From the start of the German occupation in 1940, bells were no longer allowed to be rung. 

In June 1941 an order was issued that metal objects such as lead, copper and tin had to be surrendered, but church bells were not included at the time. As metals became very scarce during the war, in the autumn of 1942 this exemption was withdrawn. Refusal was punishable by up to five years imprisonment. 

In the Netherlands, a total of 6,700 bells were removed from their towers, including in the municipality of Harlingen. On 11 March 1943, the bells of the former Roman Catholic Church were removed. On 12 March the bells of the City Chambers’ tower followed, and on 12 April the bell of the Dutch Reformed Church suffered the same fate. 

The bell of the former District Court building, popularly known as the 'Havenmantsje', had previously disappeared when the upper part of the tower was demolished by German forces. 

After the war it turned out that not all the bells had been melted down. 150 bells of all sizes and from all over Friesland were brought back to Harlingen harbour on Sunday 18 November 1945. That Monday, the historic event was solemnly commemorated in a ceremony which featured many speakers. Meanwhile the ‘Havenmantsje’ clock, dating from 1562, was found in France in 1947 and was subsequently returned. 

In the end, it turned out that only the bells of the Roman Catholic Church had been melted down. For this loss a compensation per kilo was fixed, and so a compensation of 3117 Dutch Guilders (the currency at the time), plus a further 590.90 interest was paid for these looted bells, not nearly enough to have new bells cast from them.