The History of Junghans
Junghans Max Bill Chronoscope / Credit: Bauhaus Movement
In less than 40 years since it was founded, Junghans became the largest watch manufacturer in the world. While today it might not be the most prominent watch brand out of Germany, it certainly has its following. Founded all the way back in 1861 by Erhard Junghans in Schramberg, Junghans is one of the German watch brands known for their Bauhaus design. As this year marks its 160th anniversary, we decided to take a look back at its history.
In early 1861, with his brother-in-law Jakob Zeller-Tobler, Erhard Junghans founded the original clock part maker ‘Zeller & Junghans’. The company originally produced components for the famous Black Forest or ‘Cuckoo’ clocks, only making their first complete clocks in 1866.
Black Forest Cuckoo clock
Now the Black Forest clock industry is something in itself, the first wooden Black Forest clock goes back to the mid-17th century, with the first Cuckoo clock being produced in 1730 by Anton Ketterer. This tradition also includes moving figures and music that were also added to the Black Forest clocks in the 18th century. Unfortunately, due to American competition, the industry saw a slump in the 19th century. This is the trend that Erhard Junghans caught onto, however, as their operation also followed the American system of industrialized production and they even imported American parts for some time.
As a result, their company continued to grow, producing over 3 million timepieces per year in 1903 – with 3,000 employees! Junghans continued producing timepieces in the early 20th century, turning to wristwatches and their ‘Meister’ collection of high-end pieces. Junghans produced their first automatic chronometer movement, the J83 in 1957. Between 1950 and 1964, Junghans produced wrist chronographs for the Bundeswehr using the J88 caliber they developed. Originally a military chronograph, it was eventually also made for civilians.
Junghans was still one of the largest watch producers in Europe in the 1960s, which is when their hired Swiss designer Max Bill – in 1961 – and he began designing the icon Junghans Max Bill line, known for its classic Bauhaus design. Max Bill actually studied at the Bauhaus School in Dessau and designed his first Junghans clock with his students in at the Bauhaus School he founded in Ulm.
Junghans Astro Quartz / Credit: Watchbey
Junghans was not lost during the Quartz Crisis as many other brands were, starting development in the late 1960s and coming out with their own Junghans Astro Quartz. In the 1970s, along with their quartz watch development, like the release of the Cal. W666.02, Junghans was also official timekeeper for the 1972 Olympics in Munich.
No longer the top watch manufacturer in the world, as it was decades ago at the turn of the century, Junghans was still a major brand from Germany. Producing the first radio-controlled table clock in 1985, in 1990, Junghans released the first radio-controlled wristwatch called the Mega I. The Mega I was linked by radio and needed no adjustments as the time was based on the Federal Physical and Technical Institute, the official timing institute for Germany as of 1973. An interesting piece of 1990s technology from the German watch brand.
Thus, Junghans, the surprisingly old, 160-year-old watch brand, has actually been around for all the major developments of the watch industry. As a West German company, it was not made part of the East German government’s GUB like the brands from Glashütte, and continued producing watches all the way through from the 1960s until the present. Today, it still continues to produce its classic watch models like the Max Bill, along with many new ones.
By: Andres Ibarguen
Read more:
“Junghans History.” Junghans, https://www.junghans.de/en/junghans-world/.
“Junghans: A 160-Year History and New Models.” Europa Star, April 2021, https://www.europastar.com/time-keeper/1004092748-junghans-a-160-year-history-and-new-models.html.
Editor’s note (17/02/2022): This article was slightly updated to specify that 3 million ‘itmepieces’ were manufactured in 1903, not ‘watches’.