Pressure from fellow councilors prompted Roland Becker to quit on Wednesday as leader of the 750-person town of Herxheim am Berg, headlining his resignation statement with the words "Mayor goes, bell remains." 
 
 The Central Council of Jews in Germany had demanded the Swastika-embossed bell be removed from the tower of the Protestant Jakob's Church, where it hangs with two other bells installed in 1951. 
 
 The church congregation said the offending bronze bell which generates a C note, inscribed with "Everything for the Fatherland – Adolf Hitler," belonged to the town's "political community” and distanced itself from the "indescribable suffering” caused by the Nazis. 
 
 Herxheim am Berg lies 21 kilometers (13 miles) west of Mannheim in Rhineland Palatinate state, which is governed from Mainz by a center-left government. 
 
 Becker's resignation coincided with an announcement by the county administration in Bad Durkheim that Germany's far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) had registered a demonstration in Herxheim am Berg for next Saturday to demand the bell's retention. 
 
 Mayor Becker claims he was quoted out of context 
 
 A county spokeswoman said 10 NPD protesters were expected, adding that she assumed strongly that there would be a counter-demonstration. 
 
 Town council awaits expert report 
 
 Initially, the town council had considered blocking access to the tower. But last month, it voted to commission an expert to assess legal and historical aspects before deciding on its next steps. One idea floated was to put the bell in a museum. 
 
 The row reached a peak last Sunday, when Becker in an interview with the public ARD television channel's program "Kontraste” quoted a 95-year-old woman resident as saying that Hitler should also be remembered for "things he achieved." 
 
 This quote did not reflect his own opinion, Becker asserted Wednesday, adding that he had already distanced himself to the "utmost extreme” from claims that he had exalted the Nazi area. 
 
 His recounting of the woman's remark had been ripped out of its context, said Becker, who belongs to the Freie Wähler ("Free Voters"), a party active nationwide but strongest in Bavaria that favors strong communal administration and a hard line on crime. Becker argued that he was only trying to show how opinions on the matter were mixed. 
 
 'Victim' of stance 
 
 "I see myself as victim of my very open approach on this topic,” Becker said, adding that his municipal rejuvenation ideas, including walkways and high-speed internet, had been "torpedoed” by fellow town councilors. 
 
 "For me, it is incomprehensible that such a bell was ever stuck in a church," said Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. 
 
 "I have even less understanding that there are evidently still people who hold a positive attitude toward this bell," Schuster said. 
 
 Herxheim am Berg's Protestant church and bell tower 
 
 Prosecutors investigating 
 
 The horticultural region's prosecutions office in Frankenthal, near Mannheim, said it had received a private complaint 
 
 Head state attorney Hubert Ströber said prosecutors were examining whether the ringing of the "Hitler Bell” and its inscription amounted to incitement and breached post-war German law banning the display of Nazi symbols. 
 
 The row became public nationwide after a retired teacher in a newspaper article criticized the bell's continued use and the absence of a notice about its Nazi origins. 
 
 ipj/msh (dpa, epd) ||||| Georg Welker, the independent mayor of the southern German town of Herxheim am Berg, has promised that he will never again make statements that draw distinctions between Jewish and German victims of Nazi crimes. 
 
 Read more: 'Hitler bell' saga: German Jewish body blasts village mayor Georg Welker 
 
 During an appearance on the German public television show "Kontraste," Welker spoke about a controversial Nazi-era church bell in Herxheim. Welker argued that the bell, which is emblazoned with the words, "Everything for the Fatherland — Adolf Hitler," should be kept as a monument to those who suffered under the Nazis. He said that, when the bell rings, "I hear the victims: These were German citizens, not just Jews." 
 
 Accused of espousing Nazi ideology 
 
 Welker was immediately sued by a city resident after making the statement, and was sharply criticized by Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. 
 
 Read more: Town mayor in Herxheim resigns after teacher complains about 'Hitler bell' 
 
 Herxheim's bronze bell, emblazied with the words 'Everything for the Fatherland – Adolf Hitler' and a swastika, rings false for some but others insist it remain 
 
 Schuster accused the mayor of ridiculing victims with his words, saying Welker was espousing Nazi ideology by drawing distinctions between Jews and Germans. Welker denied that he sought to make such a distinction, adding that he was simply thinking of all of the people whom he had buried during his time as a pastor in Herxheim. Welker said many of those people had been the victims of Nazi crimes as well. 
 
 Read more: 'Hitler bell' in German village sparks controversy 
 
 Never again 
 
 Wleker claims that the distinction arose from the fact that all of Herxheim's Jewish residents had left the city during the 1920s. He vehemently denied any desire to claim that Jews were not German citizens. 
 
 On Tuesday, Welker appeared before the Bad Dürkheim district court, where he promised to refrain from making such statements in the future. 
 
 On February 26, Herxheim will hold a public city council meeting to discuss the topic of the bell. The meeting was scheduled for the presentation of a report by the bell expert of the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate, Birgit Müller. 
 
 js/rt (dpa, epd) ||||| Image copyright AFP/DPA Image caption Some residents are now worried that the bell could draw neo-Nazi groups to the village 
 
 A village in Germany has voted to keep a controversial church bell embossed with a swastika and the words "All for the Fatherland - Adolf Hitler". 
 
 The parish council of Herxheim argued that the Nazi-era bronze bell acted as a reminder for the nation's dark past. 
 
 The 10-3 vote on Monday rejected an offer to remove and replace the bell by the Protestant Church of St James. 
 
