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German Clocks

Antique German Clocks

I know when I think about old, collectible, antique clocks, I think of German Clocks. Nothing is more romantic than a Black Forest cuckoo clock, or one of Gustav Becker`s clocks, circa 1910.

Clock collecting has had a significant amount of growth over the last couple decades. Today, a collector might be able to find a brilliant piece of clockwork cheap on eBay or at an Auction House. Then have it cleaned up and put into working order by any number of skilled vintage clock repair shops all over the country.

The German cuckoo clock has a long and storied history that stretches all the way back to 1629 in the Black Forest region of Angsburg. That`s where a dignitary named Philipp Hainhofer`s description of a cuckoo clock became the first written record of the device. No one truly knows who built the first cuckoo clock or when. In 1650 Athanasius Kircher wrote book which provided a much more detailed schematic design for a mechanical bird and other mechanical figures which were employed in cuckoo clocks. A few years later Domenico Matinelli published a handbook on clocks and contributed the suggestion of using the cuckoo`s call as a way to indicate the hours. This serious of writings by these 3 men were quickly picked up on by clockmakers all over the Black Forest and an industry of craftsmen competing to create ever more ornately styled cuckoo clocks was born.

In the continuing decades, the excitement and novelty of seeing these automated timekeeping devices on display led to a rich folklore tradition and many legends about its true origin. Today there are many alternate stories and tales about who truly designed the first clock to combine automated figures and sounds to create the first real cuckoo clock. A definitive inventor is just not known and may never be. Whatever their origin, they became a sensation in the 1700`s and many collectors had to have them. Later on, in the Victorian era, until the 1920`s there was another boom on the sales and manufacture of the cuckoo clock and they were again a hot commodity.

Modern cuckoo clocks are sometimes quite different from the clocks that first sprang from the black forest. Today they may be designed with very modern and sleek styling, even futuristic styling. Others are create to replicate the classic originals covered in dense almost gothic details. Some cuckoo clocks now have an entirely flat surface cut to the shape of a bird or animal head with only a small opening from which the bird makes its appearance. Many clocks of this type are painted in one basic color with a few accent tones. Some very modern models are shaped into wild geometric patterns and are also flat and smooth or they may have various shapes or paintings drawn or printed onto them. There are even cuckoo clocks which can be printed with a corporate or team logo. As for the clock innards, many modern cuckoo clocks use quartz or other technology that is a far cry from the originals in the 1600`s. Whatever your taste you should be able to find some type of this amazing German clock to fit your décor and lifestyle.
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