Ankeruhr

The Anker clock is the most interesting clock I have ever seen. I originally had the pictures of it in the Vienna Sights post but had so much to say about it I had to create post of its own.

The clock was built in 1914 for the Anker Life Insurance Company. It was designed by Franz Matsch who was a painter and sculptor in Vienna and a close associate of Klimt. It takes up the entirety of a "bridge-like structure"that connects two buildings in the first district that housed the insurance company, very close to St. Stephan's Cathedral.

The time is shown with roman numerals marking the hour as they move continually to the right, the number above the roman numerals shows the minutes. So the time in the picture above is 5:03. 

The imagery of the clock is all about the passage of time, and was intended to remind people of how important life insurance is! The figures on either side of the sun at the top of the clock represent birth and death. There are also twelve figures and pairs of figures that pass across the front of the clock each hour. These figures are people who were significant in the history of Vienna, from Marcus Aurelius who supposedly died in Vienna in AD 180 to Hayden. The artist used these figures to represent how fast time passes us by. On the hour organ music plays as the next figure begins its trek across, and at twelve o'clock all twelve figures go through a complete rotation, accompanied by music.

The clock was damaged in WWII, and was repaired after the war ended. Unfortunately the original organ which had 800 pipes (I don't know anything about organs, but 800 pipes seems like alot!) couldn't be repaired, and was replaced with a speaker system that plays the music.