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Andsan
·A destination that has been high on the list is the Glashütte factory but much else has come in the way. But this year decided I and my wife Anna that it was really time to go there.
As an owner of a Glashütte Senator, I received an invitation to visit the factory for a guided tour
They have views even for "outsiders" but they may not then be able to visit everything and get ‘ the little extra.’ Will return to this.
I sent an email and Jenny Berger at Glashutte replied promptly and I had to send some data on my watch (probably to make sure that I was competent). Time of the visit was set to July 21 and we would meet in the factory's reception at 09.30.
A few days later I received an email from René Marx, Head of Digital Media at the factory.
He wanted to invite us to lunch and also arrange a guided tour of the museum and a time for their shop in Dresden.
We booked a flight from Stockholm to Berlin. At the airport was a car hired. It´s just two hours drive to Dresden, where the hotel Innside by Melia was booked. (recommended by Jocke and Jenny Berger.)
Before we went to Dresden I contacted Jenny Berger to inquire if she had some interesting destinations around Dresden and we got a few tips One of them was Moritzburg, a hunting castle between Berlin and Dresden, where we made a visit on our way to Dresden. A fantastic castle and the walls were shown up major trophies from deer.
We arrived to the hotel at 14:00 and parked the car in their garage, which have lift car parks and where you park at your own risk. The hotel and Glashütte have problably an cooperation when the hotel had monters with Glashütte watches and on the tables at the reception was some Glashütte catalogues. On the wall in the reception hung three clocks of Glashütte watches, showing one time for Dresden, one for Moscow and one for New York.
The hotel was very centrally located and just 100 meters from the square with Frauen kirche. This church was bombed in 1945 and has been a ruin until 1994 when a reconstruction began and was complete 2004 that at a price of more than one billion Swedish crowns.
It is well worth a visit. It is absolutely incredible that they were able to rebuild the city as it was from before the 13 and 15 February 1945 when it was destroyed by bombers.
The day after we arrived, we took up the car from the garage and headed toward to Koenigstein, about 40 km from Dresden. It is a fortress situated on a large round top in the province. A short distance away there is a similar round top but without a castle or fortress. What fascinated me was the water supply to the fortress.
They had drilled a well from the top of the fortress and down the mountain/stone 152 meters! The well was about 4 meters wide. This was done in the 1700s.
From this fortress we could see the next destination for the day which was Bastei Bridge.
Bastei Bridge was built in the 1800's out of sandstone. Even this is well worth a visit. From this place we could easily see the previous destination Koenigstein.
Tuesday July 21 at 9:10 we arrived to Glashutte Manufactory and we were immediately offered coffee or water. We preferred the water when the temperature outside had already risen to 30 degrees.
The reception building had several monters that showed watches from different eras.
Shortly afterwards came René Marx and the guide Jenny Berger and thereafter began the tour of the various "departments" they have. We could not get into them, so we had to follow the work from the outside through the window. We got interesting information by Jenny about what they did. Jenny told us that they make all the tools they use for the watchmaking at the factory. The only thing they do not manufacture in the factory are dials and watch cases.
When the tour had last about 2 hours, I was offered as an owner of a Glashütte watch, a visit in a special department where I was demonstrated a few moments at the watch production and even got to perform a few moments myself. Tomas a watch maker in Glashütte first showed how they polished a "swan neck". Much work are made just for the aesthetic. Then he showed how they make screws blue and with a manual tool press a red synthetic sapphire in a piece of brass.
Then I had to try by myself to get one of the tiny little screws to turn blue. I took it up with a tweezer and put it on a flat iron that was heated up to several hundred degrees. After about 10 seconds, I could see in the loupe that the screw changed color to blue and then it was time to remove it. If I hadn´t lift it up in right time it had become gray and the screw had been destroyed. Next thing was that with a tweezer insert a synthetic sapphire in a piece of brass and with a manual presstool to get it in place. I managed with both missions, but I can´t say I was particularly fast. Tomas told us that about 100 pieces are made in one hour, by one person at the factory. For me, it took about 2 minutes for these two moments…
After this we were shown up to a room where René Marx invited to lunch and we were offered a cold meal that tasted great in the heat.
