A History of Black Forest Clocks

 Black Forest Clocks are a beautiful piece of work nowadays. Back in the 14th century not so. This is when mechanical clocks started to appear. They had no hands or face. A bell sounded every hour. The clocks movement and speed was driven by weights and springs. The introduction of mass production in the early 19th century was pretty important to clock makers. Before this time rich folks were the only ones able to have a clock.

The cuckoo clock is a pendulum driven clock and it cuckoo's on the hour using a small bellows and pipes in addition to striking a wire gong. This part of the clock was produced in the 18th century and has remained almost unchanged Britische Oldtimer to this day. Some clocks also Cuckoo on the quarter and half hour.

In the 1950's they started using electrical currents run through quartz crystals which caused vibrations to operate the clock movements. This type of movement is used in many of our wall clocks today.

The Black Forest is a beautiful wooded mountain range in southern and southwestern Germany. Wood carving is a traditional industry in the Black Forest. There is a story that is told over and over, that a mechanic from this area invented the cuckoo clock. This isn't true. The clocks had been around since the middle 1600's. It took almost a hundred years to find it's way to this region of Germany. These people did develop the industry of cuckoo clock making and are still coming up with new designs and improvements. These clocks are works of art and are valued all over the world.

The most well known Black Forest Cuckoo Clocks are traditionally carved out of wood and designed to hang on the wall. These clocks are decorated with leaves and animals and have a little bird that pops out through a small trap door on the the hour. Sometimes even on the quarter or half hour. Some other notable features are music and chimes, they can be driven by pendulum or quartz and can have little figures cutting wood, skating or dancing and will most likely have elaborate carvings.

The movement is what makes your your clock work. Some cuckoo clocks need to be wound up with a key daily or weekly. Some have chains you pull. There are battery powered quarts clocks where the batteries last for years. They now have volume controls on a lot of models and some even have sensors that that shut off the cuckoo after dark.

The cuckoo clock is a common fixture in children's books, comics and cartoons. Children are amazed by the bird that lives in the clock.