Bernhard Zachariä GmbH
The Bernard Zacharia GmbH is a Turmuhrenfabrik in Leipzig . It is the oldest of its kind still in existence in Germany.
history
In 1808 Christian Friedrich Zachariä established himself as a watchmaker on the market in Leipzig . He also began to make larger clocks, and by 1840 he was the town's council clockmaker. His son Bernhard Zachariä entered the business and began producing tower clocks in 1864. The movements, dials and hands were made by hand. Two years later, 77 copies were made. Although other members of the family joined the management team, for example Alwin Tretbar in 1872, the company kept the name Bernhard Zachariä to this day.
The production facility in Wiesenstrasse (today Gustav-Mahler-Strasse) was enlarged, and in the 1880s 25 employees produced around 150 clocks here each year, which were intended for churches, schools and factories. The company became a supplier to the royal Saxon court . In addition to the tower clock division in Schillerstraße, she also ran a “normal” watch shop with pocket watches, pendulum clocks and alarm clocks.
The international importance of the tower clock business is proven by a catalog from 1895, which includes branches in Bremen and Hamburg as well as branches in Riga , Moscow , Odessa , London , Bucharest , Madrid and Constantinople .
During the GDR era, the company was initially semi-public in 1955 and completely nationalized in 1972. It was now called " VEB Spezialuhren Leipzig". With his 30 employees, he practically had the monopoly of building clocks and glockenspiel in the entire Eastern Bloc . In 1991 the company was re-privatized and got its traditional name again. The new market situation and the technical development after the fall of the Wall resulted in a sharp reduction in staff. In 1995 the company moved into a new production hall in the Schönefeld-Abtnaundorf industrial park in Leipzig.
After an initial technical collaboration, in 1999 the tower clocks and bell systems Perrot GmbH & Co. KG from Calw in Baden-Württemberg took over the independent Bernhard Zachariä GmbH as the parent company . The managing directors at Zachariä are the brothers Andreas and Johannes Perrot.
Products (selection)
As early as 1897, the company had delivered over 3,000 tower clocks. Here are some examples from their later production:
Old City Hall Leipzig
Krochhochhaus Leipzig
Hamburger Michel
Saigerhütte Grünthal
Frauenkirche Meißen
- until 1945
- Old Town Hall in Leipzig
- Krochhochhaus in Leipzig
- St. Michaelis Hamburg (Michel)
- Hut tavern of the Saigerhütte Grünthal
- Resurrection Church in Dresden
- Martin Luther Church in Dresden
- Frauenkirche Meißen (carillon)
- Stadtkirche Frauenstein
- Lockwitz Castle Church
Red City Hall Berlin
The Zwinger of Dresden
Strohsack-Passage Leipzig
- after 1945
- Red City Hall Berlin
- The Zwinger of Dresden
- Tower of the former Marienkirche in Wismar
- Flower clocks u. a. in Eilenburg , Guben , Borna and Neustadt / Orla
- Main Post Office in Sanaa (Yemen)
- Beijing Telegraph Office
- Floor clock in the Strohsack-Passage Leipzig
literature
- Horst Riedel, Thomas Nabert (ed.): Stadtlexikon Leipzig from A to Z . 1st edition. Pro Leipzig, Leipzig 2005, ISBN 3-936508-03-8 , pp. 656 .
Web links
- Company website. Retrieved June 17, 2019 .
- Johanna Kelch: Germany's oldest tower clock factory: Lord of the times. In: MDR time travel. Retrieved June 17, 2019 .
- Bernhard Zachariä tower clock factory. In: Watch Wiki. Retrieved June 17, 2019 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gina Klank, Gernoth Griebsch: Encyclopedia Leipziger street names . Ed .: City Archives Leipzig. 1st edition. Verlag im Wissenschaftszentrum Leipzig, Leipzig 1995, ISBN 3-930433-09-5 , p. 92 .
- ↑ Award of court titles. In: Archives Saxony. Retrieved June 20, 2019 .
- ↑ Germany's oldest tower clock factory: Lord of the times
- ↑ Zachariä Today. Retrieved June 23, 2019 .