BOOKREVIEW: 1904 German horological reference book, by Weisske, republished by DG-Ch

[Fortunat Mueller-Maerki]

Adressbuch für die deutsche Uhren- und Mech. Musikwerke-Industrie 1904
by Willhelm Weisske, republished by Dr.Bernhard Huber

Facsimile edition on CD ROM

In the town of Simmern, in Germany there is a watch- and clockmaker named Willhelm F. Birk, who happened to own a copy of a hereto unrecorded major reference book on German Horology: The 1904 edition of 458 page (plus advertising supplements) addressbook for the German horological trades. Inspired by the recent success of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Chronometrie (DGC) in reissuing old horological periodicals as high resolution jpg-files on CD-ROM he decided to loan his rarity to the DGC so they could scan it and publish a CD. The DGC library has now produced – once more – an electronic publication containing a treasure trove of horological information.


The book is organized into 10 sections:

1. Alphabetical company listings (110 pages),
This is the alphabetical Listing (by company name) of all entities listed in the book, with address and city, plus ”an exact statement as to description and extent of business”. I would estimate that nearly 3000 businesses in Germany are listed.

2. Index by 19 different industry sectors (including tools, machines, parts, cases movements etc),
Separate listings for 1. Clocks, 2. Pocket watches, 3. Clock-& Watch wholesalers/Distributors, 4. Makers of Street-& Tower clocks, 5. Mechanical Music Makers and Dealers, 6. Wholesalers of Silver and Gold tabelware, 7. Bronze objects, 8. Gilt- and silverplated tableware, 9. Makers of eyeglass-frames 10. Makers of Binoculars, 10. Repairers of Gold and Silver objects, 11. Engravers, 12. Clock- and Watch repair businesses with employees, 13. Pocketwatchcase makers and repairers, 14. Clockcase making businesses, 15. Clock- and Watch parts and movements 16. Horological tools and supplies, 17. Precious metal dealers and refiners, 18. Suppliers of store furnishings, 19. Suppliers of packaging and store supplies . The 19 sections together take up 40 pages.

3. Manufacturers Reps, Agents and Exporters
A 6 page listing of independent agents, indicating which manufacturers they represent

4. Specialties.
A 30 page page listing by ca. one hundred different products from” Bieruhren” (whatever a beer-clock may be) to “Wecker” (alarm clocks)

5. Trademarks
A 30 page listing of over 500 German horological trademarks, both brandnames and image-trademarks, including many not listed in Kochman, and a listing common brand name abbreviations.

6. Manufacturers and Wholesalers by Geography
A 35-page index to all manufacturers and wholesales mentioned in the book sorted by city

7. Independent retailers by residence and items carried
A 200plus page listing (by town of residence) of many thousand independent watch-and clock repairpersons /independent retailers, with their addresses and keyed list of items sold (from musical instruments, to jewelry, to flatware, to bicycles, sewing machines and cameras).

8. Horological Schools
A two page listing describing the curriculum of the three established horological schools in Germany (in Glasshuette, Furtwangen and Schwenningen)

9. Associations
An eight page listing of trade and professional organizations for horologists, including local and regional guilds etc.
10. Horological periodicals
A list of 5 horological periodicals published in Germany at that time

Obviously this “reprint” of a 1904 original source is a “must have” reference material for any dedicated scholar or collector of German horology. While it would have been nice to have paper reprints available economics make this impractical. The Library of DGC is distributing the CD-ROM for a nominal fee of Euro 10 (ca. US$15) As far as I know they are not yet able to take credit cards, but they can accept paypal payments. If you are interested send an e-mail to Dr. Bernhard Huber, the librarian of DGC (bibliothek at dg-chrono dot de) who not only initiated the project but spent countless ours operating the scanner and the CD-burner to make all this information available to his fellow horological enthusiasts around the globe.

You may like the information so much that you end up doing what I am contemplating: Printing out all 290 jpg images (two facing pages per image) from the CD to create your own personal hardcopy.



Bookreview by
Fortunat Mueller-Maerki, Sussex New Jersey
January 6, 2006


Here is the publication data:
________________________________________________

Title: Adressbuch für die deutsche Uhren- und Mech. Musikwerke-Industrie 1904
SubTitle: CD-ROM Edition für wissenschaftliche Zwecke
Author: Willhelm Weisske
Publisher: Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Chronometrie
Keywords: directory reference
Other Keywords: addresses mechanical music manufacturers trademarks wholesalers exporters
Language: GER
Edition: 2005 CD Edition -- Copyright: 1904
Kind: DATA
Type: Timekeeper (general)
Geographic area: Germany
Topic: Reference
Organization: NA/other
Pages: 458 -- Height in cm: 12
Print Status: 1 (1 means in print - 2 means out of print)
BHM ID: 7596

[Fortunat Mueller-Maerki]

Adressbuch für die deutsche Uhren- und Mech. Musikwerke-Industrie 1904
by Willhelm Weisske, republished by Dr.Bernhard Huber

Facsimile edition on CD ROM

In the town of Simmern, in Germany there is a watch- and clockmaker named Willhelm F. Birk, who happened to own a copy of a hereto unrecorded major reference book on German Horology: The 1904 edition of 458 page (plus advertising supplements) addressbook for the German horological trades. Inspired by the recent success of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Chronometrie (DGC) in reissuing old horological periodicals as high resolution jpg-files on CD-ROM he decided to loan his rarity to the DGC so they could scan it and publish a CD. The DGC library has now produced – once more – an electronic publication containing a treasure trove of horological information.


