Why consider a German Clock Gift?

Get here some ideas on the german clock industry in general helping you to find the right gift for you. To round up your knowledge on clocks read here also what major role German clock and watch makers played in the development of accurate time-measuring devices.



If you prefer a german wrist watch get here some valuable information.

The German Cuckoo Clock

Maybe one of the most known german "tiemepiece" is the cuckoo clock. A wonderful pendulum clock striking the hours using small bellows and whistles that imitate the call of the cuckoo bird and hit on a wire gong. The German Black Forest (Schwarzwald)is the birthplace of the cuckoo clock, which became a symbol for the region.

Read here more about this fascinating german cuckoo gift.

Pforzheim: German's Clock and
Jewellery Town No. 1

Not far away from the cuckoo clocks birthplace you'll find the german clock town No.1: Pforzheim in the northern black forest region. In case you make a trip to Germany don't miss this clockmaker town. This city with its population of approx. 120,000 inhabitants, is the production site of more than 70% of all jewelry products which are manufactured in Germany. Pforzheim is the home of numerous firms of world-wide reputation. "Design" and "precision" enhance the profound competence and importance of the town, as well as the University of Design, Engineering and Economics. In numerous museums and institutions, the visitors can get a close impression of this town of jewellery and watch-making industry, for example in the Jewellery Museum in the so-called "Reuchlin-Haus" (named after a famous German clergyman and philosopher) with its world-wide unique collection of genuine exhibits from five millenniums.

World of Jewellery in Pforzheim

The "World of Jewelry in Pforzheim" in the House of Industries opened in early summer 2005 presents to the international visitors the whole world of jewellery, clocks and watches on more than 3,500 square meters in an impressing, extraordinary manner. Under one roof, there are many attractions such as the world of jewellery attractions, the world of minerals, the world of design, the world of brands, the world of trades, jewellery gallery and the world of shopping events, which invite the visitors to watch, buy, perceive, act, collect information, but also to establish business contacts.

In the "World of Jewellery Attraction", you will submerge in the mystery of precious metals and stones, their mining and finishing. A combination of real and virtual exhibits will take the visitors to a magical and fascinating journey from space down to the grounds of the oceans and finally into the depths of the earth.

German Clock Makers are underestimated in history

German clock maker who devoted their inventions to this fascinating subject have not been given the credit deserved in modern histories. Very much effort and accomplishment in this never-ending climb to perfection in time-keeping has taken place in Germany. And particular on the basis of accomplishment alone, this area may rank well above all others. Throughout this long history of prodigious effort, only a surprisingly few developments have contributed significantly to the progress of timekeeping devices. This progress of the industry can be counted on the fingers of one hand and mostly happened in Germany.

Weight Driven Tower Clocks without future

The first known mechanical clocks were weight-driven tower clocks; so inaccurate that, today, they would be considered useless. At the time, however, the leap from no time recording method at all to one of even extreme inaccuracy was an important one. Some improvement in the timekeeping abilities of these huge clocks took place over the early years.The sad fact remained, nevertheless, that the weight-driven mechanism was only fit for large public clocks. It offered no possibilities at all for a smaller version for use in an individual home, nor, most of all, for a small time-keeping device that an individual could carry on his person for continuous reference. This, then, was the story of timekeeping devices to about 1500 A.D. It appeared that the long history was about to come to an end because of the very limited possible application of the device as it was then constituted. The moderately successful clock of the year 1500 A.D. had a great past, but very little future.

German Peter Henlein: Mainspring Invention with big future

At this time, a young blacksmith in Germany came forward with an invention that practically obliterated the past and opened up an unlimited vista for the future. The name Peter Henlein, who was born about 1480 and died in 1542, assumes a tremendous importance in this brief story of the development of time-keeping devices. This young man, working as a locksmith in Nurnberg, devised a means to make a long ribbon of steel which became the mainspring as it is known today. This ribbon of steel, with one end affixed to a permanent anchor, and the other fastened to an arbor, could be tightly coiled or "wound up," thus storing power which could be released on a controlled basis to drive mechanical devices for a period of several hours. This made it possible, for the first time, to produce a smaller time-piece without the use of weights. It opened up the possibility of a smaller clock that could be set up in any room of the house, and even be moved from one room to another; thus providing a means or method of making portable clocks. It also offered the possibility of making a time-piece small enough to be carried on the person; i.e., the watch. In this connection, the following quotation, which has been widely used, is from the "COSMOGRAPHIA POMPONII MELAE," which was published in Nurnberg in 1511: "Every day finer things are being invented. Peter Henlein, still a young man, has constructed a piece of work which excites the admiration of the most learned mathematicians. He shapes many-wheeled watches out of small bits of iron, which run without weights for forty hours, however they may be carried, in pocket of ehemisette."

First timepiece known as a watch

From this quotation one might come to the conclusion that young Henlein was the first to make a time-piece known as a watch. Whether or not this be true, it is the invention and use of the flat coiled spring, opening wide the horizon of a great industry, that overshadows any of his minor accomplishments. Incidentally, there are several spellings of this name, but the most accepted is Henlein, which is the way it appears in the list of Nurnberg locksmiths.

Return from german clock page to best german gifts