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Cuckoo Clocks:

A Union of Technology and Design

By Andrea Cameron

Introduction Cuckoo clocks, much as the name implies, are a form of clock housing a mechanical cuckoo. Upon the hour, the cuckoo emerges from the clock to signal the procession of the minutes. The traditional cuckoo clock is made in the German Black Forest, where the bird natively flocks. In European lore, the cuckoo heralds in the Spring with its flute-like call (Stamp). In a clock, the mechanical counterpart was tasked with announcing the passage of time through a set of chirps.

Origins The cuckoo clock has nebulous origins, with most people attributing the invention to the Black Forest. However, the first cuckoo clock was documented several decades before clock production took root in the region. The Black Forest did not start turning out cuckoo clocks until the 1740s, while the earliest writings dated back to 1629. Two conflicting tales emerged, describing the cuckoo clock’s introduction to the forest. The more popular story gives credit to Black Forest clock-master, Franz Anton Ketterer, for inventing the cuckoo clock in 1730 (“A Brief History of the Cuckoo Clock”). Despite the prevalence of accrediting Ketterer with invention, he was not born until 1738, and hard evidence remains that the cuckoo clock existed over a century before his birth. The second tale depicts a Bohemian clock-peddler travelling through the region, stocked with cuckoo clocks. A craftsmen from the region were immediately intrigued, and purchased a clock. He then dismantled and reassembled the timepiece, discovering the inner workings, and made a

 

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replica. The imitated work was shown to fellow clockmakers, and the popularity spread from there onward (“A Brief History of the Cuckoo Clock”). The story is that, merely a story. No hard evidence backs up the claims, and Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic did not have a reputation for clock making. There are, however, early cuckoo clocks that trace back to regions nested between Bohemia and the Black Forest, which lends some credibility to the tale.

Industry Development The cuckoo clock industry blossomed in the Black Forest. Carving and woodwork were already inherent to the area, where wood was abundant, and the cold, snowy winters provided ample time for the craft (“The History of the Black Forest Cuckoo Clock”). The completed products were then sold throughout Europe via peddlers in the summer months (“A Brief History of the Cuckoo Clock”). As the industry developed, craftsmen began to specialize in certain areas of clockwork, such as carving, case-making, painting, and gear manufacturing (“A Brief History of the Cuckoo Clock”). Specialization provided a means for finer artistry and improved stability and performance. Wooden gears were replaced with metalwork, which increased reliability. Thus the simple mechanisms and designs from early cuckoo clocks were refined with smoother and more elaborate movements, and ornate carvings along the exterior housing. The traditional cuckoo clock was developed and perfected in the Black Forest, and it remains, even today, that some of the finest cuckoo clock craftsmanship still comes from this area.

Pendulum Clocks History The traditional cuckoo clock relies on pendulum-driven motion to keep time. The pendulum clock was invented in roughly the same period as the first cuckoo clocks, in 1656 by Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens. Galileo Galilei had researched the possibilities for pendulum clocks in 1637, but never completed a clock. Huygens computed the formula that

 

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relates pendulum length to time, and contracted as well as supervised the making of the first pendulum clock. The pendulum clock greatly improved accuracy over its predecessors, with daily deviations from the actual time that were equivalent to the accumulated error of a few minute span in earlier mechanical clocks (“Huygen’s Clocks”). Pendulum clocks caught on quickly, and many clocks were retrofitted as pendulum-driven timekeepers. However, the technology that interfaced with the pendulum led to less-than ideal fits. The encasement, which drives the pendulum at a constant rate, was compatible with large swings, which have reduced accuracy over small angles (“Huygen’s Clocks”). New types of encasements were continually invented to capitalize on the newfound revelations.

Mechanisms The pendulum clock relies on a swinging pendulum to accurately keep time. The pendulum acts as a simple harmonic oscillator, where the rate of the swing is dependent on the length of the pendulum. To ensure precision, the clock must operate under stationary conditions. Acceleration will affect the pendulum’s movement and cause the clock hands to pivot erratically until the pendulum restores to steady state (“Huygen’s Clocks”). Pendulum clocks work best when the pendulum swings at relatively small angles. The pendulum swing has fluctuations, in correlation to the angle. Smaller angles yielded only minor effects on timekeeping, whereas larger arcs caused more dramatic errors (“Huygen’s Clocks”).

