Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chronometrie (DGC), (German Society for Timekeeping) today is an organization of scholars, collectors and enthusiasts in Germany interested in the science, art and history of

horology Horology (; related to Latin '; ; , interfix ''-o-'', and suffix ''-logy''), . is the study of the measurement of time. Clocks, watches, clockwork, sundials, hourglasses, clepsydras, timers, time recorders, marine chronometers, and atomic clo ...

History

The association was founded in the post World War II years (as an unofficial successor to the ') and originally consisted mainly of scientists and engineers from the watch and clock producing industry. Over the years more people joined who were interested in the history of timekeeping devices, and eventually two separate divisions were set up, a ' (Scientific Division) and a ' (Historical Division). When the clock and watch industry withered in the fourth quarter of the 20th century the technical division withered, and by 2000 the divisional structure was dropped. Today the bulk of the membership unites collectors, scholars and museum professionals interested in the historical aspects of

clock A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and ...

sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a f ...

s and

watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached ...

es.

Structure

Today the association is national in scope, and is loosely organised into working groups, both local groups (in Berlin, Dresden, Franconia, Frankfurt, Furtwangen, Hamburg, Cologne, Mannheim, Munich and Stuttgart) and special interest groups (

wristwatch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached ...

es, electrical horology, restoration, sundials,

pocket watch A pocket watch (or pocketwatch) is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist. They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wristwa ...

es,

tower clock Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...

s, and horological science).

Activities

Besides the meetings of the working groups there is a multiday annual meeting often including visits to museums, restoration workshops or private collections. Once a year the organization also organizes an international study tour, traveling to a foreign locals to study historic horological artefacts. The organization also maintains a comprehensive library with books, periodicals, auction catalogues and trade manuals related to horology.

Publications

* Originally, starting in 1950, the DGC published a ''"Jahrbuch"'', an annual volume of scholarly papers dealing with various areas of horological technology. * Starting in 1961 the ' started publishing its own yearbook with articles on historic timekeepers and collecting horological artefacts and sundials. * Starting in 2000 the two yearbooks were combined into a redesigned ''"Jahresschrift"''. * Newsletter: The organization publishes a quarterly newsletter for its members describing the activities of DGC and its working groups. *

Facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of ...

Editions on CD-ROM: In an effort to preserve and distribute rare historic horological publications the society has an active program of scanning historic periodicals and other publications on horology and making them available to the public and its members on CD-ROM. The administrative office and the library of the DGC are located in the historic former Gewerbemuseum in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

, today a continued education center which also houses the Gebhardt collection on the history of the portable timekeeper.

Sister organisations

Its main sister organizations in other countries pursuing similar goals are: * ''

Antiquarian Horological Society The Antiquarian Horological Society, abbreviated to AHS, is the UK-based learned society for scholars and enthusiasts of horology. Its administrative office is at 4 Lovat Lane, a listed building close to the Monument, in the City of London. In earl ...

'' - AHS (United Kingdom) * ' - AFAHA (France) * '' Chronometrophilia'' (Switzerland) * ' (Italy) * ''

National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors The National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors, Inc. (NAWCC) is a nonprofit association of people who share a passion for collecting watches and clocks and studying horology (the art and science of time and timekeeping). The NAWCC's global m ...

'' - NAWCC (United States of America)

External links

DGC website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Chronometrie Collectors organizations Horological organizations