When I was told by my company that I would be flying to Stuttgart to engrave (Gravuren Stuttgart) a church clock I was intrigued to find out more about the history of Stuttgart. As I strolled through the city centre, it felt as if I was taking a trip back through time and history. The architecture of the medieval old palace is an experience I will not forget in a hurry. I found that shopping is Stuttgart was a completely different experience to that in England, it felt more relaxed, with street entertainers keeping you occupied between shops it was a happy experience rather than a stressful one.
It is amazing to think that one of the earliest clocks was driven by water. The sounding of the bell on the hour, which is a feature of most clocks nowadays, was the only way you could tell that an hour had past in the first mechanical clocks that were made. Clocks as we know them now were known as clocca, this is the Latin term for bell. This has progressed by the 14th century to ‘clocke’ in English. Most mechanical clocks were driven by the fall of weights. It was this mechanism that was used when the time piece known as the watch was invented, originally worn by sailor, the earliest watches that were made were not known for there reliability, and often stuck on the same time for hours before moving. Hence the term ‘clock watch’.
Most of the early clocks which were made were very expensive and could only be found on buildings of importance, such as churches and public buildings. It took until around 1600 for clocks to first be seen in British households. They were hung on the wall and had three weights which allowed them to work. Most only had an hour hand, they did not have a pendulum as this was not invented until 1658.
So I am here is Stuttgart and ready with my tools to engrave a clock. I have arrived at the building where the clock is. It is an old church, just outside of the centre with beautiful fields surrounding it. I can see for miles the view of Stuttgart is breath taking. The church has a big old spire and the clock is situated just beneath this.
I have been told by the vicar that the engraving is to be done on the front of the clock, just below the centre. To enable me to do this work I have made sure that the mechanism does not move whilst I am engraving. I am to engrave the name of someone who was a member of this church. I am to put their date of birth along with the date they passed on. They apparently did an enormous amount of fund raising for the church, and this is seen as a great honor for someone’s name to be engraved into the clock. As I complete my task, I stand back and look with pride at what has been achieved here in Stuttgart (Trauringe Stuttgart).