Bochum Rathaus Bell

Superlative bell/ A Bochum landmark turns 150 It's hard to believe, but the cast steel bells of Bochum were not always admired by everyone. At the first major public appearance of a cast steel bell at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1855, its authenticity was actually questioned and it was claimed that it was not possible to make a bell of such dimensions out of cast steel. SOURCE:bochum-tourismus.de/bochum-entdecken/kirchen-und-besondere-orte/rathaus-bochum.html#c15385

Jacob Mayer, the inventor of the mold casting process for cast steel, had to travel from Bochum in person and demonstrate the authenticity of the bell to the doubters, including Alfred Krupp from the competition in Essen. In the end, the critics admitted defeat and Jacob Mayer received the Prussian Order of the Crown and the Order of Frederick. Twelve years later, the current "town hall bell" was allowed to ring in the second World Exhibition in Paris and was awarded the gold medal.
-After returning from Paris, the bell stood as a monument in front of the Höntrop rolling mill on Essener Strasse until the 1970s, before it had to make way for a road extension. In 1979, it was donated to the city of Bochum by the Krupp company, which had taken over the Bochum association, and has had its home in front of the Bochum town hall ever since.
SOURCE: bochum-tourismus.de/bochum-entdecken/menschen-in-bochum/glocke-der-superlative.html#c11633

It is one of the oldest cast steel bells in existence and, with a diameter of 3.13 meters and a weight of 15 tons, is still one of the largest ever made. A superlative bell! The melodious cast steel bells began their triumphal march as part of the industrialization of the Ruhr area, as many new churches were being founded and the costs were only about half of those of a bronze bell. There was also a papal decree in 1858 that stated that bells made of cast steel could also be consecrated.
SOURCE:bochum-tourismus.de/bochum-entdecken/menschen-in-bochum/glocke-der-superlative.html#c11633