{{short description|Bell tower in Lincoln, Nebraska}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{infobox building | name = Mueller Tower | native_name= | image = Ralph Mueller Carillon Tower & Love Library, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.jpg | caption = | former_names = | alternate_names = | building_type = | architectural_style = | structural_system = | cost = $90,000<br>(${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|90000|1949}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}{{inflation-fn|US}}) | location = | address = | location_town = Lincoln, Nebraska | location_country = United States | coordinates = {{coord|40|49|12.5|N|96|42|09.3|W|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | iso_region = | client = | owner = University of Nebraska–Lincoln | current_tenants = | landlord = | altitude = | construction_start_date = | completion_date = 1949 | inauguration_date = | demolished_date = | height = 84 feet | diameter = | other_dimensions = | floor_count = | floor_area = | main_contractor = | architecture_firm = Meginnis and Schaumberg | architect = George Kuska Jr. | structural_engineer = | services_engineer = | civil_engineer = | other_designers = | quantity_surveyor = | awards = | references = }}
'''Mueller Tower''' is a bell tower on the campus of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was built in 1949 and is named for alumnus and donor Ralph S. Mueller.<ref name=BTS>{{cite web|url=https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/behind-the-scenes-mueller-tower/|title=Behind the Scenes: Mueller Tower|author=Madison Bell|website=Nebraska Today|publisher=University of Nebraska–Lincoln|date=9 April 2015|access-date=22 May 2019}}</ref>
==History== In the mid-1940s, Ralph S. Mueller, an 1898 alumnus of the University of Nebraska and the founder of the Cleveland-based Mueller Electric Company, expressed his desire to give a gift to the school that incorporated electronics.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/310513804/?terms=%22mueller%2Btower%22|title=Tradition-Inspiring Symbol Becomes New Landmark on N. U. Campus|newspaper=The Lincoln Star|via=Newspapers.com|date=30 October 1949|access-date=22 May 2019|page=35}}</ref> Chancellor Reuben G. Gustavson suggested a new bell tower, which NU had lacked since University Hall was demolished in 1925.<ref name=Tower>{{cite web|url=http://historicbuildings.unl.edu/building.php?b=91|title=Mueller Tower|website=UNL Historic Buildings|accessdate=22 May 2019}}</ref> Mueller agreed and donated $90,000 ({{Inflation|US|90000|1949|r=-3|fmt=eq}}) to the project, which would incorporate finely tuned electric rods instead of a traditional array of bells.<ref name=Tower/> The system is controlled from the basement of nearby Andrews Hall.
The eighty-four-foot Mueller Tower is an octagonal shape with a red-brick interior surrounded by an Indiana Limestone exterior.<ref name=BTS/> It was dedicated on November 4, 1949 with 2,000 people in attendance, including Mueller, Gustavson, university president Harold S. Wilson, University of Kansas president Deane Waldo Malott, and carillonneur Arthur Lynds Bigelow.<ref name=Dedication>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/310525853/?terms=%22Mueller%2BTower%22|title=2,000 See N. U.'s Mueller Tower Dedicated|newspaper=The Lincoln Star|via=Newspapers.com|date=5 November 1949|access-date=26 May 2019|page=2}}</ref>
===Restorations=== The bell tower was cordoned off in 2006 as the limestone began to collapse and the university lacked funding to restore it.<ref name=Repairs>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/298147669|title=Repairs needed, but bell is not tolling any time soon for tower|author=Melissa Lee|newspaper=Lincoln Journal Star|via=Newspapers.com|date=6 June 2006|access-date=26 May 2019|pages=1B; 3B}}</ref> By then, it had become "one of the most recognizable structures on campus," and officials vowed to restore it shortly.<ref name=Repairs/>
In 2025, NU began a $1.5-million restoration of Mueller Tower designed to "preserve its structural integrity and historic character for the future."<ref name=2025rest>{{cite news|url=https://journalstar.com/news/local/article_1129e0db-ce99-48ac-8a86-84348ce8b8be.html|title=UNL's iconic Mueller Tower getting a $1.5M 'tune-up'|author=Chris Dunker|newspaper=Lincoln Journal Star|date=30 May 2025|access-date=26 June 2025}}</ref> As part of the restoration, each of the tower's 1,700 stones were scanned and catalogued, identifying seventy-eight to be fully replaced.<ref name=2025rest/>
==Use== The tower's music, initially played by keyboard, is now broadcast by eight speakers which play taped recordings or live music.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/297756865/?terms=%22Mueller%2BTower%22|author=Mary Kay Roth|title=For Whom Do They Toll? Towering chimes and bells have the whole city ringing|newspaper=Lincoln Journal Star|via=Newspapers.com|date=15 September 1996|access-date=27 May 2019|pages=1J; 3J}}</ref> As late as 1985, a student played the keyboard prior to football games at the top of the tower.<ref name=Corkill>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/311714338/?terms=%22Mueller%2BTower%22|title=Corkill puts life into Mueller carillon tower's music|author=Leslie Boellstorff|accessdate=27 May 2019|newspaper=The Lincoln Star|via=Newspapers.com|date=6 October 1985|page=23}}</ref> For prerecorded music, an Embassy Digital Autobell Carillon machine is used.<ref name=BTS/>
The tower has been used to commemorate special occasions, including the sixteenth anniversary of the AIDS epidemic on December 4, 1996, three days after World AIDS Day.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/297746938/?terms=%22Mueller%2BTower%22|title=Bells to toll for AIDS|newspaper=Lincoln Journal Star|via=Newspapers.com|date=3 December 1996|access-date=27 May 2019|page=1}}</ref> The system broadcasts music selected randomly from a predetermined list of approximately fifty songs at the top of the hour and at twenty-three minutes past the hour.<ref name=BTS/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://schulmerichcarillons.com/about/ The Schulmerich Legacy]
{{University of Nebraska–Lincoln}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mueller Tower}} Category:Towers completed in 1949 Category:1949 establishments in Nebraska Category:University of Nebraska–Lincoln buildings and structures Category:Bell towers in the United States Category:University and college buildings and structures completed in 1949