The Watch 1505 (also named PHN1505 or Pomander Watch of 1505) is the world's first

watch A watch is a timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another type of ...

. It was crafted by the German inventor, locksmith, and watchmaker

Peter Henlein Peter Henlein (also spelled Henle or Hele) (1485 - August 1542), a locksmith, clockmaker, and watchmaker of Nuremberg, Germany. Due to the Fire-gilded pomander-shaped Watch 1505, watch from 1505, he is often considered the inventor of the pocket ...

from

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, during the year 1505, in the early

German Renaissance The German Renaissance, part of the Northern Renaissance, was a cultural and artistic movement that spread among German thinkers in the 15th and 16th centuries, which developed from the Italian Renaissance. Many areas of the arts and sciences ...

period, as part of the

Northern Renaissance The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps, developing later than the Italian Renaissance, and in most respects only beginning in the last years of the 15th century. It took different forms in the vari ...

.oldest watch in the world''
YourWatchHub. Retrieved December 7, 2018.Report (Video)''

Westdeutscher Rundfunk (; "West German Broadcasting Cologne"), shortened to WDR (), is a German public broadcasting, public-broadcasting institution based in the States of Germany, Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a const ...

, German. Retrieved December 7, 2018. However, other German clockmakers were creating miniature timepieces during this period, and there is no definite evidence Henlein was the first. It is the oldest watch in the world that still works. The watch is a small fire-gilded copper sphere, an oriental pomander, and combines German engineering with Oriental influences. In 1987, the watch reappeared at an antiques and

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

in London. The initial price estimation for this watch is between 50 and 80 million dollars (May 2014).

History

Nuremberg

The years between 1470 and 1530 are generally considered as the heyday (''Blütezeit'') of the city of Nuremberg. In that time, the city became a center of

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

, and

humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The me ...

. The new worldview of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

took hold in the

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n city.''Nürnberg - Stadt der Erfinder und Künstler''

Bayerischer Rundfunk (; "Bavarian Broadcasting"), shortened to BR (), is a public broadcasting, public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Bavaria, Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD (b ...

, March 28, 2013, German Television Report. Retrieved December 11, 2018 During the Middle-Ages, Nuremberg grew under the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

and

Luxembourgers Luxembourgers ( ; ) are an ethnic group native to their nation state of Luxembourg, where they make up around half of the population. They share the culture of Luxembourg and speak Luxembourgish, a West Germanic language. Luxembourgers w ...

to become one of the most important cities in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. One main reason for this was that Nuremberg was one of the two trading centers on the route between Italy and northern Europe. Thanks to this advantage, as well as burgeoning craftsmanship and long-distance trade, the city became wealthy. Based on this wealth, political, religious, artistic, cultural, and technological aspects developed that would make Nuremberg one of the most important cultural centers of the Renaissance north of the Alps, and a center of humanism and Reformation. A popular quote about the Nuremberg Esprit (spirit of Inventions = ''Nürnberger Witz'') from this time is: ''Nuremberg jokes and frills are known throughout the world.''Sebastian Gulden
der "Nürnberger Witz" zu Hause ist''
Nordbayern - part of Nürnberger Nachrichten, January 16, 2018. German. Another well-known saying at the time of the Holy Roman Empire positioned the various different European centers of the age, including Nuremberg’s special atmosphere: ''“If I had Venice’s power, Augsburg’s splendor, Nuremberg’s esprit, Strasburg’s weapons and Ulm’s money, I would be the richest man in the world.”''Konrad Dieterich Haßler
''Die BuchdruckerGeschichte Ulm's''
Stettin, 1840. German.Marco Kirchner
und Legenden aus Augsburg''
John Verlag, German. July 2016, .

Watch Invention

The first timepieces to be worn, made in the 16th century initially in the German cities of

and

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

, were transitional in size between clocks and watches. Portable timepieces were made possible by the invention of the

mainspring A mainspring is a spiral torsion spring of metal ribbon—commonly spring steel—used as a power source in mechanical watches, some clocks, and other clockwork mechanisms. ''Winding'' the timepiece, by turning a knob or key, stores energy in ...

