Gustav Eduard Becker (May 2, 1819 in Oels, Silesia - September 17, 1885 in Berchtesgaden) was a German clockmaker and founder of the brand Gustav Becker. [1]
Gustav Eduard Becker (May 2, 1819 in Oels, Silesia - September 17, 1885 in Berchtesgaden) was a German clockmaker and founder of the brand Gustav Becker. [1]
Becker learned clockmaking in Silesia and enriched his skills by learning from many masters around Germany which, during that era, was the most important country in the clock industry. His great skills gave him the ability to fix clocks at the most intricate level. During his time in Vienna, he decided to start his own clock factory.
Becker came back to Silesia in 1845, and got married. In 1847, he settled in Freiburg, Lower Silesia (now Świebodzice, Poland), and that April he opened a small clock shop with a few employees to whom he taught clockmaking. First, he created clocks in the Viennese model, and thanks to his success, in 1850 he moved his business to a better business centre.
His breakthrough came in 1852 at the Silesian Clock Fair. Crowds were drawn to his works because of the quality, and he was awarded the gold medal for the best clock in the fair. In 1854 he received large orders from the British Royal Mail, and the Silesian Telegraphy Centre. After the orders, he received a fortune from the Duke of Martibore, and with this money he could pay enough to make clock cases for train stations. In the 1860s, he began to create the Classical Gustav Becker clocks. Starting from fairly simple clocks, the clocks became complex and very ornamental, and sales rose to a peak in 1875, with over 300,000 clock orders. He won at clock fairs in London, Paris, Sydney, Melbourne, Berlin and Amsterdam.
During the 1880s, the Black Forest clockmakers began competing with Becker, with good quality, less-expensive models. A well-known type of Black Forest clock is the cuckoo clock. With the decline of sales, Becker stopped selling complex clocks, and returned to making more simple designs.
Gustav Becker died on 14 September 1885 in Berchtesgaden during a stay in Bavaria. He was buried three days later in a municipal cemetery in Freiburg (now Świebodzice) to much public mourning.
The brand was created in 1899, and in 1930 it merged with Junghans, a large clockmaker in Schramberg, Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany. After the Second World War, the Gustav Becker factory's location was transferred from Germany to Poland, and clock production there ceased. Junghans continued to exist in West Germany, but clocks bearing the Becker brand were no longer produced.
A cuckoo clock is a type of clock, typically pendulum driven, that strikes the hours with a sound like a common cuckoo call and has an automated cuckoo bird that moves with each note. Some move their wings and open and close their beaks while leaning forwards, whereas others have only the bird's body leaning forward. The mechanism to produce the cuckoo call has been in use since the middle of the 18th century and has remained almost without variation.
Oleśnica is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland, within the Wrocław metropolitan area. It is the administrative seat of Oleśnica County and also of the rural district of Gmina Oleśnica, although it is not part of the territory of the latter, the town being an urban gmina in its own right.
Świebodzice is a town in south-western Poland with 22,793 inhabitants. It is situated in Świdnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their parts, by hand. Modern watchmakers, when required to repair older watches, for which replacement parts may not be available, must have fabrication skills, and can typically manufacture replacements for many of the parts found in a watch. The term clockmaker refers to an equivalent occupation specializing in clocks.
A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly to repairing clocks and watches. Clockmakers must be able to read blueprints and instructions for numerous types of clocks and time pieces that vary from antique clocks to modern time pieces in order to fix and make clocks or watches. The trade requires fine motor coordination as clockmakers must frequently work on devices with small gears and fine machinery.
Junghans Uhren GmbH is a German watch and clock manufacturer. The company is located in the district of Rottweil, in the town of Schramberg, Baden-Württemberg, southwest Germany.
Eli Terry Sr. was an inventor and clockmaker in Connecticut. He received a United States patent for a shelf clock mechanism. He introduced mass production to the art of clockmaking, which made clocks affordable for the average American citizen. Terry occupies an important place in the beginnings of the development of interchangeable parts manufacturing. Terry is considered the first person in American history to actually accomplish interchangeable parts with no government funding. Terry became one of the most accomplished mechanics in New England during the early part of the nineteenth century. The village of Terryville, Connecticut is named for his son, Eli Terry Jr.
