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b) Glashütte Watch Museum After a brief lunch in the conference room, we were led to the town's watch museum. For several years, this museum was housed at the factory's premises. Only a year ago, it was moved to a building higher up the mountain; just in time before the catastrophic flooding last year, which would otherwise have destroyed many of its wonderful pieces. In the museum, we saw the economic history of the town, which went from silver mining to watch making, reflecting the development of the world outside. The production of military watches during World War II, the concentration and nationalisation by the communists, the mass production of cheap watches for the socialist countries, the forced autarky due to the lack of economic relations with the West, finally the rebirth after Germany's reunification, and the difficult times following. All is shown in the museum by means of exemplary timepieces. It is a fascinating collection, which unfortunately is still too cramped and needs a larger and more representative home.
c) Watch making School Following was the visit to the watch making school, which was founded some years ago. Financed by the Glashütter Uhrenbetrieb, young people study not only watch making, but also tool making. Besides, all apprentices have to learn English and French, and after graduation, will have the opportunity to work within the huge Swatch group. Interestingly, we saw mostly girls!
Meanwhile, the carefully planned schedule was reduced to ruins. We were hopelessly late, so the following demonstration of the large GO collection had to be kept very brief; our "Phaetons" were waiting already to transport us to their place of birth: Volkswagen's "glass manufacture" in Dresden. d) Volkswagen "Glass Manufactory" When I first heard about this car production facility, I thought of a public relations gag: an industrial complex somewhere in the countryside, with a glass wall allowing a glimpse on what is happening inside. How wrong I was!
In fact, the watch manufacturing at GO is a worthy comparison with that car production. The "Phaeton" is really assembled by hand! There are but two robots for the assembly of major, very heavy components. All the rest is done by hand, in a fully transparent hall, on a conveyor belt that is covered with fine wood parquet. There is noise, no dirt, and no grime. Everything is done smoothly, without haste. The people work on a specific car, and are responsible for its quality. Whenever something is not fully correct, they have to stop the belt, until the problem is solved. A customer, who ordered a "Phaeton" may visit "his" car whenever he wants, and he is led into the production hall where he can speak to the workers busy making his car. Unfortunately, we ran out of time again, so our visit had to be kept too short.
The evening found us, together with Dr. Müller and his staff, in a nice and traditional restaurant, which even brews its own beer. Back in the hotel, many of us preferred to stay awake and discuss watches in the bar until very late that night.
4. Day 2 a) Meissen Porcelain Manufactory The next day started even earlier than the day before. At 8.30 am we were picked up (this time by bus) from the hotel and brought to Meissen, a very beautiful medieval town not far from Dresden.
Meissen has become famous for being the first place in Europe where porcelain was produced. In 1710, king August II. the Strong founded the porcelain factory. At that time, the secret of making china was considered so valuable, that the factory was established in the safety of the large castle located above the town. The company with the crossed swords in their sign still exists today, albeit in a large factory outside the castle, exercising a continuous tradition in making finest chinaware. Besides the tradition as being one of the most famous cultural assets of Saxony, Meissen is also important for us watch enthusiasts: Since years, Glashütte Original cooperated with the china factory, and issued limited series of watches equipped with hand-painted Meissen porcelain dials. First, we were led by the master of the painting department through a demonstration workshop, where we could observe every step of the china production, and of course the painting of the delicate ornaments, Meissen china has become so famous of.
Afterwards, while we sipped on a glass of local champagne, we were told about the difficulties of making a porcelain watch dial. Not only must the material not be thicker than half a millimetre, it also has to be completely flat. In fact, the hand painting is the least complicated part, and sometimes, due to the delicacy of the material, disaster strikers: We were shown a fully completed watch dial, which broke apart as the artist tried to lift it off its base.
A member of our group was so fascinated by the whole porcelain production, that he immediately ordered two dishes, which were to be painted with the same subjects adorning his own watches with Meissen dials. b) Proschwitz Castle Vineyard
Until now, our wonderful hosts showed some of the most interesting and beautiful production traditions of Saxony: watches, cars, and porcelain. That winemaking, too, belongs to the Saxon traditions, is less known even. Yet the country is Europe's northernmost centre of wine production; and does this in a very high quality. This we could prove for ourselves, since we were invited for a lunch in the old Proschwitz castle. Its owner, the Prinz zur Lippe, is producing Saxony's most prestigious and exclusive wines. Together with the several delicious courses of the meal, we could try appropriate wines, and they all tasted wonderful!
c) Dresden City Tour Back to Dresden, we were now shown around the town, and the tour guide informed us about the history of the city and its treasures. While so many marvellous old buildings make the city one of the most beautiful of Germany, the severe wounds inflicted to it during World War II and the following decades of Communist reign are still very apparent. Many old buildings, destroyed by the bombardment in 1945, are still not rebuilt and remain as ruins. It will last many years, until Dresden can reclaim its old title as "Florence on the Elbe shores".
d) Royal Saxon Collection of Timepieces A special highlight for those of us, who are interested in old timepieces, was our visit to the "Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon". This is the collection of special timepieces, as well as physical and astronomical instruments, brought together by the kings and dukes of Saxony. The museum's director himself guided us through the rooms, and explained the mechanical marvels we saw here. No wonder that Ferdinand Adolph Lange had the idea to establish a watch-manufacturing centre in Glashütte, since he was knew well this fantastic collection!
Finally, the day slowly came to an end, and we found ourselves in the restaurant "Rossini", where we had our formal dinner. Since we all were hungry and thirsty, we kept the speeches rather short, and enjoyed the meal and conversation instead. This was so nice, that we completely forgot the time (not typical for watch enthusiasts!), until we realized that the restaurant was completely empty, safe ourselves. So we moved back into the Hotel Kempinski and occupied the bar, once again until very late. We all were sorry to say goodbye to Dr. Müller, Mr. Marx and his charming colleague, Ms. Tröger. They were such wonderful and generous hosts, making this visit something very special: Not a simple visit to the watch factory, but a real cultural event. They showed us the country, its unique history and culture, and above all, how Glashütte Original is a part of it. If it is possible to really "understand" the uniqueness of watch making here in Eastern Germany, I think that Dr. Müller and his team fully succeeded in making it transparent for us.
On behalf of the PuristS community and of my own, I want to most sincerely thank Dr. Müller, who accompanied us during these two days and therefore spent so much of his valuable time with us, for his magnificent hospitality, friendliness and generosity. He and his great team offered us a marvellous insight into their world, which made this visit an unforgettable experience! |
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