Museum piece
The symmetrically designed wooden case is topped by a gently curved hood that frames the round dial. Its warm wood grain is complemented by softly shaped side sections and small carved details. The brass-coloured dial features black Arabic numerals and an outer 24-hour scale. The most striking detail is the raised relief ornament in the centre: it forms a sculptural frame around the hands’ axis and gives the dial depth and an elegant decorative character.
Inside the case is a mechanical pendulum movement with a Bim-Bam strike on three chime rods. It strikes once on the half hour and counts the hours on the hour. After the case and movement were cleaned and oiled, the clock has kept very accurate time. Its observed rate variation is no more than one minute per week—a remarkably good result for a clock of this age.
We found this clock at an outdoor flea market, in a box of assorted discarded items. It was covered in a brown layer of grime, and the dial had become heavily tarnished. We bought it, then cleaned and oiled the case and movement. Today it stands in our dining room. To us, it is a reminder that with patience and care, an unassuming flea-market find can once again become a valued part of everyday life.
Manufacturer
Leipzig · Saxony · Germany
Berger & Würker was founded in Leipzig on 1 February 1885 by Rudolf Louis Berger and Otto Heinrich Richard Würker. The company operated as a wholesaler of clocks, clock parts and watchmakers’ tools, and also traded in gold and silver goods and cutlery.
Alongside its wholesale business, the firm was producing clocks by the 1880s. It sourced movements from suppliers in the Black Forest; Lenzkirch movements were used in many of its larger clocks. Its range included domestic clocks of various kinds and so-called “Phantasie” alarm clocks. It also made clocks in the English style for export to England.
In 1893, co-founder Würker retired from business. Rudolf Berger brought in his older brother Otto as a partner and later continued as sole proprietor. In 1905 the firm advertised a time recorder for watchmen, protected by its own patent. It celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1910, and in 1913 received the Saxon State Prize at an exhibition for a clock that is not identified more specifically in the surviving account.
Before the First World War, the company’s trade included Parisian mantel clocks, travel alarm clocks, clocks by Furtwängler, as well as record and gramophone equipment. During the 1920s Berger & Würker was listed primarily as a clock wholesaler. In 1933 it advertised as a general representative for Kienzle clocks. In 1948 it became a limited partnership (KG). Berger & Würker was deleted from the commercial register on 22 May 1967.
The B & W and B.W.L. marks are associated with wall and longcase clocks. The B.W.L. mark was registered on 17 September 1912.