Richard Lange (watchmaker)

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Richard Lange (born December 17, 1845 in Dresden , † October 29, 1932 in Oberlößnitz ) was a watchmaker , inventor and entrepreneur .

Live and act

Lange was born as the second oldest child and oldest son of watchmaker Ferdinand Adolph Lange . After training with his father and other watchmakers, he also attended the Royal Master Craftsman School in Chemnitz.

In 1868 he joined his father's watchmaking company as a co-owner, which from then on operated under the name A. Lange & Söhne . His younger brother Emil Lange joined them three years later . With the death of their father in 1875, Richard and Emil took over the management of the company until Richard had to retire from the management position in 1887 for health reasons.

Between 1890 and 1909 Lange took over the chairmanship of the supervisory board of the German watchmaking school in Glashütte .

Long country house in Oberlößnitz

Richard Lange (Paul Alfred Lange), acquired a vineyard property in Oberlößnitz in 1908 (deviating: 1910) . A vineyard and a nursery belonged to the property. In September 1908, Lange applied for all the old vineyard buildings on his property to be demolished in order to have a new building built there based on a design by the architect Paul Ziller . Based on a counter-design by the Saxon Heritage Protection Association , the architect of the Ziller brothers' construction company , Max Steinmetz, created a new design that was approved in June 1909. The purchase permit was granted in March 1910.

Lange, who had inherited his father's watchmaking talent, invented numerous innovations and improvements for Lange watches: He came up with a total of 27 patents and utility models for the family company. Probably the most far-reaching discovery is hidden behind the patent “Metal alloy for watch springs” from 1931. Lange found out that the alloys for balance springs could be improved significantly by adding beryllium , which paved the way for the Nivarox hairspring, which is still used today used in most quality mechanical watches.

Lange himself did not live to see the success of the last-mentioned discovery, he died a good year after the patent was granted in October 1932 in Oberlößnitz. His funeral took place in Glashütte.

Awards

In 1915, Lange was awarded the Knight's Cross, First Class, with the crown of the Saxon Order of Albrecht .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gaebler Genealologie: Richard Lange (I3405). Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  2. ↑ a b c watch-wiki.org: Lange, Richard (1845-1932). Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  3. ↑ a b c Volker Helas (arrangement): City of Radebeul . Ed .: State Office for Monument Preservation Saxony, Large District Town Radebeul (=  Monument Topography Federal Republic of Germany . Monuments in Saxony ). SAX-Verlag, Beucha 2007, ISBN 978-3-86729-004-3 , p. 299 f .
  4. ↑ A. Lange & Sons: The way to world fame. ( Memento of August 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  5. ^ Nivarox. ( Memento of July 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  6. ^ According to the address book of Dresden and suburbs. 1915. Part VI, p. 395.
personal data
SURNAME Long, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Watchmaker and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH December 17, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH Dresden
DATE OF DEATH October 29, 1932
Place of death Oberloessnitz