Thomas Tompion, FRS (1639–1713) was an English clockmaker, watchmaker and mechanician who is still regarded to this day as the "Father of English Clockmaking". Tompion's work includes some of the most historic and important clocks and watches in the world, and can command very high prices whenever outstanding examples appear at auction. A plaque commemorates the house he shared on Fleet Street in London with his equally famous pupil and successor George Graham.
The Ansonia Clock Company was a clock manufacturing business founded in Ansonia, Connecticut, in 1851 and which moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 1878. The company has produced hundreds of different clock models, including Gingerbread, Porcelain, and Crystal Regulator styles. The business shut down in 2006.
Michael Pearson (1936–2017) was an acknowledged expert on Kent clocks and clock-making. He was born in Kent, England and educated at Dartford Grammar School. He served National Service with the Intelligence Corps, following which he returned to the private sector, working in sales, marketing and advertising. During this period he became a keen collector of antiques, in particular clocks and early oak furniture. His family had been a notable family antique and antiquarian book dealing business in Covent Garden since 1860, and then in Pall Mall until 1929. Pearson resurrected the old family business, moving it to Canterbury, Kent, where he specialised in antique furniture and clocks.
The German Clock Museum is situated near the centre of the Black Forest town of Furtwangen im Schwarzwald (Germany), a historical centre of clockmaking. It features permanent and temporary exhibits on the history of timekeeping. The museum is part of the local technical college.
Johann Baptist Beha was a prestigious Black Forest clockmaker born in Oberbränd (Eisenbach). He was trained by his father, the master clockmaker Vinzenz Beha (1764-1868), in his workshop where he built around 365 clocks between 1839 and 1845. At that time V. Beha was already known for the quality of his clocks, he made the so-called Shield cuckoo clocks.
Aktiengesellschaft für Uhrenfabrikation Lenzkirch was founded in 1851 in the village of Lenzkirch in Baden by Eduard Hauser who had trained in France and Switzerland. It is in the tradition of Black Forest clockmakers. Hauser, the son of a teacher, was born on 21 August 1825 and gained experience of making music boxes with Johann George Schopperle. During this same period he gained a knowledge of metalworking, precision work and the design of musical instruments, as well as a proficiency in the composing of music.
Emilian Wehrle (1832 – 1896, born in Schönenbach, was a reputed Black Forest clockmaker famous for his high-quality musical clocks. These musical clocks included the trumpeter clock, flute clock, singing bird clock, and rooster clock. These timepieces call the hour with the sound of a trumpeter, flute, bird and rooster respectively. He was also a maker of cuckoo clocks, but these were not the primary focus of the firm.
Charles Gretton was an English clock and watchmaker during the golden age of English clockmaking.
Klement of Ruszcza was a Polish nobleman and Voivode of Kraków in 1241 and from 1243 to 1252.
Adam Mokrysz is a Polish entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. The son of Teresa and Kazimierz Mokrysz, the founders of Mokate. PhD of Economics, CEO of the Mokate Group and Mokate S.A. Expert in the field of business in the FMCG industry. It actively supports the development of local communities and education. A chess fan and their popularization among children and teenagers.
The history of clockmaking in Besançon began significantly at the end of the 18th century, when Swiss clockmakers set up their first workshops in the Comtois capital. Then, little by little, the people of Besançon joined in the clockmaking fever, definitively transforming Besançon into the Capitale française de l'horlogerie at the 1860 International Exhibition, held in Place Labourey. The city produced up to 90% of French watches by 1880, and despite a crisis in the 1890s and 1900s, the clockmaking sector recovered and continued to grow. The city continued to play a leading role in the clockmaking industry until the crisis of the 1930s, and recovered before the end of World War II, but the industry lost a significant share of its activity after the end of this conflict. The 1970s brought an end to this mythical epic, as the major companies went into decline in the wake of the oil crisis.
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