https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STH_0zsT2Ag

Ringing of Klokke Roeland

The bell that you see in the film is the main civil bell of the city of Ghent. 
She is located in the belfry, and its name is "Klokke Roeland".  She had in fact
two predecessors.

In Flanders, a belfry is a civil tower, with the main purpose to keep the
privileges of the city in a safe place, but it is also used as a watch tower and
to hold the city bells.  The belfries are typical for Flanders and the North of
France.  Sometimes church towers act as belfries, but some large cities have
separate towers as belfries.  The belfries of Flanders and the North of France
are recognised as UNESCO world heritage.

The start of the construction of the belfry of Ghent was in 1313, and already in
1314 a "storm bell" was cast by Jan van Ludeke and Jan van Roosbeke.  This bell
was called Roeland, after the chancelor Roland in the army of Charlemagne.  This
bell was an important symbol of the independence of the city, and to punish the
inhabitants of Ghent for their revolt against the imperial power, Charles V
confiscated the bell.  The city managed to get the bell back, and therefore it
is hard to understand that only 100 years later, in 1659, the inhabitants ceded
the bell to Pieter Hemony to cast a new carillon.  It took Pieter Hemony only
three hits to break the bell.

The carillon of Pieter Hemony was of such good quality that the city ordered in
1660 three big ringing bells, g0, a0 and b0.  The had no names, but were often
called "The Triumphants", the g0 being the "Big Triumphant".  In the 19th
century with the romantism, the legend of Clocke Roeland came up again, and the
Big Triumphant was considered to be the successor of Clocke Roeland, and was
also nicknamed as Roeland.  Sometimes we say "Roeland II" to make the
distinction.  The symbol became so important that the song about the belfry and
Clocke Roeland, the "Boven Gent rijst", became the city anthem.  This is still
the case today, and when in 2011 the automatic hour melody was reprogrammed, and
"Boven Gent rijst" was replaced by another melody, there was such a violent
protest, that in 2013 Boven Gent rijst was again programmed on the drum.

In 1914 the Big Triumphant cracked when it was first rung electrically.  She
survived miraculously the two World Wars, but was almost used for the bronze to
cast a new bell.  Only at the very last moment an anonymous donation could save
the historic bell.  This was a big luck, because in 2003 she could be repaired,
and can now again be chimed (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHQ5IGJUacQ).

In 1948 a new storm bell was cast, by Marcel Michiels jr, in replacement of the
cracked Big Triumphant, now again with the name Roeland ("Klokke Roeland"). 
Although in theory it is only the second bell bearing the name, she is sometimes
called "Roeland III" to make the distinction.  It is this bell that you can see
in the film.  She is rung on great civil occasions, strikes the hours, is linked
to the b flat key of the carillon, and is connected to the drum with the
automatic chiming.

g / f sharp, 6200 kg, 213,3 cm, 1948, Marcel Michiels Jr. (Tournai, Belgium).