. Peter Henlein was the first German craftsman to make ornamental timepieces worn as pendants, which were the first timepieces to be worn on the body. His fame (as '' the inventor of the watch'') is based on a passage by Johann Cochläus in 1511. Since then, Henlein is generally known as the inventor of the first portable watches.first modern-day clock was invented by a locksmith''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

, April 20, 2018, Retrieved December 7, 2018. In the early 16th century, he became the first to install small movements in the capsule of a

pomander A pomander, from French language, French ''pomme d'ambre'', i.e., apple of amber, is a ball made for perfumes, such as ambergris (hence the name), musk, or civet (perfumery), civet. The pomander was worn or carried in a case as a protection agai ...

with olfactory essences.
renaissanceuhr.de, German. Retrieved December 9, 2018. In 1505,

of Nuremberg was the first to build the portable

, the first watch of the world.Hartmut Voigt: ''Zank um Zeitmesser - Historische Uhr ist nicht in Henlein-Schau zu sehen'',

Nürnberger Nachrichten The Nürnberger Nachrichten (NN) was originally a local daily in the Nuremberg-Erlangen-Fürth area. With its regional editions, it covers the whole of Middle Franconia and parts of Upper Franconia and the Upper Palatinate and is one of Germany' ...

, German. November 14, 2014.Nina Pauler, Jutta Olschewski: ''Wurde das Henlein- Jubiläum verschlafen?'',

, German. February 2, 2011. The production of this watch was made possible primarily by a previously unseen scale of miniaturization of the torsion pendulum and coil spring mechanism, placed in a technical unit by Peter Henlein, a technological innovation and novelty of the time, operating in all positions.Alex Hebra
Physics of Metrology''

Springer Science+Business Media Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing. Originally founded in 1842 in ...

, 2010, p. 57. . Henlein created the pomander watch while he lived in the Franciscan Monastery in Nuremberg,Heinrich Lunardi: ''900 Jahre Nürnberg - 600 Jahre Nürnberger Uhren'', Universitäts-Verglagsbuchhandlung, p. 99 - 113, German. Wien 1974. where he gained knowledge of the Oriental world gathered over centuries, Henlein acquired the new techniques and tools which helped him creating the first watch in the form of a gilt pomander. In his lifetime, Henlein created other or similar types of watches (e.g., drum watches - the later called the

Nuremberg eggs Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

).Jürgen Abeller: ''Zeit-Zeichen - die tragbare Uhr von Henlein bis heute'', Harrenberger Edition, p. 14–20, German. Dortmund 1983. He also crafted a

tower clock Clock towers are a specific type of structure that 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 building ...

for Lichtenau castle in 1541, and was known as a maker of sophisticated scientific instruments.

Rediscovery

The story of the watch's reappearance began in 1987, at an antique-

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The watch sequentially changed ownership between collectors who were unaware of its actual worth, until in 2002 a private collector purchased the pomander watch. A committee assessed the watch in 2014, particularly the assertion that the pomander dates back to 1505, and was signed by Henlein himself.

Aesthetics

The design consisted of two small half-spheres, joined by a binding hinge. The upper half of the pomander can be opened to reveal a second – slightly smaller – half-sphere underneath. The top of that inner sphere shows the dial. The upper surface of the dial shows

Roman number Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

s for the first half of the day, and on the outer side of the dial

Arabic numeral The ten Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) are the most commonly used symbols for writing numbers. The term often also implies a positional notation number with a decimal base, in particular when contrasted with Roman numerals. ...

s for the second half of the day. This shows the transition to the new use of numerals at this time in history. The pomander watch displays small engravings of the city of Nuremberg at the beginning of the

16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...

, e. g. the Henkerturm built in the year 1320, which can still be visited today or the still standing Weinstadel. Other symbols are also engraved on the watch, such as sun, serpents or laurels engraved on the watch.Elizabeth Doerr
This The World’s Oldest Known Watch? A Peter Henlein Mystery From 1505''
Quill & Pad, December 23, 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2018

Technical description

The casing consists of

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

, fire gilded on the outside and fire silver-plated on the inside of the watch. Apart from a renewed brass sprocket, the movement is made completely of iron. The detailed dimensions are: * Casing diameter: 4.15 cm x 4.25 cm (with equator ring 4.5 cm) - Weight 38.5 g * Movement diameter: 3.60 cm x 3.55 cm - Weight: 54.1 g A key is used to wind up the watch movement. The Watch 1505 produces a calculated running time of 12 hours.

