Austrian horology

Sur ce cadran provenant d'une horloge,
on peut lire "Johann Michael
Grossuhrmacher in Wien Anno 1790".

While Europe yielded to industrialisation, Vienna retained its watchmaking tradition. By dint of unique timepieces and limited editions, it rose to prominence at the dawn of the 19th century in the most illustrious court.

One of Europe's watch manufacturing centres. Such was Vienna's privileged position in the late 18th century. Hardly surprising given that at the time it was viewed as the most open and wealthy city in the German-speaking world. But it is only by browsing works such as "Viennese Timepieces" by Frederick Kaltenböch that we can gain an insight into how this phenomenon was possible.

Many clockmakers were already plying their trade in 15th-century Vienna. They did so despite the tight restrictions imposed on aspiring masters. Unfortunately, the most talented among them moved to Prague when it became the residential town of the Emperor. It was there in fact that the most important workshops of the court had settled. Admittedly, their potential customers were attractive, to say the least: foreign dignitaries, ambassadors, aristocrats, rich merchants, and so forth.

Spanners in the works

Times were favourable to the overall development of the clock and watch industry, thanks in particular to the invention of small-format pieces. However, because their time-telling accuracy remained unsatisfactory, they were collected rather than used on an everyday basis. They were highly symbolic. Their mechanism and their regular movement embodied the creative perfection of which the Architect of the Universe was capable, in other words the absolute Master of Time. However, the Thirty Years' War (1618-48) and its aftermath would put a stop to things.

The clock making craft became synonymous with precariousness. From then on, people strove to repair old timekeepers rather than create new ones. Especially since a preference was emerging for English and French products over German ones. They would remain fashionable until the turn of the 18th century. So much so that their influence was absorbed by Viennese creations, which soon led to the development of a highly distinctive style.

Quality for want of quantity

On the other hand, luxury watchmaking was viewed as a demonstration of power. This is why the State and the Church were among its main customers. The former using it as a tribute payable to dissuade the Turks from engaging in further aggression, and the latter to assert its supremacy over other religions. For both, the effect alone mattered. Once peace was brokered with the Turks, the masters preferred to continue making highly complex masterpieces rather than products of broader practical use. Hence the continuation of several small workshops favouring unique timepieces at a time when division of labour and standardisation were beginning to make themselves felt in the country (late 18th century).

Yet it was thanks to the spirit of innovation of these houses that the Viennese clock and watch industry made its mark. Because although it is true to say that it could never compete in terms of quantity or foreign production prices, it did succeed in creating exceptional artistic wealth, variety and, above all, quality. Assets that made Vienna the hub of the German clock and watch industry and one of Europe's main watchmaking centres.

Richly illustrated with photographs, "Viennese Timepieces" provides a good insight into it.

Sylvie Guerreiro

"Viennese Timepieces", Frederick Kaltenböch, 1993, éd. Nicolaus Günther.