CPA, MD + 3: Welcome to My World: Germany Day 7: Cuckoo Clocks

This morning we headed out in our car for the little town of Furtwangen for a tour of the clock museum. The drive through the Black Forest was beautiful - lots of hills covered with tall evergreen trees. All of the towns and villages along the way were very picturesque.

The clock museum had a special kids program that was like a scavenger hunt for the kids - they had to find certain displays in the museum, read about it in their booklet and then answer a question. Once the program was complete, the answers spelled out a secret word. If they got the word correct, they earned a prize from the gift shop. All three kids loved the program and it made the museum very interesting for them.

working on solving the puzzle

clockmakers also used their skills to make self-playing musical instruments

we were able to see a demonstration of the musical instruments - this one was very loud

the original Black Forest clocks were these white-faced lacquered clocks

and then came the cuckoo clocks!

the museum even discussed modern clocks such as the atomic clock

After getting a restaurant recommendation from the lady at the museum desk, we had lunch just down the way from the museum. The food was delicious! The restaurant specialized in schnitzel and spatzle. Brannon and I both had the ram schnitzel - veal cutlet with a mushroom sauce. The interior of the restaurant was filled with wooden figures and woodland animals - the kids had a great time playing "I Spy."

streets of Furtwangen

walking to the restaurant

playing outside the restaurant

After lunch we headed to the town of Triberg. Brannon had asked the lady at the clock museum desk where was the best place to find an authentic Black Forest cuckoo clock and she directed us to Triberg, home of the largest cuckoo clock in the world and the store called House of 1000 Clocks. It is also the location of Germany's highest waterfall, but we spent all of our time shopping instead of sight-seeing. We found a store with traditional regional clothing - the girls and I purchased dresses and the boys got hats. We also found a store selling cuckoo clocks made by a local family that has been making clocks for years. A little about the company:

In 1730 Anton Ketterer built the first cuckoo clock. In the 1780´s Adolf Herr´s ancestor, Johann Hiller, already built clocks in the Black Forest. His son in law, Johann Baptist Rainer, born in 1763 continued the clock making tradition. His son in law, Christian Herr, born 1814 was clock maker, too. From then on, the clock making art was handed down from father to son. Bernhard Herr, born 1842, Robert Herr, born 1876, and Rudolf Herr, born 1901, established a family tradition in making fine clocks. Adolf Herr, Rudolf´s son, married to Gerlinde Eble, whose great-grandfather, grandfather, and father had also been clockmakers, opened his own business in 1977 – the House of Black Forest Clocks. He has been creating cuckoo clocks in ever since, inventing new designs and, above all, new movements that have found a new place in many households in Germany and overseas. Adolf Herr does not have a huge factory. He loves working on the carving bench and in his workshop on the third floor of the store. Assisted by his wife, his son, and his daughter Adolf Herr runs a family business in an old family tradition.

We found a clock we really liked and when I asked Brannon where we would put it, he gave his usual answer: I will find someplace to put it.

We closed down the stores at 6pm and started our drive back to Stuttgart. Tomorrow we leave for Munich.