Inscriptions

On the watch housing, an old

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...

is engraved. The inscription is: ''DVT ME FUGIENT AGNOSCAM R''. The possible two translations are:1505 pomander watch - Research material''
Retrieved December 7, 2018. * ''1505 - The time will escape me (Henlein), but I (the watch) will recognize the correct time'' * ''In the year 1505 – My watches will flee (run), and recognize the correct time''. The letters „MDV PHN“ are engraved under the examined silver plating and were found on the inside of the casing underneath the outer face of the clock. The hypothetical indication of the engraving is: ''1505 Peter Henlein Nuremberg''. Tiny ''PH''-letters, often smaller than half a millimeter, were also found. Peter Henlein was a locksmith and had no qualification as a watchmaker, as there were none (there was no existing occupation or guild). He was not allowed to sign his work officially, as he was not a member of the locksmith's guild. In the early days of watchmaking, locksmiths often were involved in the production as they were accustomed to making small metal components.

Symbolism of the watch

The

Pomander A pomander, from French language, French ''pomme d'ambre'', i.e., apple of amber, is a ball made for perfumes, such as ambergris (hence the name), musk, or civet (perfumery), civet. The pomander was worn or carried in a case as a protection agai ...

(derived from the French pomme ‘ambre in German Bisamapfel) also called Riechapfel, was a

status symbol A status symbol is a visible, external symbol of one's social position, an indicator of Wealth, economic or social status. Many luxury goods are often considered status symbols. ''Status symbol'' is also a Sociology, sociological term – as part ...

from the Orient, and often represented first encounter by the Europeans with the fragrances of the Orient. It became as a valued symbolic gift of diplomatic exchange between leading personalities in from the East to the West, and was believed to have a healing and protective effect. For example Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen created 1518 a portrait of Jan Gerritz van Egmond van de Dijenborgh, the elected major of Alkmaar, in 1518, with a pomander in his hand. The pomander form was spread in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

from the

Orient The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

throughout Europe. The watch itself can be seen as a cultural encounter between the European engineering and the Oriental form.
Museum für Angewandte Kunst (Cologne), Renate Smolich, 1983, German. Pomanders were worn due to the poor hygienic conditions in the cities. The musk-perfume inside the pomander had a disinfectant and odor resistant effect. The serpent is one of the oldest mythological symbols in civilization, going back as far as the Summer in Mesopotamia. The serpent eating its own tail (the

Ouroboros The ouroboros or uroboros (; ) is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent symbolism, snake or European dragon, dragon Autocannibalism, eating its own tail. The ouroboros entered Western tradition via Egyptian mythology, ancient Egyptian iconogra ...

) is a symbol for the infinity of the universe and the eternal life. It also represents the orbit of the sun, duality, and an Ancient Egyptian alchemist symbol (The All is one). The symbolism of the

laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

passed over into

Roman culture The culture of ancient Rome existed throughout the almost 1,200-year history of the civilization of Ancient Rome. The term refers to the culture of the Roman Republic, later the Roman Empire, which at its peak covered an area from present-day L ...

, which held laurels as a symbol of victory. It is also associated with immortality, with ritual purification, prosperity and health. The symbolism of the

sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

on the

, as the source of

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

and

light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...

for life on earth has been a central object in

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

since

prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

. Ritual solar worship has given rise to solar deities in theistic traditions throughout the world, and solar symbolism is ubiquitous. Apart from its immediate connection to light and warmth, the sun is also important in

timekeeping Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to compa ...

as the main indicator of the

day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...

and the

year A year is a unit of time based on how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. In scientific use, the tropical year (approximately 365 Synodic day, solar days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45 seconds) and the sidereal year (about 20 minutes longer) ...

Financial worth

A paper from 1524 records that Heinlein was paid 15

florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin (in Italian ''Fiorino d'oro'') struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains () of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a pu ...

s (one florin is approximately between 140 and 1000 modern US dollars) for a gilt pomander watch. The initial price estimation is around 50 - 80 million dollars, according to the AntiqueWeek magazine (May 2014).Eric C. Rodenberg: ''Intricate pomander clock may be the first pocket watch'' In:

AntiqueWeek AntiqueWeek is one of the most popular antiques newspapers in the United States and has been a source for weekly antiques and collectibles news in the United States since 1968. ''AntiqueWeek'' has a weekly circulation of over 70,000 readers. Th ...

