"Das Glockenspiel" is the first single from the 1999 Schiller debut album, Zeitgeist. It's the debut of Schiller and it was subtitled internationally with the title The Bell. The trance music single was officially released on 31 December 1998 in Germany and was peaking at number 21 on German Singles Chart in 1999 and on number 17 in the UK Singles Chart. The cover art work shows a graphic of a bell. The music video was shot in the United States.
The single became famous for featuring a bell-like melody. The song's name is inspired by the poem "Das Lied von der Glocke" (Song of the Bell) by Friedrich Schiller from 1799. Christopher von Deylen, one of the producers of Schiller, had just read "Die Glocke" by Friedrich Schiller before the song was released. The band's name was also inspired by Friedrich Schiller.
The official music video for "Das Glockenspiel" was shot in the USA by German director Marcus Sternberg. It has a length of 3:11 minutes.[1] The video features a few dancers, four older Asian persons, who are playing a Mahjong game, and a woman in a traditional Asian festival costume. It shows also a ringing bell. The music video was shot in Chinatown in Los Angeles, California. The video was aired and became one of the most played music videos on German music television channel VIVA in 1999.
| Chart (1999) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Germany (Media Control AG)[2] | 21 | |
| Switzerland[3] | 38 | |
| UK[4] | 17 |