Aktiengesellschaft für Uhrenfabrikation Lenzkirch

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Lenzkirch cantilever chair

The Aktiengesellschaft für Uhrenfabrikation Lenzkirch , AGUL for short, was one of the leading companies in the Black Forest watch production . Founded in 1851, the company has produced and sold well over 2 million large clocks in around 80 years of its existence . Renamed in 1924 in Uhrenfabrik Lenzkirch AG , in 1927 after economic difficulties it was taken over by the Junghans company and dissolved in August 1929.

The name AGUL is less common among collectors, mostly only from Lenzkirch or the Lenzkircher watch factory .

history

In 1840 Eduard Hauser (* August 21, 1825; † 1900) began training as a music box maker in Lenzkirch in the workshop of master organ builder Ignaz Schöpperle (* 1810; † 1882). Shortly after completing his apprenticeship, Hauser turned to the manufacture of watches and traveled to the watchmaking centers of the time in England, France and Switzerland. At that time, Black Forest clocks suffered from poor quality and a lack of precision. They were not very efficient, mostly made at home and with inferior materials. Hauser brought with him knowledge of efficient series production and the use of precision machines from his travels.

Together with Schöpperle he opened a watchmaker's business in his organ factory and employed 14 people in the manufacture of precise watch parts that were to be sold to other watchmakers. Hauser and Schöpperle were given technical support by Robert Gerwig , the first director of the newly founded watchmaking school in Furtwangen . The costs for the newly purchased machines, inventory, wages and raw materials initially slowed down the company's development. In addition, there were difficulties in sales and distribution, since the watchmakers worked widely in the Black Forest and were difficult to reach.

In order to increase the capital and bring entrepreneurial knowledge into the company, a joint stock company was established on August 31, 1851 in Lenzkirch together with the entrepreneurs Franz Josef Faller (1820-1887), Nikolaus Rogg, Josef Wiest, Paul Tritscheller (1822-1892) and founded by his brother Johann Nikolaus Tritscheller (1825–1867). In 1856, Albert Tritscheller (1833–1889), the third brother of the entrepreneurial family, joined the company. He spent many years abroad observing the latest technological developments. In 1893 Oskar Spiegelhalder was appointed to the board of directors of the Lenzkircher watch factory and was its director from 1908 to 1909.

The company now also produced its own movements and clocks and imported raw parts from France, which were then processed in Lenzkirch. As technical director of the company, Hauser developed a large number of precision machines for the production of the smallest watch parts in the 1850s and 1860s. Many of these machines were patented and remained in service until the late 1920s. The company premises were equipped with their own joinery, a brass rolling mill , a tool shop and a company for gilding and silvering . Due to the technical development and the high quality of the watches produced, the company quickly gained in importance and was able to grow steadily. In 1899 Eduard Hauser left the company after 47 years of work.

Above all, the production of large pendulum clocks in the Viennese style established the excellent worldwide reputation of AGUL. At the industrial exhibition in Villigen in 1860 and one year later in Karlsruhe, these clocks each received a gold medal.

After the First World War , in which watch production came to a standstill and only goods essential to the war effort were produced, the company experienced a sudden revival due to very high demand. However, this development came to a standstill again. Mismanagement, competition, the global economic crisis and the refusal to take back quality in favor of cheaper, but better-selling mass-produced goods ultimately led the company into economic difficulties. In August 1929 the company was dissolved and taken over by a competitor, Junghans AG.

Clocks

Sumptuous pendulum clock in rococo style with carvings by Philemon Rombach from Furtwangen, which was awarded at the Paris World Exhibition in 1900

The clocks and movements manufactured by the Lenzkirch company still enjoy an excellent reputation today.

In the early years, the company still had to buy foreign raw works, but now all watch components are manufactured in-house. This applied to the clockworks as well as to the watch cases and decorations. The range of products offered ranged from alarm clocks on clocks, normal clocks , long-case clocks , floor clocks , ship's clocks and regulators to second clocks .

The company has won 15 awards for its products at international exhibitions, including a.

Trademarks and serial numbers

Typical winding key for "Lenzkirch" watches.

The trademark of the Aktiengesellschaft für Uhrenfabrikation Lenzkirch has changed several times.

Very early clocks (from 1851) were not marked. The first trademark appears from around 1871 in the form of an intricate engraving of the letters ALG (Aktien Lenzkirch Gesellschaft), later also GFU (Society for Watch Production), on the back of the factory plate. As early as 1875, the company was forced to advertise in newspaper advertisements that all works would be marked with a new trademark. The works were often copied because of the generally higher price. The best known is the new trademark, the “Lenzkirch” logo with a pine branch and the abbreviation “AGU” (from 1875) or “AGUL”.

All movements have a serial number. Factory numbers over 1,000,000 or 2,000,000 are made up of a six-digit serial number with the addition "1Million" or "2Million". Dating individual watches using the serial numbers is difficult, as the literature provides different information on the periods of manufacture. In the years after the First World War, some low work numbers were reassigned. These movements can be recognized by their serial numbers below 200,000 and simultaneous embossing of the trademark.

Occasionally the type of movement was stamped in the form of a number on the factory plate.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Karl Kochmann: Lenzkirch Clock Factory, Winterhalder & Hofmeier Clocks . Merritt's Antiques Inc., Douglasville (USA) 2007, ISBN 978-0-933396-16-6 . P. 5ff

literature

  • Hans-Heinrich Schmid : "Lexicon of the German watch industry 1850–1980: company addresses, production program, company logos, brand names, company histories." (3rd extended edition 2017), publisher: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chronometrie eV; ISBN 978-3-941539-92-1
  • Helmut Kahlert: Large clocks 1880 . German Clock Museum, Furtwangen 1985, ISBN 978-3-922673-03-3 . (Images from the original sales catalogs)
  • Dana J. Blackwell: Vienna Regulators of Lenzkirch and Lorenz Bob . American Clock and Watch Museum Inc., Bristol (USA) 1990, ISBN 0-930476-21-2 .
  • Lenzkircher-Uhren-Freunde eV (Ed.): 150 years of Lenzkircher watches 1851–2001 . Probst, Villingen-Schwenningen 2001, ISBN 978-3-925221-17-0 .
  • Werner Siebler-Ferry: The watch factory in Lenzkirch . Schillinger, Freiburg 2001, ISBN 3-89155-263-7 .
  • George A. Everett: Lenzkirch Clocks. The unsigned story . 2006, ISBN 978-0-9787641-0-4 .
  • Karl Kochmann: Lenzkirch Clock Factory, Winterhalder & Hofmeier Clocks . Merritt's Antiques Inc., Douglasville (USA) 2007, ISBN 978-0-933396-16-6 .

Web links

Commons : Aktiengesellschaft für Uhrenfabrikation Lenzkirch  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 47 ° 52 ′ 6.3 "  N , 8 ° 12 ′ 25.3"  E