The History of Watchmaking in Glashütte
NOMOS Glashütte Ludwig 38 date ref. 231
If not for the recent rise of German brands like A. Lange & Söhne and NOMOS Glashütte, Germany may be totally disregarded as a watchmaking powerhouse. German watch brands, specifically the two mentioned above, share a lot of heritage due to the historic concentration of German watchmaking on one specific town, Glashütte.
Glashütte is a tiny municipality, what it lacks in population (only 7000 people), it makes up for in industry, currently hosting 11 watch companies. In addition to Lange and NOMOS there are also: Glashütte Original, Union Glashütte, Mühle Glashütte, Tutima, Mortiz Grossmann, Wempe Chronometerwerke, C. H. Wolf, Kronsegler, and Bruno Söhnle.
For most of its history Glashütte was a mining town, until a decline in the sector led to its impoverishment. In a search for solutions, the Saxon government reached an accord with Ferdinand A. Lange to build a watch factory and hire apprentices. In 1845, with a government loan in hand, Lange founded the eponymously named watch company, A. Lange & Söhne. The company was a success, even being copied by many of their Swiss counterparts at the time. It continued to strive through the turn of the century, as many other manufactures popped up in Glashütte. That ended, however, in 1948 when the East German government expropriated the town’s watchmaking companies and merged them under a new entity: GUB. GUB still made watches, but mostly 'utilitarian' style.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, many watch companies in Glashütte were re-launched or entirely new companies were formed. Glashütte Original and A. Lange & Söhne were relaunched in 1994 after GUB was privatized; NOMOS, instead, was founded in 1990.
Despite the Iron Curtain, Glashütte has maintained its identity as a watchmaking town. Hopefully, next time you think watchmaking tradition, you include Germany – specifically Glashütte, on your list.