World Clock (Alexanderplatz)
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The World Clock (; ), also known as the Urania World Clock (), is a large turret-style
world clock A world clock is a clock which displays the time for various cities around the world. The display can take various forms: *The clock face can incorporate multiple round analogue clocks with moving hands or multiple digital clocks with numeric re ...
located in the public square of
Alexanderplatz (, ''Alexander Square'') is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the north-ea ...
in
Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuz ...
,
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. By reading the markings on its metal
rotunda A rotunda () is any roofed building with a circular ground plan, and sometimes covered by a dome. It may also refer to a round room within a building (an example being the one below the dome of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.). ...
, the current time for 148 major cities from around the world can be determined.Helmut Caspar: ''Ärger mit der Weltzeituhr am Alex. Städtenamen sind nicht korrekt.'' In: '' Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung'', 24/25 December 1997. Since its erection by the
German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
in 1969, it has been a
tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beaut ...
and meeting place. In July 2015, the federal German government declared the clock as a historically and culturally significant monument.


History

The sixteen ton world clock was opened to the public on 30 September 1969, shortly before the twentieth anniversary of the
German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
, along with the
Berlin TV Tower The Fernsehturm (; ) in central Berlin was constructed between 1965 and 1969 by the government of the German Democratic Republic as both a functional broadcasting facility and a symbol of Communist power. It remains a landmark today from its p ...
('). The erection of the clock was part of a larger plan to expand and reorganize
Alexanderplatz (, ''Alexander Square'') is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the north-ea ...
as a whole. At the end of the renovations, the
public square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...
was four times larger than it was at the end of the
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The clock was designed by the designer
Erich John The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Nor ...
, who at the time was an employee of the planning group for the transformation of Alexanderplatz under the direction of
Walter Womacka Walter Womacka (22 December 1925 – 18 September 2010) was a German socialist realism, Socialist Realist artist. His work was pioneering early East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR) aesthetics. Biography Walter Womacka was born on ...
. Before designing the clock and managing its construction, John was a lecturer at Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee (then called the ''Hochschule für bildende und angewandte Kunst'', "College of Fine and Applied Arts"), where he taught
product design Product design is the process of creating new Product (business), products for businesses to sell to their customers. It involves the generation and development of ideas through a systematic process that leads to the creation of innovative products ...
. The idea to erect a clock in Alexanderplatz was had when the wreckage of the Uraniasäule (a.k.a. Wettersäule), a pre-World War II public clock, was found during the restoration of the square in 1966.Auskunft des Gestalters der Weltzeituhr, ''Erich John''. The construction of the clock required more than 120 engineers and other experts, including the sculptor Hans-Joachim Kunsch; the Getriebefabrik Coswig company was also instrumental in its construction.Homepage von Weltzeituhr Berlin Alexanderplatz Kunsch Metallbau; ''Referenzobjekte''
retrieved 23 July 2018.
In Germany at the time, there was no widely recognized design award, so John did not receive one for his work. However, he received a design award for a different design of his in 1982. In 1987, a commemorative coin was released with the image of the World Clock. In 1997, during a necessary repair to the mechanism, the clock was updated in consequence of German unification and the end of the Cold War; cities which had been renamed or which moved time zones were updated: For example, Leningrad was changed to
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
and Alma Ata to
Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...
, while
Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
was moved from
Moscow time Moscow Time (MSK; ) is the time zone for the city of Moscow, Russia, and most of western Russia, including Saint Petersburg. It is the second-westernmost of the eleven time zones of Russia, after the non-continguous Kaliningrad enclave. It h ...
to
Eastern European Time Eastern European Time (EET) is one of the names of UTC+02:00 time zone, 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. The zone uses daylight saving time, so that it uses UTC+03:00 during the summer. A number of African countries use UTC ...
. Twenty cities that were omitted by the DDR for political reasons, such as
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
,
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
, and
Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
, were also added to the clock.


