Clock Museum

  Situated within a cute Viennese house from the Middle Ages, sitting on foundation walls dating back to the 15th century, the 3000 clocks of the Uhrenmuseum (clock museum) trace the history of time keeping from then. At the top of every hour, three floors of clocks chime out the time (not when we were there however...renovations to the building created so much dust that all the clocks were blocked). Founded in 1917, the clock museum got its start from two private collections;

     1) Rudolph Kaftor, a middle school teacher and the first director of the museum;

     2) writer Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach.

The smallest clock in the collection is the "Zappler" ,that fits under a thimble, and the heaviest is the tower clock from St. Stephen's cathedral (made of cast iron).

The Vienna Clock Museum.

The clock mechanism from St. Stephen's Cathedral. Manufactured in 1417 from wrought iron by blacksmiths.

Early clocks were notoriously inaccurate and had to be continuously adjusted with the help of sundials like this one.

Astronomical clock built in 1810 by Michael Krofitsch (a parish priest) in the shape of a winged altar piece.

Mantle clocks.

Long case clocks.

Clock with automata showing a mining operation, made in 1891.

The Zappler, smallest clock in the collection. It fits underneath a thimble.