Whatever became of the Clock Industry?

Furtwangen’s once impressive clock industry has survived only in terms of a few memorable vestiges. Nonetheless, the economy here is thriving. Many of the former clock factories and their
suppliers have successfully developed new areas of business.

Originally in the clock industry, these enterprises succeeded in maintaining their position on the market:

• B. Ketterer Söhne, height-adjustment gear technology  for computer workstations and other furniture.
• Josef Koepfer, gears and gear-box technology.
• Ernst Reiner, stamps, scanners and precision parts.
• Salomon Siedle Söhne (SSS), building communication technology.
• Emilian Wehrle, precision plastic injection moulding, particularly water metres.
• But the reorientation of these companies could have taken a bad turn, too.
• In the continuing crisis of the 1920’s, the failure of the “Cardinal” typewriter sealed the demise of the esteemed clock factory Lorenz Furtwängler Söhne (LFS).
• At that time, the Badische Uhrenfabrik (Baduf) also fell into economic ruin, even though they had begun making radios and electrical measuring instruments.
• Today, only A. Mayer Söhne (AMS), founded in 1841, still produces clocks.