New Olympic Bell -Berlin, Germany - Bells on Waymarking.com

The tower was damaged in 1944, when an anti-aircraft gun, aiming at allied bombers hit it accidentally. In May 1945, after the Soviet Army took Berlin, the tower caught fire and became unstable. Eventually, it was demolished by British pioneers on February 15, 1947.

The bell, weighing 9.6 tons still hang in the top of the bell tower, when the pioneers pushed to demolition button. It came crashing down 250 feet and sustained a crack that made it useless as a bell. After having been used for target practice by British and American soldiers it was buried in front of the tower.

In 1956, however, it was unearthed and placed as a monument on the southern forecourt of the Olympic Stadium.

In 1962, the bell tower was rebuilt and a new bell (pictures above) was placed on top. The new bell is an almost identical replica of the old one, all the way down to its F-sharp tone. Like the original, it shows the Brandenburg Gate with the Olympic Rings and it bears the inscriptions (in German) "Olympic Games 1936" and "I call on the youth of the world." However, there are some important differences: The swastikas from the 1936 bell were not copied and the "Imperial Eagle" on the original bell has been replaced with Germany's current coat of arms, the Bundesadler (Federal Eagle).