The Beginnings of the Cuckoo Clock
Clock making in the Black Forest of Germany began in the 17th century after a peddler passing through brought with him a clock made in central Europe. From this developed an industry of clock making, done in the homes during the long winter months. Then about 100 years later around the mid 1700s, the first Cuckoo clock was made, attributed to Franz Anton Ketterer. It was a painted wooden clock composed of an almost square board and a raised semicircle which held the cuckoo behind a door. It was made with toothed wheels and simple stones as weights. There was no pendulum as such, instead a piece of wood called a “Waag” was used, moving forward and back above the clock dial to make the clock keep time. The cuckoo sound was, and still is, made by two bellows that send air through small pipes like a pipe organ.
As the industry grew, people began to specialize, some making the internal parts, others making the housing, and others making the decorative parts. This developed into an industry that now delivers cuckoo clocks throughout the world.
Other cuckoo clock manufacturers developed in other countries; however, when one thinks of cuckoo clocks, one immediately thinks of the Black Forest Cuckoo Clocks.
Tags: Black Forest, Black Forest Cuckoo Clock, Black Forest Cuckoo Clocks, clock, clocks, cuckoo clock, cuckoo clocks, Germany, History of the Black Forest Cuckoo Clock
