If You’ve Got The Chime

He’s Got The Inclination

Europe's second-largest bell, nicknamed Pummerin, is one of several famous bells across the continent being checked to determine their life spans, and unlock the secret of the optimum chime. In Vienna's famous St Stephen's Cathedral, Andreas Rupp carefully wraps sensor strips around the 21-tonne bell. Using acceleration sensors and echo microphones, the sensor strips are like electro-cardiograms that determine the health of human hearts, Rupp said. "The Pummerin is well," declared Rupp, a project scientist and professor at the Polytechnic College in the German city of Kempten. "We just want to know how long it can be healthy and if there is any risk she could crack like so many others."