 Some parishioners were alarmed to find they had been married or had baptised their children under the "Hitler bell". 
 
 The local parish council said the Nazi-era relic, which has hung in the church since 1934, should stay as "an impetus for reconciliation and a memorial against violence and injustice", AFP news agency reports. 
 
 A memorial pointing to the controversial 240 kg (530 pounds) bell's history will now be fixed on the 1,000-year-old heritage-listed church, the Jakobskirche. 
 
 Herxheim am Berg, in southwest Germany, has repeatedly found itself in the media spotlight since a former church organist complained about the bell's inscription. 
 
 Until then its history had been largely unknown, and the bell had rung out every quarter of an hour. 
 
 Image copyright Thomas Lohnes/Getty Image caption Roland Becker argued in 2017 that removing the swastika and words would alter the bell's sound 
 
 The latest news from the village of just 700 people has reignited the debate on how Germany should handle Nazi imagery and symbols in the 21st Century. 
 
 The former mayor, Roland Becker, resigned last year over comments that appeared to defend not just the bell but Nazi-era Germany. 
 
 Some residents are now worried that the bell could damage the church's reputation or draw neo-Nazi groups to the village. Others have contended that disposing of the bronze relic would whitewash the town's history. 
 
 The bell was silenced last September and an alternative was used pending a decision by the local parish council. 
 
 At Monday's vote, the decision to keep the "Hitler bell" was met with applause from many community members, German news agency DPA reports. ||||| In a vote on Monday night, the local council in a small southwestern German village decided by 10 votes to 3 that a Nazi-era bell — complete with the inscription "Everything for the Fatherland - Adolf Hitler" — should continue to hang in the local church and be put back in use. 
 
 Watch video 02:24 Now live 02:24 mins. Share AfD – trying to forget the past Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/2tFhf AfD again questions German memorials to Nazi era 
 
 Councilors in Herxheim am Berg, 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of Heidelberg, said the bell, which also bears a swastika, should serve as a force for reconciliation and a memorial against violence and injustice. 
 
 Read more: Is it illegal to call someone a Nazi? 
 
 The council rejected calls by some residents for the bell to be dismantled or put in a museum. They also turned down an offer by the local Protestant church to bear the cost of installing a new one. 
 
 Herxheim am Berg Mayor Georg Welker told reporters that it was better the bell remained in the church "than if it would hang in some museum where someone could stand in front of the bell at any time and take a selfie." 
 
 Read more: Study examines Germans' relationship with Nazi past 
 
 The Jakobskirche has stood in Herxheim am Berg for 1,000 years 
 
 Resident spoke out 
 
 The contentious bronze bell has been in the church since 1934, where it was used until recently. Its existence only became known when a former church organist, Sigrid Peters, complained about the inscription. 
 
 Following the council vote, Peters told DW she was deeply concerned about the signal the council was sending about Germany to the rest of the world. 
 
 She said she was deeply saddened "that this could happen, that they allow a bell dedicated to a murderer to hang in the church." 
 
 For Peters, the council's decision to keep and use the Nazi-era bell and the electoral success of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) aren't a coincidence. 
 
 Put back to use 
 
 After Peters found out about the Nazi-era bell and informed local media last summer, the local authority ordered an outside assessment to help councilors decide its fate. Experts came to the conclusion that the bell should be classified as a memorial and either moved to a museum or kept in the church tower. 
 
 The council decided the bell will be put back into operation, and a commemorative plaque displayed in the church to point out its history. 
 
 Read more: Estate of Hitler's filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl, donated to Berlin foundation 
 
 Months before Monday's decision, the church voted not to ring the bell any more, and would rely instead on its other two bells, which have no Nazi motif. 
 
 How to deal with Nazi past 
 
 The large bell sparked an intense debate about how Germany should deal with Nazi symbols. Many residents were concerned the bronze relic would ruin the church's reputation, or that its existence would encourage neo-Nazi groups to congregate in the village. 
 
 Others complained that its removal would mean the town's history would be covered up. 
 
 The dispute intensified when the town's then mayor, Roland Becker, argued that not everything was bad during the Nazi era — comments that forced his resignation. 
 
 Additional reporting by Ralf Bosen. 
 
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– A church bell marked with a swastika and a German phrase translating to "Everything for the Fatherland—Adolf Hitler" will remain hanging in the village in Germany, despite fears it could draw neo-Nazi groups. Councilors in Herxheim am Berg, some 60 miles southwest of Frankfurt, voted 10-3 Monday to keep the bronze bell in place at a local Protestant church, where it has hung since 1934, reports Deutsche Welle. Though the church had offered to install a new bell amid calls to put the original in a museum, Mayor Georg Welker said such an arrangement would mean people could "take a selfie" with the bell at any time. Voting to have the bell remain in use in the church tower in the village of 700, councilors said it would serve as a memorial against violence and injustice and as a symbol of reconciliation, reports the BBC. Former church organist Sigrid Peters doesn't see it that way, though the move follows recommendations by outside experts. Peters says she's saddened they would "allow a bell dedicated to a murderer to hang in the church," especially following the huge election gains of the far-right Alternative for Germany party in September. Not long before that, Herxheim am Berg's former mayor resigned after quoting a woman who said Hitler should be remembered for "things he achieved," per DW. Welker then drew flak in January when he described victims of Nazis as "German citizens, not just Jews." Welker had said he heard the victims in each ringing of the bell and denied trying to suggest that Jews weren't citizens, DW reports.