The Birth of the 400-Day Clock on the Battlefield

After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, Anton Harder travelled to battlefields of Sedan. He recounted how he had discovered a blade of grass there that had grown through the fuse opening of a shrapnel shell. Upon pulling at the blade of grass, the ammunition segment remained adhered to it and swung slowly back and forth.

Harder realized that only a small amount of energy was needed to generate this movement, and he came up with the idea of making a clock that only had to be wound once a year. However, it was difficult to find a competent partner.

At the end of 1881 Harder met young August Schatz in Triberg who, according to his account, “would work and tinker with a clock for many hours on long winter evenings (…) in order to make it work.” As a result, the Triberger Jahresuhren-Fabrik AG (Triberg Anniversary or 400-Day Clock Factory Co.) was founded in 1884.

As from about 1900 various manufacturers produced 400-day clocks in large numbers. The clock with the rotating pendulum became a worldwide success.