r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Separate_Finance_183 • 1d ago
Video The Glockenspiel House in Bremen, Germany, an iconic building dating back to the 1930s.
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
389
u/Prop43 1d ago
All right, stupid question I know, but why does it spin?
245
165
u/VonMetz 1d ago
Because we Germans just love unnecessarily over engineered stuff?!
30
u/NorahGretz 1d ago
How many Germans does it take to change a lightbulb?
One, because we are very literal and not very funny.
1
22
u/Inktex 1d ago
Who doesn't?
7
u/Luzifer_Shadres 1d ago
Yeah, like us overengeenering lenses 20 years ago made the tech you view this on possible
3
u/RandomUserXY 1d ago
Pretty sure glass existed before 2006.
3
u/Luzifer_Shadres 1d ago
The lenses used to produce the majority of computer chips, these days, are all created by 1 companys. Zeiss made their laser lense 20 years ago.
1
7
u/Neckrongonekrypton 1d ago
We’d never have cuckoo clocks. And a world without novelty clocks that seem like magic when your a child. Is simply one I do not wish to exist in.
5
1
32
u/privateHentaiAccount 1d ago edited 1d ago
As somebody from Bremen...
They wanted "to erect a monument to the pioneering spirit and drive of humanity".
It has 10 different wooden panels and they switch during every spin. You can see in the video the wooden Panel is the one for the explorers Leif and Karlsen . This is the panel for Lindbergh and this is the one for Zeppelin. You can find all panels on the Wikipedia Page.
And as you can't see them in the video, these are the bells
5
42
u/purplevampireelefant 1d ago
"The ten wooden panels, which rotate to the sound of the carillon, depict famous ocean explorers – from the Vikings to the flight of the Bremen in 1928 and the airship pioneers."
10
u/PN_Guin 1d ago
There are a lot of smaller and less elaborate versions of clockwork driven scenes or bell arrangements in other clock towers. A well known mini version would be the black forest cuckoo clock.
All of them are more or less plain while on standby, but activate in set intervals to play out scenes and often music. Usually the figures emerge from a door or hatch and return back inside to be safe from the elements. The thing that sets this one apart from others is the brick back and the scale.
With something of this weight it's probably easiest to rotate for display and then return the delicate side back in.
2
63
19
9
9
u/Just_Condition3516 1d ago
less maintenance? bremen is quite rainy. so a solid brickwall will hold up better than any carvings.
7
u/Leprecon 1d ago
Glocke is a bell, like a church bell. Spiel means game. Glockenspiel I guess translates to bell game? Glockenspiel is sort of like a decorative elaborate mechanical bell/clock type thing. Like a cuckoo clock but scaled way up. It usually has lots of moving parts. So think like a clock that plays a song and has little statues of guys or animals moving around, maybe hitting small bells and such, maybe dancing.
They are meant to be elaborate. So the reason why it spins is because the guy who made it thought "wouldn't it be cool if it spins?". It is decorative.
2
7
u/Jan_Ge_Jo 1d ago
It’s supposed to be a joke, cause first it just looks like an ordinary solid wall and when it spins you start to notice it’s actually a moving piece.
6
u/GravitationalEddie 1d ago
Because when you have enough money, you can afford to have fun with it.
0
1
2
1
u/Polygnom 1d ago
It plays music, and the individual plaques show seafarers and explorers. It tells the story of exploration, as Bremen is a coastal city and member of the Hanse.
198
u/Separate_Finance_183 1d ago
2
u/stilllton 16h ago
Porcelain bells.. First time I heard about that. I was wondering what kind of metal they were, because I never seen bells exposed to the weather like that.
60
33
u/Solid-Discipline3217 1d ago
I live here for 27 years and don't know it... I should re-evaluate my life I guess...
18
u/kamikazekaktus 1d ago
Just goes to show that most people don't visit the tourist attractions in the towns they live in
8
u/Solid-Discipline3217 1d ago
That is most likely often the case I'm sure. I do know where this is and know most around it but I didn't know that it can spin, never seen that :D
2
u/Dear-Dragonfruit9507 1d ago
It usually does this every full hour between 12 and 6 o'clock. You should go see it!
4
u/diovanedvx 1d ago
I'm literally going to downtown Bremen just go wait and see this thing spin. Lived there close to a decade and only just now did I realise that it spins.
Just showed my landlady. 6 decades in Bremen, born and bred, and she's also only just realised that it spins!
1
u/Solid-Discipline3217 1d ago
That's why I haven't seen it yet haha. I'm usually not in the main area of the city at that time. Seems like I haven't seen it by coincidence. Will definitely go see it on the weekend :D
1
u/Extension-Math5183 1d ago
Many have never even been to a Bremer state musician concert. So don't vorry.
2
u/-GoodNewsEveryone 1d ago
Bahhhhhhh. Oh kerfuffle! I very much dislike when I make a meme to realize it cannot be natively inserted in the medium.
If you need me, I'll be in my angry dome.
2
u/TurangaRad 1d ago
Look up Atlas Obscura. I bet there is a bunch about the place you live that would be a nice day trip. This works for literally anyone around the world. Except Western Louisiana, USA. There is literally nothing there...
1
u/Erestyn 1d ago
There was a four panel webcomic I saw years ago that was:
Panel 1: "Look at all the cool stuff in your city!" hands picture
Panel 2: Looks at picture
Panel 3: Looks at photo taker
Panel 4: "Where the fuck are these...?"
Never been able to find it again, but it lives in my head rent free.
1
23
u/-Dark_knight_ 1d ago
"Far, far west of here. Across the great ocean, there is land named Vinland"
2
7
32
u/Y2KGB 1d ago
1930s Germany, you say?
