Company

Junghans

What began in 1861 with the founding of the company in Schramberg soon advanced to become one of the most fascinating success stories of the German clock and watchmaking industry. Although the requirements of watches have changed over the course of time – the philosophy of Junghans has always remained the same.

Creative inventors brought greatness to south-western Germany and the precision engineering industry of the Black Forest. Innovative ideas also brought technological changes to traditional watchmaking. This gave rise to companies that still set international standards to this day. In the 19th century they were already exporting their products throughout the world. One such company was Junghans. Founded in 1861 by Erhard Junghans, the company grew rapidly and was soon making history not only in the fields of clock and watchmaking, but also of industry and architecture. By 1903 Junghans was the largest clock manufacturer in the world. In 1961, the year of the company’s centenary, 20,000 clocks and watches of all kinds were produced each day by 6,000 employees, using 10,000 machines, with the output exported to 100 countries. However, we did not merely wish to manufacture timepieces, we wanted to shape time itself. And we continue to do so, with undiminished enthusiasm.

The German Watch

A Junghans watch is characterised by meticulousness, skilled craftsmanship and creative nuance. Our designers combine inspiration and tradition with the highest standards of design. To ensure a perfect end product, creative and design processes go hand in hand. The exact dimensioning of all components ensures reliable production and manufacturing processes. And it is not just the finished timepiece that is subjected to an intensive quality inspection, but each individual component - beginning with the realisation stage. Only when all components have successfully passed quality inspection are they brought together to create a Junghans. Because our passion is precision.

The Junghans Terrassenbau Museum

The Junghans Terrassenbau Museum unites architecture and German clock and watch history in a very special structure. Dating from the early 20th century, the heritage-listed building was itself a production site, giving it the necessary atmosphere to present this journey through time in the history of Black Forest clocks and watches as well as Uhrenfabrik Junghans. The documented developments of clocks and watches from the Black Forest grant visitors a deep insight into the innovative energy and manufacturing expertise of the region.

Make an exciting journey through the history of clock production in the Black Forest from the 18th century to the present day. Let us surprise you: Clocks can show much more than the time. There’s music in there, too.

The time has come On 14 April 1861, Erhard Junghans and his brother-in-law founded the watch component factory ""Zeller & Junghans"". They chose the site in the Lauterbachtal valley as the location for their joint, albeit not very successful, oil mill. This is quickly converted and soon drives the first production machines.

However, the company is still a long way from producing complete clocks: initially, components for large Black Forest clocks such as wooden cases, bronze shields, hands, glass doors, wire hooks, hinges and pendulum discs are manufactured, followed by the first own clocks in 1866.

Career

Since 1861 the Junghans brand has stood for pioneering watchmaking and a firm commitment to Germany as a location. Characterised by longstanding tradition and pioneering innovations, the name Junghans has long been associated with values such as quality, reliability, precision and passion. In keeping with the philosophy of successfully combining precision and pioneering ideas, throughout its long history Junghans has regularly surprised with new and continuously developing technology, making it a key player in the history of the watch industry. A further, decisive foundation for the successful path to the future was laid in early 2009, with the acquisition of Junghans by Schramberg businessmen Dr. Hans-Jochem Steim and Hannes Steim. Dedicated to the location and committed to the prevailing values – this is the basis from which the long-term corporate strategy of the new owners of Junghans has developed. Their goal: to preserve tradition and secure the future.

In this, securing the future of the site and expanding it will play a key role – as will training qualified junior staff. As an independent company, Junghans will continue its unique corporate strategy in the future both in Germany and internationally, with innovative products “made in Germany”.