Clock Museum Winterthur
The Clock Museum Winterthur is located in the same building as the Winterthur Trade Museum , in the old town of Winterthur in Switzerland .
history
The world-class collection, which Konrad Kellenberger (1907–1976) had compiled over a period of 44 years, became the property of the City of Winterthur in 1970. Then it was first shown under the name Uhrensammlung Kellenberger in the Winterthur town hall . In 1999 the collection was able to move into its own premises in the newly renovated and expanded Winterthur Commercial Museum on Kirchplatz. In 2012 the Kellenberger watch collection received a prominent addition: the pocket watch collection of Oscar Schwank (* 1937) came to Winterthur with around 220 exhibits and has since enriched the Kellenberger watch collection. At the same time, the museum holdings were expanded with collection items. The holdings of the collection were enriched and completed through loans, donations and bequests, but also new acquisitions.
In autumn 2017 the name was changed to the Clock Museum Winterthur in order to do justice to the collections with an international reputation. Today the Clock Museum in Winterthur shows clocks from six centuries. Many of the movements of the watches on display are active, so that their ticking accompanies the visit to the museum.
Exhibition and focus
Konrad Kellenberger watch collection
Konrad Kellenberger's collection shows iron house clocks from the 15th to 17th centuries from German and French-speaking countries, as well as console clocks from the Liechti family of watchmakers in Winterthur . Another focus of the collection is the collection of Swiss wooden clocks from the 17th to 19th centuries. In contrast to this are the ornate splendor clocks from the Renaissance, including the monstrance from Augsburg around 1600. The clock history is supplemented with sundials , hourglasses , lantern clocks, pendulum clocks and pocket watches. The collection also includes rarities and collector's items, all of which testify to the craftsmanship.
Kellenberger worked as a mechanic at the Technikum Winterthur . For the lessons he made models and found access to the phenomenon of time measurement through technology . His first small Black Forest clock , bought in 1925 , was probably made by Josef Sorg, a German clockmaker who developed a miniature wall clock based on the Black Forest model around 1830. Gradually, his collection increased to include ever rarer watches, which were also joined by old tools and machines. In 1975, five more iron console clocks by Erhard Liechti were added to the first watch from the Liechti watchmaking dynasty from Winterthur .
Oscar Schwank pocket watch collection
The Clock Museum Winterthur is also showing Oscar Schwank's pocket watch collection. Before the public presentation in the Clock Museum in Winterthur, Oscar Schwank's collection was known only to a small group of initiated. The clocks from this collection demonstrate technical skill and artistic sophistication and also testify to wealth and representation appropriate to their class. The historical pocket watches from the 16th to 20th centuries are presented in the permanent exhibition as a concentrated selection, which at the same time tells the history of the development of portable watches. The collection includes some of the rare revolutionary clocks from the years 1793–1795, evidence of a decimal era that was introduced during the French Revolution . The fact that the portable clock was also a toy for the wealthy class is shown by the rare pocket watches with machine figures, some of which are themselves equipped with a musical mechanism.
Oscar Schwank (* 1937) laid the groundwork for his extraordinary private collection at a young age during his apprenticeship as a watchmaker when he bought his first antique silver watch. Later he was not only the owner of his own watch shop in Zurich / Switzerland, but also a passionate collector of antique watches.
literature
- Adolf Schenk, The clockmakers of Winterthur and their works, 290th New Year's sheet of the Winterthur City Library, Winterthur 1959
- Adolf Schenk, The watchmaker family Liechti von Winterthur and their works, published by the City of Winterthur on the opening of the watch collection, Winterthur 1970
- Dr. H. Bertele, Konrad Kellenberger's clock collection in the Winterthur town hall, Separatum from the Winterthur yearbook 1971
- Kellenberger Winterthur watch collection, Swiss Art Guide, Ed. Society for Swiss Art History, Basel 1974
- In memory of Konrad Kellenberger February 9, 1907 - January 21, 1976, Winterthur 1976
- The clocks in Swiss peasant art, Konrad Kellenberger (1907–1976), special print from “Alte Uhren”, 3rd year, issue 1/1980, pp. 9–21
- Adolf Schenk, Georg von Holtey, The watchmaker family Liechti von Winterthur and their works, newly revised and updated text of the booklet by Adolf Schenk, published in 1970 for the opening of the Kellenberger clock collection of the city of Winterthur, edited by Uhrensammlung Kellenberger, Winterthur 2006
- Exhibition guide through the clock collection Kellenberger Winterthur, revised and expanded version of the Swiss art guide for the clock collection Kellenberger Winterthur from 1974, Winterthur o. J.
- The time of small clocks, Oscar Schwank collection, published by Kellenberger clock collection, Winterthur 2012
Web links
Coordinates: 47 ° 29 '57.2 " N , 8 ° 43' 46.1" E ; CH1903: six hundred ninety-seven thousand two hundred fifty-nine / 261,742