Museum piece
This large Junghans mantel clock from the early 1930s has a clean-lined, carefully crafted wooden case with striking, symmetrically matched wood grain. Large silver-coloured geometric numerals and slender metal hands are mounted directly on the polished wooden front. The case rests on two broad, stepped feet. Its restrained, clear design recalls the Art Deco style.
The case is exceptionally well preserved. The interior and mechanical movement are also in remarkably fine condition.
The mechanical Junghans movement is marked “Junghans Württemberg” and bears the calibre designation W203a, from the W203 movement family. Its striking mechanism produces a ding-dong chime on three rods. On the hour, it strikes the corresponding number of times; on the half-hour, it strikes once.
Some clocks accompany people through generations without revealing anything about their past. This Junghans clock has preserved a small and deeply moving memory.
Attached to the inside of its rear door is a piece of paper bearing a handwritten dedication:
“May it chime only peaceful hours for you!
Neukölln, 2 December 1932.
This is the wish of (signature illegible)”
The paper, handwriting and ink appear consistent with the period. In our view, the dedication is likely to be authentic and to date from 1932. We do not know who wrote these words or who received the clock.
The date gives us pause. Just 59 days later, on 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. The Nazi dictatorship, persecution and war followed. Looking back, the wish for peaceful hours takes on a particular poignancy.
Almost a century later, these words remain. The dedication touched us deeply. Especially today, it reminds us that peace must never be taken for granted.
We hope that this clock will chime only peaceful hours in its new home in South Korea.
Manufacturer
Schramberg · Black Forest – Baden-Württemberg · Germany
The history of the Junghans clock factory began in 1861 in Schramberg in the Black Forest. Erhard Junghans initially founded the company to manufacture clock components. From 1866, it produced its own movements and clocks. Under the leadership of his sons, particularly Arthur Junghans, the business became one of Germany's most important clock and watch manufacturers. By 1903, with more than 3,000 employees and annual production exceeding three million timepieces, Junghans was the world's largest clock and watch factory.
The company made wall clocks, table clocks, alarm clocks, pocket watches and, later, wristwatches. In 1890, its familiar eight-pointed star trademark took on the distinctive form still recognised today. Alongside mechanical horology, Junghans began exploring electrical drives at an early stage. From around 1930, it produced electric pendulum clocks in cooperation with the French company ATO.
During the Second World War, Junghans was involved in German armaments production. Its factories manufactured ammunition fuses, among other products, and used forced labourers and prisoners of war. Civilian clock and watch production resumed as early as 1946.
The Nuremberg-based Diehl Group acquired Junghans in 1956. The company remained an important manufacturer of mechanical large clocks while developing new technologies. In 1971, it introduced the Astro-Quarz, its first German quartz wristwatch. Over the following decades, development increasingly focused on electronic timekeeping. A radio-controlled table clock appeared in 1986, followed in 1990 by the MEGA 1, the world's first radio-controlled wristwatch.
After several changes of ownership and an insolvency in 2008, Schramberg entrepreneurs Hans-Jochem and Hannes Steim took over the clock and watch business in 2009. The Junghans brand continues at its historic Schramberg location. Since 2018, the listed Terrassenbau, a former production building dating from 1917–1918, has housed a museum devoted to the history of clock and watchmaking.