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From the “Historic Clock Collection” to the “German Clock Museum”

“We wish to start a collection of Black Forest Clocks in the Clock-Making School.” With this announcement, headmaster Robert Gerwig inaugurated the history of the Furtwangen clock collection in 1852.
In 1858 some of these antique clocks were shown in public for the first time; in 1873 the collection was even brought to Vienna for the World‘s Fair. A short time later, the antique clocks were placed on exhibit in the trade building of Furtwangen. The “Historic Clock Collection” had become an attraction and was listed in the Baedeker as well as other tour guides.

The first catalogue of the collection, already listing over 1000 items, was published in 1925. At the time, the exhibition was put in “genetic order”, in other words, the individual clock types were shown alongside each other according to their type.

The collection survived the Second World War relatively unscathed. After the trade hall had been razed, a museum was built in 1959 to house the collection. In a matter of a few years the building became a highly frequented tourist attraction.

In 1975 the Land of Baden-Württemberg purchased the famous Kienzle clock collection (comprising about 1500 clocks) and had the clocks placed in the Furtwangen Museum. This was reason enough to change the name of the collection to the “German Clock Museum”. Its continued success as a tourist attraction made expansion of the museum necessary. The new museum facility was dedicated in 1992.