The book is organized into 10 sections:

1. Alphabetical company listings (110 pages),
This is the alphabetical Listing (by company name) of all entities listed in the book, with address and city, plus ”an exact statement as to description and extent of business”. I would estimate that nearly 3000 businesses in Germany are listed.

2. Index by 19 different industry sectors (including tools, machines, parts, cases movements etc),
Separate listings for 1. Clocks, 2. Pocket watches, 3. Clock-& Watch wholesalers/Distributors, 4. Makers of Street-& Tower clocks, 5. Mechanical Music Makers and Dealers, 6. Wholesalers of Silver and Gold tabelware, 7. Bronze objects, 8. Gilt- and silverplated tableware, 9. Makers of eyeglass-frames 10. Makers of Binoculars, 10. Repairers of Gold and Silver objects, 11. Engravers, 12. Clock- and Watch repair businesses with employees, 13. Pocketwatchcase makers and repairers, 14. Clockcase making businesses, 15. Clock- and Watch parts and movements 16. Horological tools and supplies, 17. Precious metal dealers and refiners, 18. Suppliers of store furnishings, 19. Suppliers of packaging and store supplies . The 19 sections together take up 40 pages.

3. Manufacturers Reps, Agents and Exporters
A 6 page listing of independent agents, indicating which manufacturers they represent

4. Specialties.
A 30 page page listing by ca. one hundred different products from” Bieruhren” (whatever a beer-clock may be) to “Wecker” (alarm clocks)

5. Trademarks
A 30 page listing of over 500 German horological trademarks, both brandnames and image-trademarks, including many not listed in Kochman, and a listing common brand name abbreviations.

6. Manufacturers and Wholesalers by Geography
A 35-page index to all manufacturers and wholesales mentioned in the book sorted by city

7. Independent retailers by residence and items carried
A 200plus page listing (by town of residence) of many thousand independent watch-and clock repairpersons /independent retailers, with their addresses and keyed list of items sold (from musical instruments, to jewelry, to flatware, to bicycles, sewing machines and cameras).

8. Horological Schools
A two page listing describing the curriculum of the three established horological schools in Germany (in Glasshuette, Furtwangen and Schwenningen)

9. Associations
An eight page listing of trade and professional organizations for horologists, including local and regional guilds etc.
10. Horological periodicals
A list of 5 horological periodicals published in Germany at that time

Obviously this “reprint” of a 1904 original source is a “must have” reference material for any dedicated scholar or collector of German horology. While it would have been nice to have paper reprints available economics make this impractical. The Library of DGC is distributing the CD-ROM for a nominal fee of Euro 10 (ca. US$15) As far as I know they are not yet able to take credit cards, but they can accept paypal payments. If you are interested send an e-mail to Dr. Bernhard Huber, the librarian of DGC (bibliothek at dg-chrono dot de) who not only initiated the project but spent countless ours operating the scanner and the CD-burner to make all this information available to his fellow horological enthusiasts around the globe.

You may like the information so much that you end up doing what I am contemplating: Printing out all 290 jpg images (two facing pages per image) from the CD to create your own personal hardcopy.



Bookreview by
Fortunat Mueller-Maerki, Sussex New Jersey
January 6, 2006


Here is the publication data:
________________________________________________

Title: Adressbuch für die deutsche Uhren- und Mech. Musikwerke-Industrie 1904
SubTitle: CD-ROM Edition für wissenschaftliche Zwecke
Author: Willhelm Weisske
Publisher: Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Chronometrie
Keywords: directory reference
Other Keywords: addresses mechanical music manufacturers trademarks wholesalers exporters
Language: GER
Edition: 2005 CD Edition -- Copyright: 1904
Kind: DATA
Type: Timekeeper (general)
Geographic area: Germany
Topic: Reference
Organization: NA/other
Pages: 458 -- Height in cm: 12
Print Status: 1 (1 means in print - 2 means out of print)
BHM ID: 7596

[Charles E. Davis]

I tried to contact
bibliothek@dg-chrono.de
and had it bounce.
Any one know the current e-mail address to get this book?

[zepernick]

Greetings Charlie ---

You can get in touch with Dr. Bernhard Huber at <DRBHUBER@aol.com>. By the way it's a CD, not a book.

Best regards, Duck