Good Friday and Christmas Day. On May 27, 1943, all restrictions were removed. In the 2021 German floods it was reported that church bells were rung to warn inhabitants of coming floods. In Beyenburg in Wuppertal the last friar of Steinhaus Abbey rang the storm bells after other systems failed. Some church bells are being used in England for similar purposes. Design and ringing technique Christian church bells have the form of a cup-shaped cast metal resonator with a flared thickened rim, and a pivoted clapper hanging from its centre inside. It is usually mounted high in a bell tower on top of the church, so it can be heard by the surrounding community. The bell is suspended from a headstock which can swing on bearings. A rope is tied to a wheel or lever on the headstock, and hangs down to the bell ringer. To ring the bell, the ringer pulls on the rope, swinging the bell. The motion causes the clapper to strike the inside of the bell rim as it swings, thereby sounding the bell. Some bells have full-circle wheels, which is used to swing the bell through a larger arc, such as in the United Kingdom where full- circle ringing is practised. Bells which are not swung are "chimed", which means they are struck by an external hammer, or by a rope attached to the internal clapper, which is the tradition in Russia. Blessing of bells In some churches, bells are often blessed before they are hung. In the Roman Catholic Church the name Baptism of Bells has been given to the ceremonial blessing of church bells, at least in France, since the eleventh century. It is derived from the washing of the bell with holy water by the bishop, before he anoints it with the "oil of the infirm" without and with chrism within; a fuming censer is placed under it and the bishop prays that these sacramentals of the Church may, at the sound of the bell, put the demons to flight, protect from storms, and call the faithful to prayer. History Before the introduction of church bells into the Christian Church, different methods were used to call the worshippers: playing trumpets, hitting wooden planks, shouting, or using a courier. In AD 604, Pope Sabinian officially sanctioned the usage of bells. These tintinnabula were made from forged metal and did not have large dimensions.