History

• In the middle of the 17th century, Germany's Black Forest began to become known for its clock makers. The mountain people of the Black Forest had always been skilled at working with wood, and once they teamed with the mathematically skilled clerics of the region, they began to produce some remarkable clocks made entirely of wood. Franz Anton Ketterer is most often credited with building the first cuckoo clock, around 1730. He was able to re-create the sound made by the cuckoo by using a bellows that produced two different sounds.
  
  

Features

• Most of the early designs were simple, consisting of square clock faces painted with watercolors. Over time, designs became more advanced in ornamentation. The cuckoo's wings and beak were made to move, and some of the birds were even adorned with feathers. By 1808, 688 clock makers and 582 clock sellers inhabited the the Triberg and Neustadt districts. Clocks were made during the winter months when farms were covered with snow, and clock makers had plenty of time to create the finely detailed hand-carved cases that housed the cuckoo. The resulting pieces were sold in the summer all over Europe.
  
  

Types

• Three basic types of cuckoo clock have been manufactured over the centuries. The first, known as a "shield clock," was open on the sides, which exposed the movement of the clock. The bird was housed in a half circle above the shield. This was the most common design for about 100 years, from 1750 to 1850. At that time, the second and most popular type of cuckoo clock was created: the "railway house" clock. This design was produced by the winning entry in a design competition held by a clock-making school in Furtwangen. The architect who had designed the new Black Forest railroad's guard houses incorporated grape leaves and a clock face into a case made to resemble a typical railway house. It was his design that led to the worldwide recognition of the Black Forest cuckoo clock. The third design was created towards the end of the 1800s, when the Swiss created the "chalet style" cuckoo clock, which incorporated music boxes and moving figures into the design.
  
  

Effects

• By the end of the 19th century, approximately 13,500 people were engaged in clock-making in the villages surrounding Triberg. Factories as well as family clock-making industries thrived.
  
  

Today

• While cuckoo clocks have been manufactured all over the world, the center of the industry is still the Black Forest region of Germany. Most modern designs include carved animals, leaves and other plants, or hunting scenes on the housing. Genuine Black Forest clocks are handcarved and mechanically driven with weights that hang from the bottom of the clock. These weights are usually designed to look like pine cones, and they must be pulled up at certain intervals to ensure that the clock continues to run.