Function

The main feature of the World Clock is a large twenty-four sided column (the cross-section of which is a regular
icositetragon In geometry, an icositetragon (or icosikaitetragon) or 24-gon is a twenty-four-sided polygon. The sum of any icositetragon's interior angles is 3960 degrees. Regular icositetragon The ''regular polygon, regular icositetragon'' is represented by S ...
). Each side of the column represents one of the twenty-four main
time zones 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 ...
of the Earth, and has the names of major cities which use that time zone engraved into it. A windrose is painted onto the pavement below the column which holds up the clock. Four smaller
analog clock A clock or chronometer is a device that measures and displays 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 the yea ...
s are located on the sides of the narrow column which holds up the rotunda, and the entire clock is more than large enough for people to stand under it and read the smaller clocks. The clock is mechanical, and in normal operation is constantly in motion, although the motion is too slow to be seen by a human observer – it is only readily apparent in timelapse recordings. Numbers – in a line from one through twenty-four – revolve around the outside of the clock throughout the day. To read the clock, a user finds the side of the icositetragon which corresponds to the city or time zone they are interested in and notes the number under it. The number corresponds to the current hour in that city. If the number is not directly under the side, but is instead off-set by some fraction, that can be used as a way to estimate the number of minutes past the hour it is in that city. This is made easier because each number is in a different-colored rectangle, the length of which corresponds to one side of the icositetragon. Cities in time zones which are not exact hours offset from
UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...
, such as
New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
which is situated in the
Indian Standard Time Indian Standard Time (IST), sometimes also called India Standard Time, is the time zone observed throughout the Republic of India, with a time offset of UTC+05:30. India does not observe daylight saving time or other seasonal adjustments. I ...
(IST) zone ( UTC+05:30), have their offset in minutes engraved next to them. For New Delhi, the engraving is "NEW DELHI +30`". Once per minute, an artistic sculptural rendering of the
Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...
made of steel rings and spheres rotates. Including the sculpture, the World Clock is high. The clock is driven by an
electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...
which resides in a space of × × . This motor drives the
gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...
, which was rebuilt from one made by
Trabant Trabant () is a series of B-segment, small cars produced from 1957 until 1991 by former East Germany, East German car manufacturer HQM Sachsenring GmbH, VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau. Four models were made: the Trabant P 50, Trabant 50 ...
. During the 1997 renovation of the clock, Aurotec GmbH replaced parts of the original equipment which were failing.


Social relevance

The clock has become since the 1970s the scene of
protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...
, as well as a
landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern-day use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures ...
which Berliners living near the area use to meet others. On 12 May 1983 the
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...
deputies of
The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *The Greens – The Green Alternative, Austria *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' * Greens of Andorra * The Greens (Benin) *The Greens (Bulgaria) * Greens of Bosnia and He ...
, including
Petra Kelly Petra Karin Kelly (29 November 1947 – 1 October 1992) was a German Green politician and ecofeminist activist. She was a founding member of the German Green Party, the first Green party to rise to prominence both nationally in Germany and w ...
,
Gert Bastian Gert Bastian (26 March 1923 – 1 October 1992) was a German military officer and politician with the German Green Party. Biography Born in Munich, Bastian volunteered for the Wehrmacht in 1941, at the age of nineteen. In World War II he serve ...
and three other deputies, unrolled a banner with the inscription "The Greens – swords to plowshares" before the world clock and were arrested.Udo Baron: ''Kalter Krieg und heißer Frieden.'' Lit Verlag, Münster 2003,
S. 188
/ref> On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the German Democratic Republic on 7 October 1989, opposition political groups formed a demonstration which began at the clock and ended at the Palace of the Republic. The state responded by arresting over 1,200 of the protesters. Thirty-three days later, the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...
fell.


Gallery

File:Weltzeituhr mit Fernsehturm - Alexanderplatz.jpg, The Berlin TV tower overlooks the World Clock. File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-0424-036, Berlin, Demonstranten gegen Ausländerfeindlichkeit.jpg, A protest takes place near the clock on 24 April 1990. File:Weltuhr Alex.jpg, The world time clock by night at Alexanderplatz in Berlin. July 2018. File:2023-10-17 Weltzeituhr Berlin mit oranger Farbe.jpg, World Clock soiled by Last Generation activists with orange paint on 17 October 2023.


References

{{Coord, 52.52117, 13.41332, format=dms, type:landmark_region:DE, display=title Clocks in Germany 1969 establishments in East Germany Buildings and structures in Mitte Landmarks in Germany Tourist attractions in Berlin Towers completed in 1969