The church bells in the Municipality of Ede were affected, too. These included 10 bells owned by the municipality: taken from the Dutch Reformed churches in Bennekom, Ede, Gelders Veenendaal, Lunteren and Otterlo. But the bells of other churches not the property of the Municipality of Ede had to be handed in as well.
Director Pauw of the Ede Municipal Office of Works reported in writing to Mayor Van Dierendonck that the three bells from the Oude Kerk (Old Church) of Ede did not have the protective ‘M’ identification mark. This letter stood for ‘Monument’, meaning a historic or artistically valuable and monumental bell. Hence they were of insufficient historical value, he wrote, so no exemption from confiscation would be granted.
Shortly before Christmas 1942, two bronze bells dating from 1922 and 1732 were removed. These bells, weighing 250 and 895 kilos, were rolled outside and eight men were required to set just one of these upright. The last bell followed on 28 December; this dated from 1733 and weighed no less than 1425 kilos. In January 1943, they were transported to the Gelderland Tramway Company in Doetinchem.
On 24 September 1943, the Ede bell-ringer Aalbert Hazeleger passed away. Traditionally the bells would be rung at his funeral to mark his passing, but now they were gone! The local community solved this problem by playing a gramophone in the Oude Kerk and hanging loudspeakers in the tower. The resulting sound was very special: it was a recording of the actual Ede bells!
This was thanks to Derk Pereboom, who lived on Stationsweg in Ede and was head of publicity at NCRV, a Christian public radio broadcaster. In 1930, he wrote the script for the Dutch promotional film “The Bells are Ringing”, and this was recorded with the ringing bells of Ede’s Oude Kerk. And so the deceased bell ringer was accompanied to his final resting place by the sound of his ‘own’ church bells after all.
Unfortunately, the stolen bells were never recovered after the war, and it was not until 18 June 1949 that the Oude Kerk of Ede received new bells in its tower.
Do you want to experience this story in its original location? Then visit the information panel for the old church on the Grotestraat (coming from Torenstraat, left in front of the church).
