Glashütte rediscovers the path to dials

Glashütte rediscovers the path to dials

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the East German town has revived the prestigious watchmaking past shattered by the Communist regime. Over the past decade, leading brands such as Lange & Söhne have re-emerged.

Tucked deep in the East German countryside, between Dresden, Saxony Florence and the Czech border, stands the small town of Glashütte, to whose ticking beat the entire valley of Müglitz proudly marches. The history of this town, once renowned for its silver mines, has been inextricably linked since 1845 with that of its clock and watch industry. In the space of a few years, the name Glashütte became synonymous with flawless and innovative timepieces. Barely one century later, however, its activity would be reduced to silence by the arrival of the Communists in Germany at the end of the Second World War. Its incredible revival, some 10 years ago, has elevated its status to one of the leading names in prestige watchmaking, reminding us once again that legends never die.

The creation of a brand

Ferdinand Adolph Lange

The story therefore began in 1845, when Ferdinand Adolph Lange opened the first watch workshop in the small mining town of Glashütte. Born in 1815, the same year as the conclusion of the Holy Alliance which saw the Kingdom of Saxony become a sovereign and independent state, this son of a Dresden gunsmith was apprenticed to one of the country's most acclaimed watchmakers, Johan Christian Friedrich Gutkaes. His exceptional gifts, honed by a journey of apprenticeship that would take him to the greatest watchmakers of France, Switzerland and England, swiftly made Ferdinand a specialist in this craft. Buoyed by knowledge gained from the most creative masters in Europe and by an unrivalled mastery and passion for high-precision mechanics, he eventually returned to his homeland and set up his own business, but not before marrying the daughter of his former master.

So off he went in 1845 to set up his first workshop in the town of Glashütte, which had been left relatively impoverished by the declining mining industry, thus ushering in an era of prosperity for the entire valley and the creation of an exceptional watch brand.

Growing acclaim

Julius Assmann, one of the watchmakers of Glashütte

As the firm A. Lange & Söhne expanded and improved, it was not long before watchmakers moved into the town. Craftsmen such as Julius Assman, Ludwig Strasser, Johannes Durrstein, Adolf Schneider, Strasser und Rohde and Ernst Kassiske, all helped to build Glashütte's reputation alongside Lange. What's more, they would shape its future since the current trademark "Glashütte Original" is an indirect descendant of theirs. But that's another story. In 1878, Moritz Grossman founded the German School of Watchmaking and transformed the region for ever into a bastion of high precision watchmaking.

In the years that followed, Glashütte's industry won increasing acclaim as a manufacturer of first-class watches designed for consumers seeking timepieces that combined a sophisticated and high-precision mechanism with a modern and elegant design. The watchmaking firms prospered and the town also witnessed the emergence of a myriad of small workshops specialising in the manufacture of jewels for watches and items such as screws, wheels, springs and hands. As for the company A. Lange & Söhne, its heirs have carried on its tradition with flair and expertise. The Universal Exhibition of 1900 was awe-inspired by its flawless mechanics, and the outstanding reputation of its watches enabled the company to continue operating without interruption, despite the political and economic situation facing Europe in the early decades of the century. The Second World War, however, was brewing.

Collapse

After war was declared, industry in Glashütte remained unscathed as a result of its redeployment. From high-end watches made for an elite few, it redirected its production towards the manufacture of wristwatches for pilots and marine chronometers. The young Walter Lange was conscripted. He returned seriously injured in 1945, just in time, it seems, to witness the destruction of the main production building during an air raid by the Russian army, only hours before the Armistice was declared.

As the town's industries surfaced slowly from their ashes, the firm of Lange seemed ill-fated. No sooner had the family managed to recover production than an expropriation order issued by the Socialist government dispossessed the Lange family of their business, placing it under State ownership. Despite Walter's flat refusal, which would precipitate his flight to West Germany to avoid reprisals by the East German authorities, A. Lange & Söhne would be incorporated into the watchmaking complex which brought together all the operational factories and placed them under the authority of the State. In 1951, the name Lange & Söhne disappeared from dials.

German reunification

The incredible rebirth of Glashütte's watchmaking industry a decade ago marks a major turning point in the development of the world's watch industry. The town remained faithful to the manufacture of mechanical watches - at the height of the flood of quartz hitting Europe in the 1970s - and is now home to a watch industry of inimitable prowess which uses flair and leading-edge technology to carry forward the tradition of its old Masters.

The fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification finally provided Walter Lange with the opportunity to return to Glashütte and to reclaim his family's legacy. With backing from the Swiss company LMH, Walter brought the famous brand back to life. On 7 June 1990, Lange Uhren GmbH was entered in the Dresden Register of Commerce and the trademark A. Lange & Söhne was simultaneously filed worldwide once again.

Lange was recently acquired by the Richemont Group, heralding benefits to German manufacturing, a dominant position in the global luxury watch market and a secure future for the company.