Components The pendulum clock has five essential components: a weight or a spring that powers the device, a gear train, an escapement, a pendulum, and the clock face that indicates elapsed time (Milham 197). The weight typically attaches to a cord, which is connected to a pulley. The gear train is a set of gears in series that increase the speed of rotation. The gears connect to the escapement, typically a gear with a mechanism that rotates periodically to account for energy losses from friction. After a set number of oscillations, the gear will move a tick, which transfers the potential energy from the attached weight to the pendulum (Milham 205). The escapement drives the pendulum at a constant rate, alternating between a “lock” and “drive” state, depending on the pendulum’s position (Milham 208). The escapement is responsible for the rhythmic “tick-tock” sound that has become synonymous with pendulum clocks.

 

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Styles and Designs Over the centuries, several styles of cuckoo clocks developed. The traditional, and also the first designs were the “Jagdstück” or “hunt piece” clocks, which feature leaves and forest animals. In the 19th century, the Bahnhausle and Chalet styles were designed. More contemporary designs for cuckoo clocks have also gained momentum, using newer technologies and often capitalizing on minimalist styles.

Traditional Cuckoo Clocks By the time cuckoo clocks caught on in the Black Forest, the clocks had adopted the pendulum mechanism for the basic structure. The earliest cuckoo clocks in the region relied on a small piece of wood above the dial, a “Waag”, to act as a pendulum (“A Brief History of the Cuckoo Clock”). The Waag later became a more standard pendulum that swings below the clock encasement. The weight on the pendulum can be decorative as well as functional, such as a bird or leaf shaped mass. The cuckoo clock design takes exterior elements of the pendulum clock and added flourishes to enhance aesthetic appeal. These “Jagdstück” or “hunt piece” clocks had weights that provide the potential energy to run the clock were cast-metal shaped into pinecones. The clock encasings were house-shaped carvings from wood and featured woodland creatures, surrounded by foliage. The cuckoo emerged from a small door located near the roof of the house, and the clock dial was typically centered. Compared to a standard pendulum clock, additional mechanical components were necessary to accommodate the chirping automaton housed in the top of the cuckoo clock. A weight was needed specifically for the bird, which traditionally relies on a bellow system to imitate the cooing. Bellows serve as a means for generating blasts of air, and interface with the whistle that ultimately imitates the birdcall. Cuckoo clock bellows have two wooden slabs connected by accordion-folded paper. Air enters the open-end of the bellows, and when the wooden top piece compresses down, a burst of air is pushed through the whistle, generating the Cuckoo’s ditonal call (“Cuckoo Clock Parts”). The elusive cuckoo makes its appearance at different intervals, depending on the clock type. A one-day clock must be wound every 30 hours, and the cuckoo appears every 30 minutes. An eight-day clock requires winding every eight days, and the cuckoo chirps only on the hour (Flaherty).

 

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Bahnhausle Clocks The 1840s signaled a change in the times for the traditional clockmaking industry. Cuckoo clocks were losing popularity with their outdated designs, and the Black Forest region struggled with war, disease, famine, and competition, which directly impacted cuckoo clock production (Oatman-Stanford). As a countermeasure, the Baden Clockmaker School was established in Furtwagen, a region of the Black Forest. In 1850, the school hosted a competition, welcoming new designs for clock encasements. Architect Friedrich Eisenlohr submitted the design for what became known as the Bahnhausle clock, meaning “railway clock” (Oatman-Stanford). Eisenlohr’s work as an architect with buildings along railways inspired him for the clock design, and he mimicked the façade of a railway gatekeeper residence.1 Eisenlohr’s clock featured a large dial in a house-shaped clockcase, decorated with vines that curve ornately along the outer border, and have additional vine accents around the top of the dial (Oatman-Stanford). Cuckoo clocks traditionally appealed to the middleclass, but Eisenlohr’s aesthetic also appealed the rising bourgeoisie, and captured a new market. The Bahnhausle design reached maturity within 10 years. Some cuckoo clocks were a fusion of the Bahnhausle and Jagdstuck designs, using the pitched-roof case of the railway house with the decorative forest elements in the Jagdstuck.

