Lindau stops town hall clocks after noise complaint

The clocks at Lindau’s Old Town Hall in Germany have been stopped since Wednesday after a noise measurement found their nighttime chimes exceeded the permitted level by 13 decibels, ORF reported.

The city carried out the measurement after a resident complained that the clock striking was too loud at night. Under Germany’s Federal Immission Control Act, Lindau must restrict the nighttime chimes until a solution is found.

Because the clock mechanism has no wiring plans and its chimes cannot be switched off separately, all the clocks are currently stopped. The city is working on a technical solution to restart the clock faces and chimes, at least during the day, but has not said when they will be operating again.