2006 TZ Tour Day 5 - Glashütte Original Page 5

2006 TimeZone Tour

Day 5 - Visit to Glashütte Original

by Michael Sandler

May 2007

The first time-pieces emerged from the town in 1845 when Ferdinand A. Lange and Gustav Gutkaes founded the first watchmaking company in Glashütte, which had until that point been characterized by the mining trade. The silver mines around Glashütte had dried up and reduced the town’s inhabitants to great poverty forcing the Saxon government to invite new manufacturers to the area. Lange learned of Glashütte and decided to realize his own plans for an autonomous watchmaking production there. With a grant from the Saxon government, he started training watchmakers and established his own manufactory.

With great enthusiasm, other famous watchmakers followed and founded their own companies such as Julius Assmann, Adolph Schneider, Ludwig Strasser and Gustav Rohde. Besides the numerous watchmaking luminaries, Glashütte also became home to case makers and manufacturers for hands and balances. The town quickly became synonymous with German precision horology and advanced to one of the era’s most important centers of watchmaking, along with the Swiss Jura.

During World War I and II, Glashütte’s watchmaking companies had to adjust to a variety of adverse conditions. Despite experiencing financial and economic hardship, the spirit of the watchmakers remained unbroken. Especially watch dealer Johannes Dürrstein recognized that fewer people could afford the excellent yet very expensive Glashütte watch and developed a qualitatively high-class watch at an affordable price. Soon enough, his Union watches were in great demand. It was in 1921 that the registered trademark “Original Glashütte” appeared on a dial for the first time to protect the watches from imitations.

At the end of WW II, most factories in Glashütte were dismantled by the Soviet occupying forces and the watchmakers had to use again all their ingenuity to create the necessary tools and machines to restart watch production. In 1951, the political powers in charge fused all former Glashütte watch companies into one conglomerate, the “VEB” (people’s company) Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe. The reunification of Germany in 1990 caused the VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe to become a limited company, Glashütter Uhrenbetrieb GmbH, which is up to this day the legal successor to all the previously founded watchmaking companies in Glashütte. As a guardian of time, Glashütte Original maintains this legacy not only through its own School of Watchmaking but also through the establishment of the "German Watch Museum Glashütte – Nicolas G. Hayek".

As previously mentioned, the museum provides an amazing look backwards into the watchmaking history in the town of Glashütte. Some photos of some of the wonderful pieces in the company museum are below.

Pocket watches from the mid-1800s.

An absolutely beautiful Lange pocketwatch from 1883.

...and others from that same period...

Some pieces from the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century.

Some very interesting pieces from the mid-1900s...

Some classic military/pilot's pieces...

....and then we move to the 1960s and 1970s...

....and then to some more current pieces...

Glashütte Original also produces these incredible working escapement models. These are made available to customers by special order, but they are not inexpensive. The ultimate desktop item for a collector.

...as the tour of the museum concluded, Dr. Müller informed us that the company had arranged a catered dinner for us in the atrium area of the main building, complete with live entertainment, a talented 15 year-old harp player from Dresden.

All in all, this was simply a tremendously enjoyable factory visit. From the chauffeur driven limousines that met us at the Dresden station early in the morning, to the fantastic tour of the company's facility, to the wonderful dinner and conversation. My deepest thanks go out to Dr. Müller, Mr. Marx and their colleagues for what was certainly a highlight of the 2006 TimeZone watch tour. For me, this visit will set the standard against which all others will be compared.

For those of you who were unable to join us on the tour, Glashütte Original offers a wonderful DVD which showcases the manufacture. It can be ordered, free of charge, from the company by clicking this link or by sending an email to info@glashuette-original.com.

Although it is difficult to convey how really enjoyable the visit with the wonderful people at Glashütte Original was, I do hope you enjoyed this write-up.