Chalet Clocks In the latter part of the 1900s, the Swiss reimagined the cuckoo clock. The Swiss used chalet-style architecture as a template for the clock. The Swiss chalet, a house-type native to the Alps, is made of wood and has large, gabled roofs with wide eaves. The decorative exterior has carvings and weatherboarding, which is often painted in vibrant hues (Elnan). The Swiss chalet cuckoo clock comes in two varieties: the “Emmantel” and the “Brienz”, both of which are regions in Switzerland. Unsurprisingly, the Emmental cuckoo clock uses Emmanteler architecture as its muse. The region itself is largely pastoral, and the houses have a distinct look. “The local timber-built inns and dairies crowned by huge roofs with overarching eaves, ringed by wooden balconies, and encrusted with rows of tiny                                                                                                                 1  During this period, a gatekeeper was needed to ensure that the railroad crossings were clear when a train was approaching, a task now accomplished through automatic gates. (Collector’s Weekly)  

 

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windows, each with its window box and neatly tied-back set of net curtains” (“Emmental”).    Brienz-style clocks have a standard chalet build, but is named for the presence of the cuckoo clock industry. Woodcarving is a major industry in Brienz, to the extent that it is home to a famous woodcarving school, established in 1862. The woodwork is critical to the quality of cuckoo clocks, and it remains that the only genuine Swiss manufacturer for cuckoo clocks, Lotscher, is in Brienz (“Going Cuckoo About Real Swiss Cuckoo Clocks”). The primary difference in the two Swiss chalet styles is in the roof design. Emmental roofs extend out farther than the Brienz counterparts. However, the distinction is rarely noted, and the overall style is typically reduced to “chalet-style” cuckoo clocks.   Some Swiss-chalet cuckoo clocks do not actually have a cuckoo, but rather figurines and play music instead of the releasing a cooing sound. The miniature figures often depict an axe man or a beer drinker (Flaherty). However, other clocks have dancing figurines, waterwheels, animals, and also include the cuckoo’s sound to the chalets (“Going Cuckoo About Real Swiss Cuckoo Clocks”).

Modern Cuckoo Clocks Cuckoo clocks began to incorporate new clock technologies, such as quartz movements, but no substantial changes were made since the Chalet clocks until the late 20th century (Deniz). A few designers started producing modern looking clocks with vibrant block colors and simple geometric shapes around the time, but it was not until 2005 that the post-industrial cuckoo clock gained momentum (Deniz). The free-flowing creativity and the idea that there are no set rules for these avian clocks has resulted in an eclectic collection of modern cuckoo clocks. Most still have mechanical cuckoos, but some have replaced the automaton with a digital image of the bird. Some clocks have digital displays, those with dials may or may not include the numbers along the face, and the shape of the clocks themselves range from house shapes, to Jagdstuck outlines, to any number of geometric shapes (see figure in appendix). Some may not even consider designs that take too many creative liberties to be cuckoo clocks, particularly when they have only minute similarities to more traditional designs. The contemporary nature, and ever changing trends make it difficult to predict if modern cuckoo clocks will converge into a new, singular style. While the classic design, ingenuity, and craftsmanship of conventional cuckoo clocks maintains appeal, the modern counterpart that retain enough semblances to the iconic clock but also appeal to the contemporary aesthetic may pave the way for a new standard in cuckoo clocks.

 

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Works Cited "A Brief History of the Cuckoo Clock." Klockit. N.p.. Web. 3 Dec 2013. "Cuckoo Clock Parts." Clockworks: The World on Time. N.p.. Web. 3 Dec 2013. Deniz, Juan. "Designer Cuckoo Clocks." NAWCC Watch & Clock Bulletin. (2013). Web. 3 Dec. 2013. Elnan, Ove. "Swiss Style." Husbyggeren. N.p., 14 Sep 2000. Web. 3 Dec 2013. "Emmental." Switzerland is Yours. Micheloud and Cie. Web. 3 Dec 2013. Flaherty, Peter. "Are You a Fan of Cuckoo Clocks?" Ezine Articles. N.p. Web. 3 Dec 2013. "Going Cuckoo About Real Swiss Cuckoo Clocks." Swiss Info. International Service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, 24 Nov 2006. Web. 3 Dec 2013. "Huygen's Clocks." Science Museum. N.p.. Web. 3 Dec 2013. Milham, Willis. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1923. 197-212. Print. Oatman-Stanford, Hunter. "Not Your Grandma’s Cuckoo: Decapitating, RatEating Clocks of the Black Forest." Collectors Weekly. N.p., 12 June 2012. Web. 3 Dec 2013. Stamp, Jimmy. "Design Decoded: The Past, Present, and Future of Cuckoo Clocks." Smithsonian. Smithsonian Magazine. Web. 3 Dec 2013. "The History of Cuckoo Clocks from the Black Forest." CuckooClocks.com. N.p.. Web. 3 Dec 2013.

 

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Appendix

Figure 1, Eisenlohr’s Baunhausle Design (Oatman-Stanford)

Figure 2. Modern Cuckoo Clocks {Deniz)

 

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