Small symbol of a great tradition
200 replicas of an original bell from 1835 ring to mark the anniversary
On the occasion of the 200th anniversary, Wieland has had true-to-scale and detailed reductions of an original bell from 1835 cast. The high-quality replicas are not only a great "eye catcher", they also vividly and aesthetically symbolize the tradition and origins of the company.
In the course of his professional life, Philipp Jakob Wieland cast 112 bells, each of them an artistic masterpiece, as they had to meet the highest demands in terms of sound, appearance and durability. However, only two of these bells still exist today; the others were melted down during the two world wars for raw material extraction. One of the remaining bells hangs in the church in Machtolsheim and is still in service. The second surviving bell by Philipp Jakob Wieland, cast in 1835, rang in the Protestant church of Neenstetten until 1962 – today it bears witness to the company's origins in the foyer of the Wieland headquarters in Ulm.
And its symbolism gave the inspiration for a beautiful campaign to mark the 200th anniversary of Wieland: the production of scaled-down replicas. On the basis of a 3D scan, a model ten centimeters in diameter was produced using 3D printing. After various tests, the decision was made in favor of the bronze alloy GBz14 - this input material was provided by Wieland Recycling GmbH, a company of the Wieland Group. 200 limited and numbered copies were cast using the lost wax process – a ceramic shell precision casting process - by the Kollinger art foundry in Elchingen. The specialists there then provided the replicas with a special inscription on the occasion of the anniversary and with a little patina.
The clapper made of Ecobrass, i.e. lead-free brass, was provided by the Wieland training center in Ulm. It was produced – by the way – very modern on a CNC lathe. In keeping with the value of the anniversary bells, they were given a visually appealing base made of North American cherry wood and decorative packaging.
In a second step, Wieland launched another edition of 100 anniversary bells – this time with a diameter of eight centimeters. These bells are not limited and can be purchased.
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Wieland Werke AG
Big template: The artistically cast anniversary bells are detailed miniatures of this 980 kilogram bell by Philipp Jakob Wieland from 1835.
