The artisan clockmakers in the Black Forest mostly built clocks with wooden plate movements. In the mid-19th century, up to a million pieces were sold every year – most of which were wall clocks with Schotten movements.
Back then, Schotten clocks from the Black Forest were unbeatably low-priced. Yet, although their name is identical to the German word for Scots, it has nothing to do with the proverbial Scottish stinginess. In fact, it refers to the Schottenhof farm near Neustadt, where owner Thadä Schwörer started making this type of clock in the 1830’s.
The reappearance of this particular Schotten clock about twenty years ago was a minor sensation, as it bears its inventor’s handwritten signature and place of residence on its backside: “Thadä Schwörer, in Schotten“.
The Association of Friends of the German Clock Museum now had the opportunity to purchase this key piece of Black Forest clock history for the Museum. Thank you very much for that!
Schotten clock, Thadä Schwörer, Neustadt, around 1840, Inv. 2022-218