Very much watch talk under the lunchJ
After lunch it was time to visit the museum which is located a few minutes walk from the factory.
René showed us the way there, and brought with him a large paper bag (a Goodie bag it turned out later) which was given to me after the tour of the museum.
At the museum we met the guide Anke Johne.
Anke told us that they now have an exhibition showing Glashüttes production during the GDR period 1951-1990.
It was a very interesting tour with lots of information and it was very nice to see everything from fine pocket watch in gold made of the "best" and several hundred watches from the GDR period.
But the coolest thing was probably the large clock that Hermann Goertz had made and which has amazingly many complications.
With me to the museum, I had my vintage Glashütte Original to see if I could see it in their exhibition. To my surprise, I did not. I asked Anke about my watch and she brought a watchmaker and the Musée manager so they could inspect it.
They were at first a bit skeptical about the watch's authenticity. The glass was not original and the crown was probably not original either.
They had not previously seen this model, and I told them that I, over six years, seen only 2-3 pieces.
They looked in a catalog and the watchmaker opened my watch and saw that it was a fine GUB-movement in it. After they checked in the books they found another watch that was also marked Original but had a different hands and other case. The Watchmaker noted now that it was genuine, and he wanted to take some photos of it because they didn’t have precisely this one in the archives.
Must admit that it feels pretty good to have a unique watch that is not in their books and in the exhibition.
Attach image on the vintage-GO and my modern GO Senator Hand Date.
After this, we thanked for us and I got another "goodie bag" especially from museeum.
Then we left Glashütte in our rental car on the winding roads in this very beautiful landscape in direction to Dresden.
A big thank you to René Marx, Jenny Berger, Thomas and Anke Johne and others of Glashütte that made this visit a nice and memorable visit.
/Anders
As an owner of a Glashütte Senator, I received an invitation to visit the factory for a guided tour
They have views even for "outsiders" but they may not then be able to visit everything and get ‘ the little extra.’ Will return to this.
I sent an email and Jenny Berger at Glashutte replied promptly and I had to send some data on my watch (probably to make sure that I was competent). Time of the visit was set to July 21 and we would meet in the factory's reception at 09.30.
A few days later I received an email from René Marx, Head of Digital Media at the factory.
He wanted to invite us to lunch and also arrange a guided tour of the museum and a time for their shop in Dresden.
We booked a flight from Stockholm to Berlin. At the airport was a car hired. It´s just two hours drive to Dresden, where the hotel Innside by Melia was booked. (recommended by Jocke and Jenny Berger.)
Before we went to Dresden I contacted Jenny Berger to inquire if she had some interesting destinations around Dresden and we got a few tips One of them was Moritzburg, a hunting castle between Berlin and Dresden, where we made a visit on our way to Dresden. A fantastic castle and the walls were shown up major trophies from deer.
We arrived to the hotel at 14:00 and parked the car in their garage, which have lift car parks and where you park at your own risk. The hotel and Glashütte have problably an cooperation when the hotel had monters with Glashütte watches and on the tables at the reception was some Glashütte catalogues. On the wall in the reception hung three clocks of Glashütte watches, showing one time for Dresden, one for Moscow and one for New York.
The hotel was very centrally located and just 100 meters from the square with Frauen kirche. This church was bombed in 1945 and has been a ruin until 1994 when a reconstruction began and was complete 2004 that at a price of more than one billion Swedish crowns.
It is well worth a visit. It is absolutely incredible that they were able to rebuild the city as it was from before the 13 and 15 February 1945 when it was destroyed by bombers.
