Strike the bells yourself
Bells of different sizes and periods to strike and compare — children especially.
Hafelekar — CC BY 3.0 · Luftschiffhafen — CC BY-SA 4.0 · MrLenny13 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Anton-kurt — CC BY 3.0
A museum inside a working bell foundry run by the Grassmayr family since the seventeenth century, more than fourteen generations in the same trade and the same place. That is what separates it from any other craft museum: the foundry still produces bells exported worldwide, and the museum is attached to it rather than a substitute for it. You see the clay moulds, the melting furnaces and the tuning tools, and you grasp that making a bell is not pouring metal but tuning sound: the wall thickness at each point sets the note, and an error of millimetres ruins the whole bell. The best part is interactive: you can strike bells of different sizes and periods and hear the difference, and there is an acoustic room explaining how a single bell carries several notes at once. This is among the most distinctive museums in Innsbruck and among the least known to visitors, and it suits families because children can strike and try things. The location in Wilten is near the basilica and the abbey, so the three combine into a half day.
Bells of different sizes and periods to strike and compare — children especially.
Wall thickness at each point sets the note, and an error of millimetres ruins the bell.
An acoustic room explains how a single bell carries several notes at once.
Leibnizstraße, Wilten district, Innsbruck
Wilten BasilicaA mid-eighteenth-century church in the Wilten district south of central Innsbruc3 minutes walk4.6
Wilten AbbeyA Premonstratensian abbey in the Wilten district, in place since the twelfth cen4 minutes walk4.7
Tyrolean Museum RailwaysA railway museum run by a volunteer association in Innsbruck, preserving tram ca5 minutes walk4.2
Tyrolean Kaiserjäger MuseumA military museum on the Bergisel hill south of Innsbruck, devoted to the Tyrole8 minutes walk4.4
Das Tirol PanoramaDas Tirol Panorama is a modern building on the Bergisel hill south of Innsbruck,9 minutes walk4.7Yes, and it is among Innsbruck's better options for them. The interactive section lets them strike bells and hear the differences, which engages more than displays behind glass. Family rates exist and the visit is short enough that they will not tire of it.
Not normally. The museum explains the process through moulds, tools and video, but casting a bell is a rare scheduled event and does not fall within ordinary visiting hours. Ask when booking if that specifically matters to you.