Uhrenerzeugung#

Watch and Clockmaking: Sundials, hourglasses and water clocks (clepsydrae) were succeeded, from the 13th century onwards, by mechanical clocks. The first sufficiently exact regulation of the time-keeping mechanism in the form of a verge escapement with a crossbar was mentioned in a document from 1328. Considerable progress was also achieved in precisely calculating gear ratios and manufacturing gear wheels. The first timepieces manufactured in Austria were made from iron by smiths and locksmiths; a guild of locksmiths and clockmakers was founded in Vienna in 1370. Once spring-driven timekeepers had been invented, the craftsmen specialising in portable timepieces (watches) separated from the locksmiths. Watch and clockmaking flourished particularly in the 18th century, when sophisticated Baroque clocks and a large variety of mantel and wall clocks were produced. In 1780 Emperor Joseph II invited watchmakers from Geneva to Vienna to start pocket-watch manufacturing, but the workshop was closed again in 1796. Another flowering of clockmaking followed during the Biedermeier era, when clocks richly decorated with paintings and musical clocks were made. Since 1839 tower and railway clocks have been manufactured in Vienna by the highly reputed E. Schauer Company. A clockmaking centre that specialised in particular in the manufacture of "Black Forest clocks" was established around the middle of the 18th century near Karlstein in the Waldviertel region. A watch and clockmaking school was established there in 1875 (now a federal technical school and Hoehere Technische Lehranstalt). The history of watch and clockmaking is richly documented in the Watch and Clock Museum of the City of Vienna (founded in 1917), the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Museum of Technology in Vienna, the Sobek Collection at Geymuellerschloessel in the 18th district of Vienna, the Krahuletz Museum at Eggenburg, and the Schmollgruber and H. Vit private collections at Steyr and St. Poelten, respectively.

Literature#