Jürgen Abeler - Meister der Uhrmacherkunst

Abeler, Jürgen. Meister der Uhrmacherkunst
1. Ed. Wuppertal: self-published by the author, 1977

The directory contains over 14,000 names and brands of clockmakers and manufacturers of mechanical clocks from the German-speaking world who produced devices such as mantel clocks, grandfather clocks, sundials, hourglasses, moon clocks, star clocks, astrolabes, quadrants etc. It mainly covers actual clockmakers from the 14th to the middle of the 19th century. As a rule, the clockmakers are self-employed masters; journeymen are only included if their work is known or their names are documented from other reliable sources.

A special section is devoted to developments around 1850: this period saw a rapid structural change as watchmakers increasingly became watch dealers or repairers. This change was the result of industrialisation and the introduction of inexpensive mass production methods, which replaced individual manufacture. Provinces with traditional watchmaking, such as the Bergisches Land, were particularly affected. The author's original intention was to include only independent makers up to 1850; however, numerous requests for later clockmakers led to the inclusion of further data if these came from reliable directories or official sources.

The directory lists clockmakers from German-speaking countries. Please click on the following links if you are looking for watchmakers from France, Great Britain, Sweden or the Netherlands.

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