The day after we arrived, we took up the car from the garage and headed toward to Koenigstein, about 40 km from Dresden. It is a fortress situated on a large round top in the province. A short distance away there is a similar round top but without a castle or fortress. What fascinated me was the water supply to the fortress.
They had drilled a well from the top of the fortress and down the mountain/stone 152 meters! The well was about 4 meters wide. This was done in the 1700s.
From this fortress we could see the next destination for the day which was Bastei Bridge.
Bastei Bridge was built in the 1800's out of sandstone. Even this is well worth a visit. From this place we could easily see the previous destination Koenigstein.
Tuesday July 21 at 9:10 we arrived to Glashutte Manufactory and we were immediately offered coffee or water. We preferred the water when the temperature outside had already risen to 30 degrees.
The reception building had several monters that showed watches from different eras.
Shortly afterwards came René Marx and the guide Jenny Berger and thereafter began the tour of the various "departments" they have. We could not get into them, so we had to follow the work from the outside through the window. We got interesting information by Jenny about what they did. Jenny told us that they make all the tools they use for the watchmaking at the factory. The only thing they do not manufacture in the factory are dials and watch cases.
When the tour had last about 2 hours, I was offered as an owner of a Glashütte watch, a visit in a special department where I was demonstrated a few moments at the watch production and even got to perform a few moments myself. Tomas a watch maker in Glashütte first showed how they polished a "swan neck". Much work are made just for the aesthetic. Then he showed how they make screws blue and with a manual tool press a red synthetic sapphire in a piece of brass.
Then I had to try by myself to get one of the tiny little screws to turn blue. I took it up with a tweezer and put it on a flat iron that was heated up to several hundred degrees. After about 10 seconds, I could see in the loupe that the screw changed color to blue and then it was time to remove it. If I hadn´t lift it up in right time it had become gray and the screw had been destroyed. Next thing was that with a tweezer insert a synthetic sapphire in a piece of brass and with a manual presstool to get it in place. I managed with both missions, but I can´t say I was particularly fast. Tomas told us that about 100 pieces are made in one hour, by one person at the factory. For me, it took about 2 minutes for these two moments…
After this we were shown up to a room where René Marx invited to lunch and we were offered a cold meal that tasted great in the heat.
Very much watch talk under the lunchJ
After lunch it was time to visit the museum which is located a few minutes walk from the factory.
René showed us the way there, and brought with him a large paper bag (a Goodie bag it turned out later) which was given to me after the tour of the museum.
At the museum we met the guide Anke Johne.
Anke told us that they now have an exhibition showing Glashüttes production during the GDR period 1951-1990.
It was a very interesting tour with lots of information and it was very nice to see everything from fine pocket watch in gold made of the "best" and several hundred watches from the GDR period.
But the coolest thing was probably the large clock that Hermann Goertz had made and which has amazingly many complications.
With me to the museum, I had my vintage Glashütte Original to see if I could see it in their exhibition. To my surprise, I did not. I asked Anke about my watch and she brought a watchmaker and the Musée manager so they could inspect it.
They were at first a bit skeptical about the watch's authenticity. The glass was not original and the crown was probably not original either.
They had not previously seen this model, and I told them that I, over six years, seen only 2-3 pieces.
They looked in a catalog and the watchmaker opened my watch and saw that it was a fine GUB-movement in it. After they checked in the books they found another watch that was also marked Original but had a different hands and other case. The Watchmaker noted now that it was genuine, and he wanted to take some photos of it because they didn’t have precisely this one in the archives.
Must admit that it feels pretty good to have a unique watch that is not in their books and in the exhibition.
Attach image on the vintage-GO and my modern GO Senator Hand Date.
After this, we thanked for us and I got another "goodie bag" especially from museeum.
Then we left Glashütte in our rental car on the winding roads in this very beautiful landscape in direction to Dresden.
A big thank you to René Marx, Jenny Berger, Thomas and Anke Johne and others of Glashütte that made this visit a nice and memorable visit.
/Anders
Edited by a mod:
