Friedenskirche, Protestant church in Olten, Switzerland.
The Friedenskirche is a Protestant church building in Olten located on the right bank of the Aare River, marked by a 60-meter tower with an observation platform. Inside it holds about 760 people and houses an organ with 45 registers, plus several rooms for different events.
The foundation stone was laid in 1928 for a church by Fritz von Niederhäusern, who had worked in Olten since 1902. It replaced an 1860 building on Sälistrasse, now Von-Roll-Strasse, opposite the demolished chalet of railway pioneer Niklaus Riggenbach, a supporter of the Reformed cause. The largest Reformed church in the Olten district, it held the city's largest organ until 1992. Renovation ended in spring 2002.
The five bells are tuned to the hymn "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" and each carries a Reformation motto: Luther's "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" on the 5000 kg bell, Zwingli's "Seid aber Täter des Wortes" on the 2500 kg bell, and Calvin's "Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe" on the 1500 kg bell. The remaining bells bear sayings of Berchtold Haller and Johann Oekolampad.
The tower's viewing platform sits above the bell chamber, outside the clock, and is reached from the church; from there the view runs over the whole city to the Niederamt, the Gäu and the foot of the Jura. The tower stands about 60 metres high and is built directly against the church and the parsonage. The quarter-hour and hour strikes fall silent at night.
The five bells hang in a sequence that spells the hymn motif "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme", with a doubled fundamental. Cast by H. Rüetschi AG of Aarau, they weigh about 10,700 kg together; the largest, at 5,000 kg, carries a Luther quotation. In 2015 the bell frame was fully replaced and the old pear-shaped clappers of 1928 gave way to round ones.
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