przemyśl. In 2015, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage inscribed the traditional bell-founding technique used in Taciszów on the national list of intangible cultural heritage.

// QUESTION 05 · FIRE MANUFACTORIES & STONEWARE

How many bells were taken from Poland during the wars, and how many returned?

The first confiscation was by Prussian authorities' decree on March 1, 1917, with three qualification groups and protection for bells made before 1770. The Second World War abolished exceptions: Hermann Göring's order of March 15, 1940, introduced four categories, of which category A included all bells up to 1800, destined directly for melting. Estimates suggest around eight thousand bells were confiscated from Polish territories; Przystanek Historia states no fewer than 7,500 from the area of the Second Polish Republic remaining within Poland's borders and almost 1,200 from western territories. In forty transports from the General Government between October 12, 1943, and August 22, 1944, 430,443 kilograms of bells were removed. The list of losses from 1947 included 1,500 items, of which 999 were recovered. The largest storage site was in the port of Hamburg, where after the war, approximately ten thousand un-melted bells remained, including about two thousand from Poland.