![]() For instance, the French liked large bouquets of bright flowers and called the cuckoo clocks "Swiss clocks" even though most were made in Germany. Soon, the decoration was modified to suit the targeted market. This was the English style of the day, but was popularized throughout southern Germany and Central Europe the same design appears on the sides of painted barges. A clock dating from 1770 may have a painted face shield with roses and castles. The variety of cuckoo clocks reflects clock-making styles of the time. Ketterer used the church organ pipe as the basis for the production of the cuckoo's sound, and his clock-making abilities were so skilled that the cuckoo clock became known for its reliability as a timepiece. Ketterer's clocks were driven by suspended weights shaped like pineĬones, and these were adapted to the wood-frame style later. They had face shields-full front plates that were enameled with the face near the center-rather than the wood frame developed later. The cuckoo's sound was simply incorporated in the contemporary clocks of the day. The cuckoo clock may have been invented in about 1730 by Franz Anton Ketterer, a well-known Black Forest clockmaker from Schonwald. By the late 1700s, the clocks were a profitable export for the region and were sold as far away as Russia. The clockmaker made his own patterns and styles parts for his clocks were unique and not interchangeable with other makers. They also worked together as a group with specialists in frame-making, manufacturing the clockworks, making and painting dials, brass founding, making chains and gongs, finishing metal parts, and performing many supporting tasks. The local citizens learned how to copy the clock and make the tools to craft it. Glass-making was a traditional craft, and clock-making sprang indirectly from this when, in about 1640, a traveler introduced a simple Bohemian clock operated by three wheels on a train (continuous drive), a verge escapement (the device that allows the train to advance a controlled amount by restraining it with weights), and a foliot (a balance bar). With forestry and agriculture limited during this season, a cottage industry in the production of clocks grew in the Black Forest. Winters there are long, dark, cold, and characterized by deep snowfalls. ![]() ![]() The provinces of Baden and Wuirttemburg (now the province of Baden-Wiirttemburg) lie deep in the Black Forest region of Germany. The cuckoo clock has an impressive parent in the Black Forest clock. Two weights shaped like pine cones that dangle from the ends of chains and a pendulum that is tipped with a leaf add to the traditional appearance, although these are only decorative on modern clocks that are spring-driven. Inside the clock, a finely made set of brass clockworks controls the time-telling. The sets of pipe-and-bellows are mounted on either side of the clock with slots cut through the wood frame opposite the bellow vents to allow the sound to be heard. When the tiny wood cuckoo emerges to call the hour, two small pipes attached to two miniature bellows make his call. The cuckoo clock known today is the most popular form of ornamental clock-one that is decorative as well as functional. He is often introduced or followed by a parade of townspeople, forest creatures, or other animals that circle through another door and seem to celebrate the passing of every hour and the timelessness of their carefully crafted clock home. On the hour (and often the half-and quarter-hour as well), the charming carved bird pops out of a door to sing the hour in a melodic "Cuckoo!Cuckoo!" call. And, finally, there is the cuckoo and its fellows. The clock itself is made in the premier clock-and watch-making area of the world. The outer worked wood case is usually made of beautiful dark wood that is intricately carved with folk and forest scenes. ![]() The clock is prized for a number of its features. The cuckoo clock is a favorite souvenir of travelers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and particularly the Black Forest region of Germany.
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