Normandy Liberty Bell


Normandy Liberty Bell

The Normandy Liberty Bell is an exact replica of the Liberty Bell, and is tuned to the same E-flat note the Liberty Bell once sounded before it cracked in 1846.

Frenchman Patrick Daudon commissioned this replica of the Liberty Bell to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. He chose the Liberty Bell because the Bell was struck seven times on D-Day by the Philadelphia mayor to spell out the word "Liberty." The Normandy Liberty Bell toured the United States for two years, starting in July 2005.

The Normandy Liberty Bell was rung on June 6, 2004 on the shores of Normandy to commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day. It was first rung in the United States on July 4, 2005 outside of the Liberty Bell Center on Independence Mall as part of the "Let Freedom Ring" ceremony.

Part of the reason the replica was rung on the 60th anniversary of D-Day is that the actual liberty bell was rung, sixty years earlier. On June 6, 1944, the Liberty Bell was struck by Philadelphia Mayor Bernard Samuel in a nationwide broadcast announcing the allied invasion of Europe on the beaches of Normandy, France.