Berlin clock

Berlin set theory clock at its original location at the corner of Kurfürstendamm and Uhlandstrasse in Berlin-Charlottenburg Photo
by Willy Pragher , May 1979

Berlin clock
time: 10:31 a.m.

The Berlin clock , also known as the set theory clock , is a public clock in Berlin . It was developed in 1975 by the inventor Dieter Binninger on behalf of the Berlin Senate and shows the time via a number of illuminated lamps.

history

The original

The clock, which is recorded in the Guinness Book of Records and has a total height of seven meters - including the mast - was first seen on June 17, 1975 on the median of Kurfürstendamm as the "first clock in the world to show the time with brightly colored fields" At the corner of Uhlandstrasse .

Many incandescent lamps were required for the display, which made this watch very maintenance-sensitive and for which Binninger GmbH, which bears all costs, incurred maintenance costs of around 5000 euros per year. For this reason, Binninger 1980–1982 invented devices and processes to extend the service life of incandescent lamps. Binninger died in 1991, and since neither the city nor the district of Charlottenburg wanted to pay for continued operation, the clock was taken out of service in 1995. In 1996, on the initiative of business people, it was set up again in front of the Tourist Information Center in Berlin's Europa Center on Budapester Strasse . The liquid-operated clock of flowing time is also located in the Europa-Center in Berlin .

Replicas

Because of their unusual nature at a time when digital clocks were not widely used, small replicas of the clock for home use became very popular at that time. It was also made by Dieter Binningers Berlin-Uhr GmbH as a table stand and wall model for the home and sold in Berlin souvenir shops. The devices contain a Texas Instruments TMS1000 microprocessor .

After Binninger's accidental death, the production of the Berlin clocks was taken over by the Kindermann company in Berlin-Rudow . The sale and repair of wall and table clocks continued until 2002, when their sales were discontinued. Since 2007, the Asmetec company in Kirchheimbolanden has again been selling and repairing the table clock .

A watch design was created for smartwatches with Wear OS and offered as an app for free download in three different color variants.

Display principle

Exemplary time-lapse display from 4:50 p.m. to 5:05 p.m.

Contrary to the statement "The first clock in the world that works according to the principle of set theory" on the official brochure of Binningen BERLIN-UHR GmbH for the table model, the clock has nothing to do with set theory . The time is displayed in a value system based on base 5. The hours and minutes are represented by luminous segments in four horizontally arranged stripes. There are four lights in the first, second and fourth lines and eleven lights in the third. The first two lines show the hour with red lights, with a glowing segment in the upper strip for five hours and in the lower one for one hour. The current hour results from adding up the values. Correspondingly, the minutes are displayed in the two lower lines with yellow segments in steps of five and one. The lights for 15, 30 and 45 minutes are red for better readability. There is a round flashing light above the lines that is switched on or off every second.