200th anniversary of Ferdinand Adolph Lange

This exceptional watchmaker, whose fob-watches are still highly prized, devoted his life to establishing and growing a watch manufacture in a relatively undeveloped region, thereby laying the foundations of prestige watchmaking in Saxony.

In May 1844, Ferdinand Adolph Lange wrote in a letter addressed to the Ministry of the Interior in Dresden that he aspired above all else to improve watches, and that his principal motivation was to create an industrial branch capable of «offering work to thousands of citizens, thereby enabling them to achieve a reasonable standard of living».

The widespread poverty in which the poorly served mining region had been plunged prompted him to take action. He signed an agreement with the Ministry of the Interior of the Kingdom of Saxony in Dresden by which he undertook, over a three-year period, to train fifteen young people from Glashütte in the watchmaker’s profession. In return, the Ministry granted him a loan of 6,700 talents, including 1,120 talents to buy tools for the apprentices. Thereafter, the newly qualified youngsters were expected to work an additional five years at the Lange manufacture to pay back the cost of their training on a weekly basis.

After a short trial period, F.A. Lange was forced to release some of these young people due to a lack of aptitude. The more persevering of those who remained formed the core of his first real team, which soon totalled thirty apprentices. It should be remembered that at the outset he had at his disposal only poorly qualified staff, with the exception of his future brother-in-law Adolf Schneider.

F.A. Lange also enrolled as a student at the recently opened Ecole Polytechnique Royale in Dresden, and attended evening classes to learn English and French. The young man planned to broaden his knowledge in established centres of watchmaking, namely France, England and Switzerland.

The far-seeing vision of F.A. Lange became a reality: in addition to his own business, many small workshops specialising in precious stones, screws, gear-trains, barrels, balances and watch hands became established in the town of Glashütte, where he was mayor for 18 years. Manufacturers of watch cases, gilders, engine-turners, and three other manufactures working with him to a greater or lesser extent, came into existence thanks to his support. For the most part, these firms were set up by his former apprentices. Hundreds of secure and well paid jobs soon transformed penury into modest prosperity. The firm of F.A. Lange, whose workforce rarely exceeded one hundred people, formed the kernel of German precision watchmaking which set down its roots little by little in Glashütte and the surrounding area. Finally, the German School of Watchmaking (DUS), created in 1878 by his friend Karl Moritz Grossmann, allowed Glashütte to cut the umbilical cord which had tied it hitherto to Switzerland and France and to become the centre of German precision watchmaking, ensuring thereafter the practical and theoretical training of younger generations.

To commemorate this anniversary, the Saxon brand has created a special 200-piece limited edition, the new «200th Anniversary F.A. Lange» 1815.

March 19, 2015