FINISHED Special Exhibition 22 April, 2017 - 04 November, 2018

We detest it but we need it: the alarm clock. The bedroom noisemaker always comes under criticism. Nonetheless, the way we allow ourselves to be woken, reveals a lot about our life. Indeed, even Casanova had an alarm clock. However, he used it in quite a different manner than did ‘Big Brother’ in George Orwell’s 1984.  Why do we have alarm clocks? And what do they reveal about us? The German Clock Museum’s new Special Exhibition addresses these questions.

Brief scenes from world-famous novels tell about the growing trend in alarm clocks and the ways people implemented them. Listening stations next to the original exhibits enable the visitor to hear how people were rattled out of their sleep in different eras. And those who feel the need to find their own individual alarm clock can simply put it together–at least, on a virtual platform.

So, you think alarm clocks are a thing of the past? Not at all. It is just that they no longer resemble the classic bell alarm clock, for alarm clocks have always kept apace of the taste of the times. Hence, the raucous rattlers have many faces.

Guided tours (in German) will be held on every first Sunday of the month at 2 p.m.