In a gesture of mourning after Saturday’s tragedy on the Main Square, the St. Mary’s Trumpet Call (hejnał mariacki) was not played in Kraków for 12 hours. The melody did not sound from the tower of St. Mary’s Church for the first time since 1939, Capt. Hubert Ciepły, spokesman for the Małopolska fire service, told PAP, the Polish Press Agency.

“The St. Mary’s Trumpet Call was halted yesterday at 9 p.m. for 12 hours because of mourning. It was the first such case since 1939. At 9 a.m. on Sunday, the trumpet call will again be played from the tower of St. Mary’s Church,” Capt. Ciepły told PAP on Sunday.

Traditionally, Kraków’s trumpet call sounds from the tower of St. Mary’s Church every hour, and its melody breaks off midway, in memory of the legendary trumpeter who was said to have been struck by an arrow during a Tatar invasion.

The trumpet call is played by firefighters on duty in the tower of St. Mary’s Church. By tradition, the melody is played in the four directions of the world: for the king, the mayor, guests arriving in Kraków and the fire department commander. Since 1927, Polish Radio has broadcast the trumpet call at noon.

The first documented mentions of Kraków’s trumpet call date to 1392. According to legend, in 1241 a watchman in the tower spotted the approaching Tatars. As he began to play the alarm, he was struck by an arrow from a Tatar bow. The trumpeter died, and the melody broke off suddenly. That is the origin of the tradition of the distinctive ending of Kraków’s trumpet call.

The attack took place on Saturday after 3 p.m. on the Main Square in Kraków. A masked 24-year-old man drove a car onto the square and opened fire on random people. Six people were killed and 16 were injured. The perpetrator was detained after an exchange of fire with police. (PAP)