Churchbells: Nice or noise? (Or prematurely deaf Swiss people…!) (05-02-2007)

The Bells! The Bells!

The "Xenophobe’s guide to the Swiss" by Paul Bilton says:

…The church holds greater sway in Switzerland than in many modern societies. This is witnessed by bell-ringing which the tourists find so charming but which many prematurely deaf Swiss living within earshot find rather less appealing.

Bells start clanging at all times of the day and night – to tell the farmers it is time for lunch, to tell the farmers it is time to work again; on Saturdays to remind the faithful that tomorrow is Sunday and on Sundays to tell them ‘today’s the day’…

 At convinceme.net there is currently a poll being held, whether churchbells should be considered nice, or just noise. Somebody commented:

In Switzerland, church bells ring every 15 minutes to tell you the passing of the time – DAY AND NIGHT! This is too much.

There is a Simpson’s Episode (A little Prayer), where Marge Simpson, standing close to a church, shouts something alike: "This bell ringing can’t be endured!" And Bart and Lisa covering their ears…

In Europe, especially in Switzerland there are even organisations that fight the church-bell noise, one of which is called "IG Stiller".

Somebody else thought this about the churchbells:

I’m going with nice, because I’m not sure what kind of bell sounds are you talking about. All my encounters with church bells are very nice melodic sounds. However if you mean those "RING A LING RANG A LANG SANCTUARYYY!" bells, oh wow, noise.

Take the poll here: Church-bells: Nice or Noise?