. The Weekly Antique Auction & Collecting Newspaper 46, Nr. 2326, 2014, p 1, 3.

Examinations and confirmation

Several examinations ( micro- and macro-photographic and metallurgical examinations, as well as a 3D computer tomography) were made to proof the authenticity of the watch. The general examinations-result showed that the pomander watch was created by Henlein in the year 1505.Wiebke Neelsen: ''Das Taschenuhr-Rätsel ist gelöst - Untersuchung Älteste Bisamapfeluhr in einem Neusser Labor'',

Westdeutsche Zeitung The ''Westdeutsche Zeitung'' (''WZ'') () is one of the largest regional newspapers in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Its headquarters is in Wuppertal with additional offices in Düsseldorf and Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld ...

, October 20, 2014, German. There is also a confirmation of the date of invention, verifying that the engravings lie beneath under the layer of a medieval method of fire gilding. The invention was celebrated at the 400th anniversary of the ''German Watchmakers’ Association'' in 1905. On this occasion, a monument fountain dedicated to Peter Henlein was built in Nuremberg. Also Johann Neudörfers also wrote in 1547 that Henlein invented the pomander watches (''die bisam Köpf zu machen erfunden''). The Walhalla in

Donaustauf Donaustauf is a market town in Bavaria, east of Regensburg at the foothills of the Bavarian Forest. The ruins of a medieval castle, presumably erected between 914 and 930, tower above the small town. Situated nearby on a hill rising from the Da ...

, which is a memorial for "politicians, sovereigns, scientists and artists of the German tongue",Official Guide booklet, 2002, p. 3 honors Peter Henlein with the words ''inventor of the watch''.Adalbert Müller
''Donaustauf und Walhalla''
German, 1844.

Other pomander watches by Peter Henlein

Nowadays, there are only two preserved pomander watches in the world. The one from 1505 is in private ownership, and the ''Pomander Watch of Melanchthon'', from 1530, which is owned by the

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded and opened in 1934, it holds collections from the mid-19th century that were amassed substantially ...

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. It was most probably a gift by the City of Nuremberg, to the Nuremberg Reformer

Philipp Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the ...

and Peter Henlein was commissioned to create this personalized watch. Also an empty housing of a pomander watch can be found at the Wuppertal Watch Museum. The former watchmaker and art collector Jürgen Abeler from the Wuppertaler Watch Museum concludes about pomander watches in his book: ''„So if any one of the preserved watches at all should be linked with the person of Peter Henlein, it can only be this watch in the pomander.“''Jürgen Abeler: ''In Sachen Peter Henlein'', Wuppertaler Uhrenmuseum, 1980. German. .

Historical influences of the watch

The systemized knowledge of the earliest-known civilization of the Sumer, such as Ancient Mesopotamian units of measurement, systemized knowledge of astronomical calculations and mathematics (sexagesimal number system for measuring time, geographical coordinates and angels, 60 second minute and 60 minute hour, 360 degrees etc.) was safeguarded and further developed ancient knowledge and scientific process during the Golden Age of Islam, leading to the perfection of mechanical clocks and the first watch invention in Nuremberg, a process covering a broad historical stretch of time. One of the first culture-historical encounter of the Europeans with technology from the Orient was a mechanical water clock from the Abbasid Caliph of Bagdad Harun Al-Rashid (ruled 786 – 809 CE) sent as one of the gifts to the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne on the occasion of his coronation in 800 CE, in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

The

House of Wisdom The House of Wisdom ( ), also known as the Grand Library of Baghdad, was believed to be a major Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid-era public academy and intellectual center in Baghdad. In popular reference, it acted as one of the world's largest publ ...

