Johann Jacob Möllinger

Johann Jacob Möllinger (born December 4, 1695 in Dühren , † January 17, 1763 in Neustadt an der Haardt ) (now Neustadt an der Weinstrasse) was a German Mennonite watchmaker .

Life

Dial of a Möllinger grandfather clock

Jacob Möllinger was the eldest child of Vincenz Möllinger (* November 22, 1668 Guntersblum , † December 27, 1748 Ruchheim ) and Veronika Nagelin or Maylin (* February 8, 1674 Dühren, † March 7, 1753 Ruchheim). Möllinger had eight sons and a daughter Judith, who, like their father, ran the watchmaking trade. But none of them achieved the skills of their father.

When Jacob Möllinger died on January 17, 1763 after a life rich in recognition and success, his second wife Elisabeth, née. Sintzenisch (⚭ February 19, 1742 Neustadt / W.) Continued her husband's business as a widow and handed it over to their son Elias in 1787 (born September 26, 1754 Neustadt / W., † January 4, 1799 Neustadt / W.). Between 1763 and 1787 Elisabeth signed the clocks with “Jacob Möllinger Wittib” . Two other sons were also successful as watchmakers: Christian Möllinger , the twin brother of Elias (born September 26, 1754 Neustadt / W., † January 24, 1826 Berlin) was a senior watchmaker in Berlin and built the first normal watch for the Berlin Academy of the Arts . Daniel was a watchmaker in Mannheim (born May 28, 1746 Neustadt / W., † May 31, 1794 Mannheim).

Johann Jacob Möllinger is also a maternal ancestor of the Kelly Family . David Möllinger , a brother of Jacob Möllinger, was an extremely successful farmer in Monsheim .

Services

Möllinger employed up to ten journeymen in his workshop. His watches are widespread and went as far as North America. A grandfather clock from 1754 has also been preserved at Branchweilerhof .

Scissor escapement

Several tower clocks were also delivered from his workshop ; they include:

• The clock of the old gate in Speyer .
• The tower clock of the Dreifaltigkeitskirche with 4/4 striking mechanism in Worms from 1742. The work is now stored in the Worms Museum.
• The tower clock in St. George's Church in Wachenheim an der Weinstrasse from 1755. The escapement was converted from scissor escapement to hook escapement .
• The church tower clock of the Catholic Church in Offenbach an der Queich from 1769. The clock was in operation until 1993 and was then replaced by an electronic clockwork.

As an escapement, Möllinger preferably used the scissor escapement, which was often used in the middle of the 18th century , a very robust, easy-to-manufacture escapement well suited for tower clocks. Since this escapement is one of the static escapements , if the pendulum rod is well impregnated against moisture-related changes in length , it guarantees a very high accuracy (the change in length due to temperature fluctuations only plays a very minor role in wooden pendulums ).

Picture gallery

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  Tower clock of the old gate clock in Speyer

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  Tower clock of the Trinity Church in Worms (1742)

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  Tower clock in St George's Church in Wachenheim (1755)

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  Tower clock Offenbach / Pfalz (1769)

literature

• Frank Konersmann: The guest book of the Mennonite farming family David Möllinger Senior 1781-1817 . Verlag der Rheinhessische Druckwerkstätte Alzey, 2009, ISBN 978-3-87854-218-6 .
• Kurt Langmantl: Möllinger, a privileged watchmaker dynasty . In: Classic clocks; 5-2009, Ebner Verlag Ulm; P. 24f.

Web links

Commons : Johann Jacob Moellinger  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Grandfather clock in the Museum of the City of Worms Klaus Thyes
• The clock of the Dreifaltigkeitskirche in Worms Klaus Thyes

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jürgen Abeler: Master of the watchmaking art. Wuppertal 1977, p. 434
2. ↑ Mennonite Research Center , Am Hollerbrunnen 2a, 67295 Bolanden-Weierhof
3. ↑ Genealogy of the Möllinger ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at thewatchmaker.eu, accessed March 24, 2012 
4. ↑ Jakob Möllinger. A Mennonite as a craftsman ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in Branchweilerhof