Junghans Museum

The Terrace Building by Philipp Jakob Manz

This building breathes history. The Junghans Terrassenbau, a masterpiece by the important Stuttgart industrial architect Philipp Jakob Manz (1861-1936), provides the ideal setting for an excursion into the history of Black Forest clocks, the Junghans clock factory and the associated supplier industry.

Built between 1916 and 1918, the terraced building is considered one of the world's most architecturally interesting industrial buildings on a slope. It has long been a landmark of the town of Schramberg. A special feature: the narrow long rooms are designed so that almost all workplaces are directly at the window. Thus the nine floors offer daylight for all employees and are ideally suited for the manufacture of precision mechanical products.

In the 1970s, the employees assembled the last Junghans watches here, after which the building fell into a Sleeping Beauty slumber. The new owner, Dr. Hans-Jochem Steim, awoke it from this slumber, and after an elaborate renovation from 2016 to 2018 under monument protection aspects, the terrace building now shines in new, old splendour.

Black Forest Clocks - an exciting journey through time

If you only think of Black Forest clocks as cuckoo clocks, you're wrong. There are many different types of Black Forest clocks: automatic clocks, grandfather clocks, musical clocks - and of course with the classic cuckoo. The extensive collection of Heinrich Engelmann provides an insight into the development of clock making in the Black Forest from the 18th to the early 20th century. It forms the entrance to the Junghans Terrassenbau Museum and shows a total of around 300 exhibits as well as an original clockmaker's workshop from the 18th century.

These exhibits make it clear that the Black Forest clock has undergone an exciting development from the wooden wheel clock to the automatic clock and music clock. The latter, in turn, is a special genre that is presented in the exhibition in many different ways. From around 1900, self-playing pianos became popular entertainment instruments in public houses. A highlight in the exhibition is the functioning Phonoliszt-Violina violin orchestrion from 1912, which in combination automatically makes the piano and violin sound. Thus, the Junghans Terrassenbau Museum offers a musical experience that is more than 100 years old.

A flourishing supplier industry

The Junghans clock factory has not only left its mark on the town, but also on the economic development of the former market town. With the strong growth of the company founded by Erhard Junghans and his brother-in-law Jakob Zeller in 1861, the demand for individual parts for the watches increased - and because Junghans could no longer produce the required quantity itself, a flourishing and highly innovative subcontracting industry developed in the surrounding area. Risk-taking and resourceful inventors set up their own companies, especially for the production of springs. A complete, true-to-the-original feather production by the Schramberg company Pfaff & Schlauder forms the introduction to this section of the exhibition. The installation provides fascinating insights into the production of watch crystals, from natural quartz to electronic components. In addition, interesting examples show how diversely springs are used in everyday life today - from dog leashes to life-saving seat belts in vehicles.

Junghans shapes the city

A family writes city and economic history. What begins in 1861 with the founding of a factory for watch parts is already the largest watch factory in the world in 1903 with 3000 employees. And the company continues to grow. In its more than 150-year history, Junghans has been regarded as an innovation driver in the watch industry. Thanks to its outstanding engineers and inventors, the company continues to set milestones in technical development - from mechanical watches and electronic timepieces to radio-controlled high-tech watches with solar cells. In this exhibition area, visitors learn about many different technical and design facets of Junghans watches, experience the stages of an eventful history of the world-famous company. A stroke of luck for Junghans was the takeover by the Steim family of entrepreneurs from Schramberg in 2009. With a new strategic orientation, a return to earlier values and fine mechanical watches, the restructuring succeeds. So today, the Junghans star is shining again - and not only in the brand logo, but also in the watch industry.