Nuremberg egg

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Nuremberg egg (disambiguation) .

Egg-shaped pocket watch from the 2nd half of the 16th century

As Nuremberg eggs earlier were pocket watches with spring mechanism and an oval shape called. At that time, Nuremberg was home to the world's best craftsmen and fine smiths.

origin of the name

The designation "egg" does not come from the shape of the clocks, but rather (as "Eierlein") a corruption of "Aeurlein", ie Ührlein. It is true that they were often ascribed to the Nuremberg precision mechanic Peter Henlein (also in fiction literature) , as he made the first watches that could be worn on the body around 1510 . However, there are doubts that he is the author of the Nuremberg eggs, because the first dates are around 1550 after his death (1542). Peter Henlein built clocks in the form of tall, cylindrical boxes as well as small balls in the shape of a muskrat . The well-known egg-shaped clocks only date from the second half of the 16th century and cannot be associated with Peter Henlein.

Gait regulation with torsion pendulum

The portable clock only became possible with the invention of the mainspring before 1430. This made it possible to reduce the size of the large weight-driven clocks. B. Place on a table. The exact timing of the further reduction is controversial. There are reports from late 15th century Italy that suggest wearable clocks. What is certain is that since Peter Henlein they could be accommodated in a case the size of a hand. The invention of the mainspring and the torsion pendulum as clock generators were often attributed to Peter Henlein , but such regulators were already in use in the early 15th century. Henlein, at the latest, took care of miniaturization.

The regularity of the oscillation determines the accuracy of the watch. However, because every movement of the wearer adds torsion, the watch's movement was quite irregular. It was not until 1657, patented by Christiaan Huygens, that the escapement with balance wheel and hairspring improved the daily clock rate to around 10 seconds.

Web links

• Henlein time clocks

Remarks

1. ↑ Cf. for example Johann Ferdinand Roth : Von den Nürnberger Eierlein. In: The new German Merkur. 1808, No. 2, pp. 261-267.
2. ↑ Carl Spindler : The Nuremberg Sophocles. In: Morgenblatt for educated readers. Volume 33, 1839, pp. 2 f., 5 f., 11 f., 14 f., 17 f. and 22 f. (Continuation of the amendment in six parts).
3. ↑ Walter Harlan : The Nuremberg egg. Tragedy in four acts. Fleischel, Berlin 1913.