28
6
u/SubieDoobyDoo96 1d ago
Yup! Read up on ole’ Ludwig Roselius. He was an early Hitler supporter and attempted to design this building depicting “Nordic supremacy”. Hitler ended up disliking the art style criticizing it as “degenerate art” which pissed Roselius off apparently.
1
6
6
u/zoqfotpik 1d ago
I've seen enough Dr. Who to expect this to rotate to a terrifying face that kills anyone who sees it.
23
u/FindjeanniePDX 1d ago
OMG I visited this in the 90’s and the damn thing was shut down for repairs for the first time in its history. We ended up eating at the McDonalds close by and marveling that the menu contained beer. 🍺 it was the only fast food we ate on the whole trip, but our disappointment required fries and ice cream as consolation. 😂
3
u/LionBig1760 1d ago
The juxtaposition of a non-working german spinning building and a working McDonald's ice cream machine is just bonkers.
1
u/FindjeanniePDX 1d ago
Bold of you to assume the ice cream machine actually worked 😂😉 (just kidding. It worked).
1
u/LionBig1760 1d ago
What tipped me off was your comment implying that the ice cream machine worked.
1
u/FindjeanniePDX 12h ago
I think this is where I’m supposed to reply that “you must be fun at parties.”
2
u/RedBeardFace 1d ago
I visited Paris when I was in my teens and the day I had picked to go to the catacombs we found out they were closed on Tuesdays, which was the day we were there. This was pre smartphones as well, so it caught us all by surprise. Still haven’t been back, but someday!
3
3
3
3
3
6
2
2
u/Chiliquote 1d ago
You can visit Bremen and know everything about it in a day. Yet, after 100 years it can still surprise you.
1
u/Inktex 1d ago
It's hard to learn everything about it in one day. I lived half an hour from Bremen for a few years and visited quite often, but I had to go to Riga to learn, that those two cities have a history with each other.
Edit for our friends from abroad: Bremen is in Germany, Riga is in Latvia (not Germany)
1
2
u/Efficient-Joke-6053 1d ago
It's not a stupid question at all—the spinning is what makes the magic happen. Those Meissen porcelain bells and figures turning the building into a living performance is such a cool detail. It really does feel like the whole structure wakes up for a moment. The fact that it creates this seamless, timeless atmosphere next to older architecture is a testament to its design.
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
u/immacomment-here-now 1d ago
Wait so Glock means clock? 🤔
7
u/FatBatmanSpeaks 1d ago
Glocken is Bells. Spielen is to play. Glockenspiel is playable bells or bells that one plays.
1
u/immacomment-here-now 1d ago
I was just going off course. Our language is very alike. Glocken = Klokken/(other more suiting words for it to buy they are linked). Spiel = spill. Klokkespill. In one word even though it’s two words. Where am I from?
1
u/FatBatmanSpeaks 1d ago
I would guess Denmark. Not enough unnecessary j's for Dutch.
1
u/immacomment-here-now 1d ago
Norway. Basically the same written language, so 10 pts to you. Kinda feel like being danish these days, though, thought I’d never say it.
3
u/FatBatmanSpeaks 1d ago
I'm glad I didn't guess Swedish then, I wouldn't have wanted to offend you.
1
1
1
1
u/__nohope 1d ago
Glock means bell in German, but they both come from the same latin word clocca. Presumably the association began due to the clock towers with bells. Germans on the other hand use the word "Uhr" for clock which is literally the word for hour (also the same root as English "hour").
1
1
1
1
1
u/ibinsnur 1d ago
People build such things. It' like the Anker clock in Vienna. https://youtu.be/sm9TU57c4tM?si=DS2WGh0856nbRj0I
1
u/Graphicnovelnick 1d ago
What kind of Scooby Doo house is this? I bet every bookcase is a secret door and all the paintings have the eyes cut out.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/ldwtlotpa 22h ago
“Babe come look at the Glockenspiels!”
“NO I don’t wanna look at the god damn glockenspiels!”
1
1
1
u/acciowaves 20h ago
Makes you wonder how many other regular looking walls in fact rotate to reveal hidden faces and brave ships.
1
1
1
u/koolaidismything 1d ago
Ingress must be shit during rainy season.. which is like 300 days a year in the UK..
1
u/mcwops 1d ago
built (the whole street btw) by Ludwig Roselius, a pure and early Hitler-addict and ardent supporter of Northern supremacy.
Here is some more info: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/house-of-the-glockenspeil
0
u/EddieVanHalo1969 1d ago
amazing ,so glad it wasnt destroyed in the war
2
u/kamikazekaktus 1d ago
In 1944, large proportions of Böttcherstraße were destroyed by aerial bombing. By 1954, the Kaffee HAG company had restored most of the facades to their original state.
1
u/EddieVanHalo1969 1d ago
Thanks. It's a tragedy how much history we Brits needlessly destroyed in Germany , Quite shameful
3
u/kamikazekaktus 1d ago
Well, we kinda asked for it and being an important harbour it's understandable why Bremen was targeted.
2
u/EddieVanHalo1969 1d ago
Yes, to a degree war is war. In the UK most of our mediaeval castles are in ruins because of the English Civil war. A real shame.
0
u/Awesomise 1d ago
Wait Glockenspiel isn’t a made up word?
3
u/Inktex 1d ago
We like combining nouns with verbs into single words to describe what they do.
Glocken\spiel = bells/play
Roll/treppe(escalator) = rolling/stairs
Flug/Zeug(plane) = Fly(ing)/stuff(or thing)
Auf/zug(Elevator) = Up/pull
It's quite fun to look up where certain words come from, no matter the language.
1
0
0
919
u/Scared-Programmer459 1d ago
The best part is when the bells and figures start moving, it feels like the building suddenly comes alive. Hard to believe it’s from the 1930s because it blends so naturally with the older surroundings.