, an intellectual center in the Caliphates Capital of

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

and the Islamic Golden Age started influencing the world civilization and its discoveries, by starting to translate (Translation Movement) and developing ancient knowledge and its discoveries,Isabella Bengoechea
Golden Age: The Rise and Fall of the House of Wisdom''
culturetrip, September 9, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2018 from one of the most influential texts of all time, Almagest by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

(AD 100-170), to the influential The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical devices by the Muslim polymath

Ismail al-Jazari Badīʿ az-Zaman Abu l-ʿIzz ibn Ismāʿīl ibn ar-Razāz al-Jazarī (1136–1206, , ) was a Muslim polymath: a scholar, inventor, mechanical engineer, artisan and artist from the Artuqid Dynasty of Jazira in Mesopotamia. He is best known for ...

in 1206, describing 100 mechanical devices. The widespread network of the Muslim Caliphates interconnected with the world's known trade routes, mainly the Silk Road from China to the Caliphate of Cordoba and Al-Andalusian Spain, were not only the most important trade routes but also networks of knowledge transfer. The broad network made it necessary to have primarily navigation devices, such as astrolabes, which were introduced to Europe from Muslim Spain in the early 12th century.John M. Hobson (2004), ''The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation'', p. 141,

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, . The Andalusian engineer

Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi Ibn Khalaf al-Murādī, (; 11th century) was an Al-Andalus, Andalusian engineer. Al-Murādī was the author of the technological manuscript entitled ''Kitāb al-asrār fī natā'ij al-afkār'' ('', The Book of Secrets in the Results of Thoughts ...

wrote the technological manuscript ''Kitāb al-asrār fī natā'ij al-afkār'' (''The Book of Secrets in the Results of Thoughts''). The manuscript provides information about a "Castle and Gazelle Clock" and many other forms of complicated clocks and ingenious devices. The astronomer and mathematician of the German Renaissance,

Regiomontanus Johannes Müller von Königsberg (6 June 1436 – 6 July 1476), better known as Regiomontanus (), was a mathematician, astrologer and astronomer of the German Renaissance, active in Vienna, Buda and Nuremberg. His contributions were instrument ...

who was influenced by the year of

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

environment went to Nuremberg and verifiably influenced the circle of humanists and scholars around Peter Henlein. He is famous for building the first observatory in Germany, in Nuremberg. During Peter Henlein’s time at the Franciscan Monastery of Nuremberg, it supported many different scholars and very learned personalities. For example, the monk Friedrich Krafft built a complicated Astrologium in this monastery. Thus Peter Henlein the inventor of the watch not only came into contact with new techniques and tools, but also with a spiritual and intellectual environment of craftsmanship. The earliest medieval European clockmakers were Catholic monks. The attempt to make clocks smaller and portable was always a challenge for clockmakers, Peter Henlein is not the inventor of portable clocks, but rather of wearable time measurement; the watch, the smallest personalized timekeeping device of his time.Karla Eckert: ''Eine Laune. Das Verlangen, die verrinnende Zeit zu messen, ist zeitlos.'',

Tagesspiegel (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington, D.C., and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, since reunification ...

, German. September 17, 1994. By combining an Oriental status symbol, the pomander (or fragrance apple), with a miniaturized watch movement, his invention changed the way we measure and manage time. Historically, the watch was crafted at the same time

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

painted ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...

''.

Literature

* Ernst von Bassermann-Jordan: ''Alte Uhren und Ihre Meister'', page 47 - 51, publisher: Wilhelm Diebener Leipzig, 1926. German, * Catherine Cardinal: ''Die Zeit an der Kette'', page 16, publisher: Klinkhardt & Biermann Munich, 1985. German, * Thomas Eser: ''Die älteste Taschenuhr der Welt?'', publisher: Verlag des Germanischen Nationalmuseums, 2014. German, * Samuel Guye, Henri Michael: ''Uhren und Messinstrumente'', Orell Füssli Verlag Zürich, 1970. German, * Maren Winter: ''Die Stunden der Sammler'', Heyne, 2004. German, * Jürgen Abeler: ''In Sachen Peter Henlein'', Wuppertaler Uhrenmuseum, Wuppertal 1980. German, * Walter Spiegel: ''Taschenuhren'', Mosaik, Munich 1981. German, * Hans Dominik: ''Das ewige Herz - Meister Peter Henleins Nürnberger Oerlein'', Wilhelm Lippert Berlin, 1942. German, * Thomas Eser: ''Die älteste Taschenuhr der Welt? Der Henlein-Uhrenstreit.'' Nürnberg 2014. German,
Digitalisat

References

Footnotes Citations

External links

{{NIE Poster, Hele, Peter, Peter Henlein Clock designs