Georg Abeler
Georg Abeler (born September 14, 1906 in Münster , † June 10, 1981 in Wuppertal - Elberfeld ) was a German master goldsmith , watchmaker and founder of the Wuppertal watch museum .
Abeler family
Georg Abeler came from a family of watchmakers and goldsmiths, from which 26 watchmakers and goldsmiths have emerged in six generations. His great-grandfather Anton Gottfried Fränken was a watchmaker. In 1831 he went rolling . At the end of his traveling book there is an entry of a bet: “If I have not finished the regulator , which I started at the beginning of this month, at the end of October, I owe Mr. Emil Wilyet a good dinner.” How the bet turned out is not known, but the regulator was completed and hung in his newly founded watch shop in Elberfeld in 1840.
This regulator also hung in the workshop of his son Carl Fränken. It later passed from him to his son-in-law Heinrich Abeler, who had set up his own business in Münster (Westphalia) in 1898. Ten of Heinrich Abeler's eleven sons became master watchmakers and goldsmiths. Only one struck out of the way; he “only” became a lawyer and notary . His doctoral thesis, however, dealt with the labor market in the Black Forest watch industry .
Georg Abeler, as the fifth son of Heinrich Abeler, passed his master craftsman's examination in goldsmithing in 1932 and opened his company on March 5, 1933 in the grandfather's half-timbered house in Fränken in Elberfeld, which after the death of Carl Fränken from his son Willi and after his death in 1919 from was continued by his widow, and also received the regulator of his great-grandfather. Later, this precision watch with a 3-week movement found a place of honor in the rooms of the Wuppertal Clock Museum, on the wall of which was written: "Good for those who like to remember their fathers."
During Georg Abeler's captivity from March 1944 to October 1946, his wife continued to run the business. In 1951 he acquired Carl Fränken's shares in the company. In 1981 Jürgen Abeler took over responsibility for the company as managing partner. After his death in 2010, his son, Henrik Abeler, took over the company.
In August 2017, the Abeler family announced the closure of the business. Apart from the changed economic situation in the jewelry and watch industry, it was the question of the successor that brought about the decision, as no one from the next generation wanted to continue the business. So the decision was made with a heavy heart to close the traditional store. Just over a year later, however, the family opened a new jewelry store elsewhere, which is limited to exclusive jewelry and watches in the top price segment.
Abeler Clock Museum
On March 24, 1955, Georg Abeler bought the clock collection of the late attorney Heinrich Nils Antoine-Feill at auction on the Hohenzollernring in Cologne . As a result, the whole Abeler family, especially son Jürgen Abeler, became enthusiastic watch collectors. As the crowning glory of his watch collecting hobby, Georg Abeler opened the Wuppertal watch museum in the vaults of the parent company on Poststrasse in 1958 , which over the years has developed into one of the most universal collections on the subject of watches and time measurement with around 2000 exhibits from 5000 years .
In 2016 the watch museum was closed, according to Henrik Abeler the reason was the steadily declining number of visitors. Most of the collection was auctioned at the end of the year.
Accidents in the Elberfeld headquarters
During the air raid on Elberfeld on 24./25. June 1943, the parent company was completely destroyed, but then rebuilt through great personal commitment by Georg Abeler.
In August 1973 a gas explosion tore open the main building. Three people died under the rubble, and Georg Abeler's son Karl Abeler was among the dead. The exact circumstances of the explosion have never been clarified. Again the building was rebuilt with united forces.
Others
- A staircase built in 1920 with 73 steps in Elberfeld ( 51 ° 15 ′ 36.1 ″ N , 7 ° 9 ′ 52.2 ″ E ) connects Gartenstrasse and Hofkamp and was later named after Georg Abeler.
Web links
- Former official website of the museum
- WDR local time October 12, 2006 - Georg Abeler
- Entry on important personalities in the watch industry on trustedwatch.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Proof of historical sources in company German Economic Archives, accessed May 2008
- ^ University of Bonn - Department of Language and Communication Source number 262 ( Memento from June 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ https://wuppertal-total.de/stadtleben/juwelier-abeler-schliesst-geschaefte
- ↑ https://www.wz.de/nrw/wuppertal/abeler-eroeffnet-neu-im-elberfelder-rathaus_aid-24976779
- ↑ https://www.solinger-tageblatt.de/rhein-wupper/abeler-schliesst-uhrenmuseum-6725422.html
- ↑ http://www.wz.de/lokales/wuppertal/abeler-1000-uhren-in-drei-stunden-versteigert-1.2315528
- ^ Wolfgang Stock: Wuppertal street names . Thales Verlag, Essen-Werden 2002, ISBN 3-88908-481-8
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Abeler, Georg |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German master goldsmith, watchmaker and founder of the Wuppertal watch museum |
DATE OF BIRTH | September 14, 1906 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Muenster |
DATE OF DEATH | June 10, 1981 |
Place of death | Wuppertal - Elberfeld |