While many of us love the cuckoo clock, the history of its origin is shrouded in mystery. There are two legends surrounding its beginning. The first legend is that a clockmaker named Anton Ketterer from Germany’s Black Forest added a cuckoo bird to one of his existing clocks around 1738 and the cuckoo clock took off as a result. The second story is that a Bohemian peddler (from what is now the Czech Republic) traveling through the Black Forest sold two cuckoo clocks to two of the clockmakers there. They copied the clock design and began the thriving cuckoo clock industry of the Black Forest. Since neither tale can be verified, we’ll have to be content with the part of the story we actually know for sure – which came later.
The Black Forest had a clockmaking history that began at least a hundred years before cuckoo clocks came to the Black Forest (by whichever of the two stories). Since the winters were harsh in the Black Forest, people stayed indoors and worked on handcrafted items. This is common in many cultures that have extreme winter weather. So, when the cuckoo clock was introduced to the Black Forest, it was a perfect fit for the residents in the Black Forest region. Building the cuckoo clocks gave them something profitable they could do during the long, hard winters when their fields lay dormant. In the spring, traveling peddlers would sell the handmade cuckoo clocks throughout all of Europe on behalf of the Black Forest craftsman.
Shield Style - Schilduhr
There are several different styles of cuckoo clocks that emerged over the years. In the beginning, most cuckoo clocks were crafted in the Schilduhr (or “shield clock”) design. These designs were open on the sides and revealed the clock’s mechanical movement. This style included a half circle just above the shield which housed the cuckoo bird. This was the standard cuckoo clock style from the 1750s to the 1850s.
Railway House Style - Bahnhäusle
In 1850, a school of clockmaking in the town of Furtwangen in the Black Forest announced a contest to create a clockcase that combined the look of handcrafted design with the professionalism of a manufactured clock. The victor of the competition was an architect from Italy who had built railway guard houses for the new railroad that cut through the Black Forest. He integrated grape leaves from his native Italy into his design, as well as the façade of the many railway houses he had built. This style was instantly popular and is the style people imagine when they think of the Black Forest cuckoo clock.
The cuckoo clocks that are sold today as souvenirs are based on this winning design. Today’s clocks have some variations on the original railway house style – some have birds, leaves, deer, hunting equipment, or other woodland animals. These clocks are synonymous with Germany’s Black Forest.
Variations by Other Countries - Swiss Chalet Style
In the late 1800s, Swiss clockmakers felt they could improve the cuckoo clock’s style, so they designed what is known as the Swiss Chalet style cuckoo. Chalets come in three varieties:
Black Forest Chalet
Swiss Chalet
Bavarian Chalet
Besides just adding to the outward design, the Swiss clockmakers also added music to their clocks. They added Swiss music boxes (for which they were already famous), moving figures, and other animated features to their clocks. These could include children swinging on rope swings, movable water wheels, beer drinking figures and woodcutters,. The Swiss musical cuckoo clocks played a song at the top of every hour. The song was usually Edelweis or some other traditional one.
Conclusion
While other countries have tried to get on the band wagon, Germany’s Black Forest region is still the center of production for cuckoo clocks. It is more than just a source of income for the people of the Black Forest. It has become part of their identity as a people. This close tie between a people and their product is one of the reasons the cuckoo clock has such an enduring history and is beloved by people throughout the world.
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